CAPETOWN, South Africa – He stood so still that he could have been a wooden statue, carved and hardened from toil in the fields of South Africa, a memorial for the working poor among the wealthy grapes of Stellenbosch. Hands on hips, he cut a dramatic image against the fading sunset, a laborer giving pause to listen to the songs of the Siyuvelo Choir – music that was as much a part of him as the singers. They were the beauty of this place. He was the sweat and grime from which such beautiful expression was forged. In a flash he was gone, though his imprint etched the scene of this bewitching place at the end of the earth. Without his struggles, those songs would never be composed; without the tension of this spot on the earth, those songs would never be sung. Struggles make for good, sometimes.
So perhaps it can be written that without the troubled days of the past, Jaguar would never have built the beautiful 2007 Jaguar XK with such sensual design, strong performance and lavish comfort. Designed by Ian Callum, whose credits include the Aston Martin DB7 and DB9, the new XK is a thoroughly modern interpretation of the Jaguar XK lineage, and an appropriate replacement for the ten-year-old XK8.vOn sale this spring for $75,500 (coupe) and $81,500 (convertible), the new XK embodies the tension of Jaguar’s past, combined with the beauty for which the marque is known and the rich history of its nameplate, creating a clash that makes the premiere of the XK in South Africa, with its own contrasts, bewitchingly appropriate. There’s that word again. Truth is, the 2007 Jaguar XK will bewitch anyone who gives the car a chance. Some may not, though one look at the XK should at least nudge luxury sport coupe buyers into the cockpit. Jaguar, after all, has much ground to make up in the minds of luxury buyers. It’s been a decade since the last new XK was introduced, and in that time Jaguar has had some pretty notable failures. Jaguar executives, acknowledging the obvious, admit that mistakes were made. As a result, there are waves of buyers with money to spend and little to no emotional connection to a brand that, at its best, could inject desire straight into the heart. The new XK can do that for you, and so it would be easy to say that Jaguar is back, that the intangibles the car gives to people echo the history of the XK and the romance of the cat. A skeptical public will make that decision.
They will, as always, do it with their wallets, along with shifting patterns of want and desire. That will spell the fate of the 2007 Jaguar XK. It may end up being the car that starts a monumental turning point for a re-energized and legendary brand. Or it may be one of the very best cars no one ever really gives a chance. The contrast is as stunning as this car is…bewitching.
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