Jaguar blew us away at the 2018 New York Auto Show with the reveal of the V8-powered F-Pace SVR. The British luxury brand has already expressed interest in building more SVR branded SUVs, but one very important Jaguar model will not get an SVR variant. We have been waiting for Jaguar to give the XE sedan a V8 engine, but Car and Driver reports our dreams have just been crushed. The only XE sedan with a V8 engine will be the limited production XE SV Project 8, which starts at a whopping $188,495.

This price assumes being able to actually find one. Jaguar only built 300 examples of the Project 8 for the whole world, so we wouldn't be surprised if prices have already gone up. The Senior Manager for Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations (SVO), Duncan Smith, said he wants the performance division to be differentiated from AMG or M. "The Project 8 was the extreme embodiment of what the XE could do," Smith explained. We assume an XE SVR just wasn't as important as the F-Pace SVR, given the popularity of SUVs in the market. This could also increase the collector value of the Project 8 as the only V8 XE to ever be built.

We find it interesting that Jaguar doesn't want to enter an important segment with the Alfa Romeo Giulia QV, Audi RS5, BMW M3, Cadillac ATS-V, Lexus RC-F, Mercedes C63, among others. Our hopes for an SVR sedan now turn to the larger XF sedan or (even better) the XF Sportbrake wagon.