West Georgia Auto Brokers always seems to have a bunch of horsepower in their inventory. I still surf their site regularly because it's good reading, and you never know what you might find. It's what we do as enthusiasts.

The listing for this 2001 Jaguar XK8 convertible caught my eye. The XK8 was introduced for 1997 as the long awaited replacement for the XJS. Initial reaction to the car was very positive with several enthusiast magazines commenting on the car's beautiful design. I'll definitely second that notion ! I looked at a 1999 model several years ago that was stunning to behold in person. This car was no different.

This car's $12,985 asking price seemed to stand out in the sea of dollar signs present elsewhere on the lot. But it stood out in a good way and seemed to be priced comparably to other XKs I had seen. The "Clean CarFax" and 61k original miles also got my attention. The heated seats, navigation, and 18" chrome wheels meant someone checked the right option boxes when this car was originally ordered.

The color of the car, Anthracite Metallic (a fancy term for black), is definitely NOT my favorite. I've owned two black cars in the past and have said on many subsequent occasions that I would never own another one. Black paint is beautiful to look at when clean. Keeping it clean is a whole other matter. I saw the listing initially, looked at the color, and continued browsing. But the seed had been planted.

I thought about it for a week or so. The car seemed well priced. The information in the ad and the pictures displayed therein conveyed the impression that this really was a nice car, nice enough to warrant a 100 mile trip to Douglasville, Georgia to investigate in spite of the color. Salesperson John treated me really well when I bought the Boxster back in 2012. And it can't hurt to look, right ?

I made the trip to Douglasville, Georgia on February 14, 2015 to check the car out in person and found it to be appropriately priced, as beautiful as described in the ad, and to adequately fit my 6-foot frame. Maybe I should look at this a little more seriously . . .