It's not just the silhouette; in fact, it's not especially the silhouette. The three-dimensional depth of the smooth bulges needs to be seen for the sensuality to be felt. From the A-pillars forward to the open oval mouth, the fender lines look like the shoulders and arms of a muscular female swimmer diving perfectly into the pool to begin her race. There's a single horizontal chrome bar in the open oval mouth. The front bumper/dam is invisible, as if the nose of the car were molded; one short, slim seam trails back from the headlamps to the wheelwells, marking the only separation of bumper and hood. The XKR features a larger spoiler.
The nose, tail and side sills are all revised for 2005, but few will notice; Jaguar was wise enough not to mess with near-perfection. The sills are deeper, so from the rear there's an evident V shape, with the sides tapering down from door-handle level. It all seems to flow back to the tail, fattening as it goes but not making the car look fat; in fact, the tail seems to sharpen again, a brilliant design effect.
That long tail contains a capacious trunk for a sports car, and inside the steeply sloped rear window can be seen a big tray behind the headrests of the rear seats, indicating more length. One can only imagine what the XK8 would look like, and handle like, if there were no jump seats at all. The space behind the front seats could be used for storage and the trunk, and many inches could be chopped off the long tail with its long overhang. But the Coupe would then lose that stunning sense of proportion, wouldn't it?"
