The shape of both cars is the work of the same designer, too: Ian Callum, Jaguar's design director for the past few years. That's enough power for most needs, you would think, especially as it is matched with very strong lower-speed pulling ability. But the engine is the best in its class, and the handling characteristics are sublime. It is mechanically trouble-free and it hauls a holiday touring load effortlessly.

For fast touring on European roads, the Triumph is excellent It made me proud to be riding a British motorcycle.. Specifications Price: £67,495 (coup? £73,495 (convertible). On sale now Engine: 4,196cc, V8 cylinders, 32 valves, supercharger, 416bhp at 6,250rpm, 413lb ft at 4,000rpm Transmission: six-speed automatic gearbox, rear-wheel drive Performance: 155mph (limited), 0-60mph in 4.9 seconds, 22.9mpg official average CO2: 294g/km "An XK with the volume turned up" - that's how Mike Cross, the man charged with making Jaguars feel as Jaguars should, describes the new XK/R. Its parts are Jaguar XK plus a supercharger - and the whole is a car that stands a chance of making its relative within Ford's Premier Automotive Group, the Aston Martin DB9, look just a tad extravagant The Aston costs £106,850 and has a 450bhp V12 The Jaguar costs £67,495 and has a 416bhp V8. The Sprint covered 2,300 miles in six days on every type of road. It is smooth and gentlemanly in town, has the torque to shock the fastest car and handles like a real sports bike when the going gets twisty.The only maintenance I performed was routine chain lubrication (Motul Chain Lube spray); the engine required no additional oil (and still does not 800 miles later); the Bridgestone Battlax tyres look good for another 1,000 miles.The headlights are a little feeble at high speed. In fact, he loved the whole trip, and so did I.From our holiday home in Plougasnou we ventured south to Bordeaux, back to Brittany and then home via Plymouth, Tetbury, Leicester and Edinburgh. It was then that I remembered advice not to use the panniers at more than 85mph.

It is too cautious; they suffered no consequences, and Toby loved the adrenalin burst. Between Caen and Rennes, with the inside lane jammed with HGVs, we were bullied from behind by a Mercedes and escaped by cresting a rise at 130mph. At the Airborne Landings Museum at Ste M? Eglise, it earned envious looks from teenagers on mopeds "Is it really British?" asked one. His dad had told him that Britain stopped making motorcycles in the 1960s.After stopping at the vast American cemetery overlooking Omaha Beach and following the route inland from Gold Beach taken on 6 June 1944 by the men of the Royal Greenjackets, we set off for Plougasnou at the western tip of Brittany. The ABS proved its worth when a Land-Rover and trailer chugged out in front of us. There was gravel and horse manure on the road and a coach coming the other way I hit the brakes very hard. The heavily laden Sprint dipped, the front brake lever pulsed - we stopped safely ABS is optional on this Buy it It saves lives.First stops in France were the D-Day beaches.

Flitting between the British military cemetery at Bayeux and the huge German gun battery above Gold Beach at Longues sur Mer, the Sprint felt dependable on the wet, winding lanes of the Normandy bocage. A lot of credit goes to the frame geometry and handlebars, but the engine helps; the big triple-cylinder is smooth as well as powerful Vibration is minimal. The panniers and top-box go on and off smoothly and easily.Day two; 100 miles of minor roads via Salisbury Plain to Portsmouth and the fast ferry to Cherbourg. The Sprint felt rock solid even where the carriageway was drenched. Instruments were unclouded by condensation and the six-speed gearbox did not miss a change.