Dreary weather. Raffish, overpowered GT cars. Moaning. Three British traditions curiously linked when Chris Harris got an early go with Jaguar's invigoratingly lairy XKR-S GT at Oulton Park earlier in the week and
shared his impressions
Having pounded it round Oulton for over 60 laps he came away rather impressed. The PH response? Seemingly less so. 'Looks chavvy', 'how much?!' and 'I'd have a GT3 instead' cropped up a lot in the responses, the British ability to knock the home team when it plays a bit of a blinder seemingly undiminished.
OK, so it's a relatively old car enlivened with an unapologetic bodykit and a hefty pricetag. Fine. But it's also a canny combination of an excess of horsepower, strategic parts bin rummaging and expert spannering to create a car that's unashamedly about putting a big fat grin on your face while waving two fingers at those who take it all too seriously. Via the medium of doing big skids in the pouring rain.
What could be more British than that?