In March 1996 Jaguar launched their new grand tourer, the XK8, at the prestigious Geneva Motor Show, which went on sale in September the same year.

Interestingly, the Geneva launch car was exactly the same colour and specification as our XK8; a shared good taste we think.

Our vendor, Mike, is the owner of a diagnostic and programming company, suffice to say that the word ‘motorsport’ is in the title of his firm, so safe to assume he knows what he’s doing as he’s been in business since 1983.

Like many people in the motor trade, the Jaguar was not the only one that Mike had around him, so it only had minimal use over several years.

Then something called Covid arrived in the UK, we all kept ourselves to ourselves and of course most businesses were forced to close.

Mike had an empty workshop, a fair selection of shiny tools, oh, and a Jaguar XK8.

The XK wasn’t in bad shape but one thing led to another and what was supposed to be a general tidy up turned into a full restoration; a bar...