Jaguar XE SV Project 8 review, photos, specs

When we think of British cars, the iconic ones, the mind turns to peppy roadsters and plush Rolls-Royce saloons. True, the history of raw English power was written by marques like Bentley, and these days, McLaren is no slouch.

But when it comes to a very large engine sending a car very fast in a more-or-less straight line, the Brits long ago ceded mindshare to its former colonies and their Yankee muscle.

Muscle cars are made by Chevy, Ford, and Dodge. The concept is brutal and simple: big motor, loud noise, rear wheel drive, tire smoke, hellacious linear speed. European cars, meanwhile, can go around corners.

That cliché sort of overlooks the fact that the muscle-car formula isn't exactly top-secret. This means that Mercedes and BMW and Audi can produce what by the specs resemble muscle cars. What the Germans have done, the Anglo-Saxons can also do.

This notion was recently driven home for me when Jaguar let me borrow an XE SV sedan, Project 8 edition. Price? $188,495. Production run? No more than 300 worldwide, Jag said back in 2017 when the company unleashed the rare beast.

I quite liked the Jag XE, and the Project 8, from Jaguar Land Rover's Special Vehicle Operations (SVO) wizards, sure looked good on paper — but it also looked intimidating. Was I ready for unbridled British sinew? Read on to find out.