Jaguar considered luxury by the public

[RMDB9]

V8C said:

What happened, Jaguar?

[coppice]

The world I grew up in - pre Jurassic era - had a simple hiearchy -

Jaguars - fur coat and no knickers
Mercs- seriously classy , rare and expensive . Understated , and for grown ups only ,
BMW - rare , sporty and desirable
Audi - Who ? Oh that weird VW spin off ?
Citroens - eccentric, endearing , and the lower orders didn't get them at all
Fords- for Barries of all ages, but often sexy .
Rovers - the 2000/3500 was surprisingly trendy, but the 3.5 was what the Queen drove so a bit trad
Porsches - wonderful , but very , very rare
Ferraris - unicorns, never seen
Lambos - made Ferraris look common

Jag now ? God knows - the saloons are all but identical, the FType makes a gratuitously silly racket , the F Pace is another ghastly SUV , usually driven by Botox addicts but I rather like the weird cab forward I Pace.

[mickyh7]

Pantera photos.....
Wow Stunning!
Thank You.

[Gad-Westy]

coppice said:

The world I grew up in - pre Jurassic era - had a simple hiearchy -

Jaguars - fur coat and no knickers
Mercs- seriously classy , rare and expensive . Understated , and for grown ups only ,
BMW - rare , sporty and desirable
Audi - Who ? Oh that weird VW spin off ?
Citroens - eccentric, endearing , and the lower orders didn't get them at all
Fords- for Barries of all ages, but often sexy .
Rovers - the 2000/3500 was surprisingly trendy, but the 3.5 was what the Queen drove so a bit trad
Porsches - wonderful , but very , very rare
Ferraris - unicorns, never seen
Lambos - made Ferraris look common

Jag now ? God knows - the saloons are all but identical, the FType makes a gratuitously silly racket , the F Pace is another ghastly SUV , usually driven by Botox addicts but I rather like the weird cab forward I Pace.

I was born in 1980 and probably had a broadly similar set of stereotypes growing up. Jag was probably more 'local entrepreneur' though. They basically only sold an expensive saloon and an expensive sporty coupe for most of that period. Bang on about Audi. They were kind of Saab like in being the quirky, slightly nerdy choice. Citroen by that point had some cheap and cheerful hatchbacks as well so had become a bit more mainstream though still did some quirky stuff. As you say, Ferraris and Lambos, more or less non-existant. I probably saw one Ferrari per year if I was lucky. Don't remember seeing a Lambo anywhere at all until the Gallardo era kicked in.

[Brother D]

Gad-Westy said:

coppice said:

The world I grew up in - pre Jurassic era - had a simple hiearchy -

Jaguars - fur coat and no knickers
Mercs- seriously classy , rare and expensive . Understated , and for grown ups only ,
BMW - rare , sporty and desirable
Audi - Who ? Oh that weird VW spin off ?
Citroens - eccentric, endearing , and the lower orders didn't get them at all
Fords- for Barries of all ages, but often sexy .
Rovers - the 2000/3500 was surprisingly trendy, but the 3.5 was what the Queen drove so a bit trad
Porsches - wonderful , but very , very rare
Ferraris - unicorns, never seen
Lambos - made Ferraris look common

Jag now ? God knows - the saloons are all but identical, the FType makes a gratuitously silly racket , the F Pace is another ghastly SUV , usually driven by Botox addicts but I rather like the weird cab forward I Pace.

I was born in 1980 and probably had a broadly similar set of stereotypes growing up. Jag was probably more 'local entrepreneur' though. They basically only sold an expensive saloon and an expensive sporty coupe for most of that period. Bang on about Audi. They were kind of Saab like in being the quirky, slightly nerdy choice. Citroen by that point had some cheap and cheerful hatchbacks as well so had become a bit more mainstream though still did some quirky stuff. As you say, Ferraris and Lambos, more or less non-existant. I probably saw one Ferrari per year if I was lucky. Don't remember seeing a Lambo anywhere at all until the Gallardo era kicked in.

Crikey that about the best summary I think I've seen on the whole thread (I think I must be the same age as the OP)!

[John Locke]

coppice said:

The world I grew up in - pre Jurassic era - had a simple hiearchy -

Jaguars - fur coat and no knickers
Mercs- seriously classy , rare and expensive . Understated , and for grown ups only ,
BMW - rare , sporty and desirable
Audi - Who ? Oh that weird VW spin off ?
Citroens - eccentric, endearing , and the lower orders didn't get them at all
Fords- for Barries of all ages, but often sexy .
Rovers - the 2000/3500 was surprisingly trendy, but the 3.5 was what the Queen drove so a bit trad
Porsches - wonderful , but very , very rare
Ferraris - unicorns, never seen
Lambos - made Ferraris look common

Jag now ? God knows - the saloons are all but identical, the FType makes a gratuitously silly racket , the F Pace is another ghastly SUV , usually driven by Botox addicts but I rather like the weird cab forward I Pace.

Mention of the Rover models puts your memories firmly in the 1960s. You obviously weren't there, the reality;-

Jaguars - favoured transport of bank robbers, and senior bank managers.
Mercs- petrol models seriously slow, rare for good reason, and expensive because a fool and his money, diesels, slower still, for taxi drivers only.
BMW - Italian bubble cars, made under licence.
Audi - Auto Union.
Citroens - eccentric, and apart from the 2CV, usually broken, the intelligent didn't get them at all.
Fords- everything from the Popular for the dustman, to the Zodiac; for when he won the football pools.
Rovers - the 2000/3500 was decades ahead of its time, the 3.5 was what the Prime Minister was chauffeurred in, so classy and formal without ostentation.
Porsches - souped up VW Beetles, which were twice the price of the 40 mph faster E-Type, for that reason, very, very rare.
Ferraris - company owned by a weirdo, selling to other weirdos, some products went rather well on occasion, but lacked development.
Lambos - founded by someone not weird enough for Ferrari to deal with.

However, I cannot disagree with much of your summary of the present. Lyons must be spinning in his grave at the four banger diesels being sold now.

Edit for lame spelling.

Edited by John Locke on Saturday 13th June 08:22

[coppice]

Au contraire, I was indeed there , buying my first Autocar in 1967 . The Jag bank robber thing always seemed to me a budget TV series trope . But seriously, that is my genuine perspective of the car hierarchy where I grew up - near Leeds .I never saw 2CVs until well into the 70s and the DS , and little brother GS , were seriously cool . Seeing something like a bright yellow Lotus Europa back then , in a street full of Anglias and wheezing HA Vivas , was like seeing an alien craft.

Edited by coppice on Saturday 13th June 07:17

[DoubleD]

Its funny, you can always see which brand someone likes by their view of that brand and others, you always end up with a very one sided view!

[craigjm]

John Locke said:

Lyons must be spinning in his grave at the four banger diesels being sold now.

Yeah because he never used four cylinder engines did he and as an astute businessman he would have completely ignored a massive market trend

[John Locke]

DoubleD said:

Its funny, you can always see which brand someone likes by their view of that brand and others, you always end up with a very one sided view!

I think that's just individual experience; I had great fun and no grief, apart from depreciation, from my first Mk2 bought when I was 18, more fun, 200,000 miles and a profit from my first E-Type, followed by other good Jags, until the quality fell off a cliff for many years, during which I switched to MB and BMW, preferring the latter, but by the mid 90s, the performance / reliability pendulum had swung again in favour of Jaguar.
70 next week, I expect my current 12 year old XJR to serve for the rest of my driving days, at least I hope so, because now nobody makes anything which I really fancy, at a price I am willing to pay.

[Jaguar steve]

John Locke said:

DoubleD said:

Its funny, you can always see which brand someone likes by their view of that brand and others, you always end up with a very one sided view!

I think that's just individual experience; I had great fun and no grief, apart from depreciation, from my first Mk2 bought when I was 18, more fun, 200,000 miles and a profit from my first E-Type, followed by other good Jags, until the quality fell off a cliff for many years, during which I switched to MB and BMW, preferring the latter, but by the mid 90s, the performance / reliability pendulum had swung again in favour of Jaguar.
70 next week, I expect my current 12 year old XJR to serve for the rest of my driving days, at least I hope so, because now nobody makes anything which I really fancy, at a price I am willing to pay.

Yeah, me neither.

Mrs JS and the kids are encouraging me to treat myself to a nice prezzie for my upcoming 60th and that's exactly my problem too. I cant find anything either modern or classic I fancy enough to justify the faff of searching for it or cost of buying it.

Except maaaaaybe another boat...

[WJNB]

Jaguar which was once the PURE BRITISH company that had a whiff of the bank robber, pub landlord & Arfur Daley image that is trying to shake off such images with clumsy lumbering DIESELS!!!! SUV's or battery cars. The feeble attempt at a modern-day successor just looks a fat blob compared with the svelte products from Porsche. If you want peace of mind reliability, build quality & longevity you don't buy a Jaguar.
Sneer not at taxi drivers for they know about such things - worldwide too. Ask your self when did you last see a 10/20 year old jaguar being used as an everyday 'working' appliance upon which somebody's livelihood relies.
BUT if image is important, you fancy yourself a bit of an aging blade & like your women a bit tarty then of course it has to be a JAAAAG.

[craigjm]

WJNB said:

Jaguar which was once the PURE BRITISH company

When did it stop being a PURE BRITISH Company? They have been using foreign components since 1957

[williamp]

But their image has always been knocked, even on here: ive has countless arguments over the years when we talk about the jaguar flagship from the late 80s/early 90s. On the back of their le mans wins (beating porsche and mercedes), they produced a supercar which was, for some time the fastest car in the world and held the lap record at the nurburgring,and won its clas at le mans

...only to be dismissed as "too wide" and "has the engine from a metro". Hopeless.

And the XE is the best driving car in its class, yet on here suddenly thats not as important as an easier to use satnav.

[stevemcs]

WJNB said:

Jaguar which was once the PURE BRITISH company that had a whiff of the bank robber, pub landlord & Arfur Daley image that is trying to shake off such images with clumsy lumbering DIESELS!!!! SUV's or battery cars. The feeble attempt at a modern-day successor just looks a fat blob compared with the svelte products from Porsche. If you want peace of mind reliability, build quality & longevity you don't buy a Jaguar.
Sneer not at taxi drivers for they know about such things - worldwide too. Ask your self when did you last see a 10/20 year old jaguar being used as an everyday 'working' appliance upon which somebody's livelihood relies.
BUT if image is important, you fancy yourself a bit of an aging blade & like your women a bit tarty then of course it has to be a JAAAAG.

They need the diesels though for the sales, getting by selling to private customers with big petrols won't cut it now. Look at Merc, Audi and BMW all of them have 2.0 diesels.

As for the Mercs being taxis, true, but most of them are the mercs from the mid to early 980's that are still running.

[craigjm]

williamp said:

But their image has always been knocked, even on here: ive has countless arguments over the years when we talk about the jaguar flagship from the late 80s/early 90s. On the back of their le mans wins (beating porsche and mercedes), they produced a supercar which was, for some time the fastest car in the world and held the lap record at the nurburgring,and won its clas at le mans

...only to be dismissed as "too wide" and "has the engine from a metro". Hopeless.

And the XE is the best driving car in its class, yet on here suddenly thats not as important as an easier to use satnav.

We have a habit in this country of knocking things and throwing stones at success and then wonder why we end up where we do

[anonymous-user]

WJNB said:

The feeble attempt at a modern-day successor just looks a fat blob compared with the svelte products from Porsche.

Oxford dictionary
Svelte - slender and elegant
If you think a 911 looks 'slender and elegant you need to get your mince pies tested.

[J4CKO]

Jags are alright until some screws a "leaper" on a modern one, its not 1964 any more, it looks st on an anything that never came with one.

[ZX10R NIN]

They're definitly premium on par with the German three, luxury is a different matter because an A Class isn't a luxury car nor is an E Class that imo is reserved for CL/SL/S/G Class cars.

[craigjm]

J4CKO said:

Jags are alright until some screws a "leaper" on a modern one, its not 1964 any more, it looks st on an anything that never came with one.

I agree but this one is also muddied by the manufacturer itself. Stopped fitting them in Europe in 1968 with the XJ launch so after the 420G finished in 1970 that was it. Problem was they still put them in bags in the glovebox for foreign importers to fit if they wanted and the Americans particular fitted them like crazy. Some Europeans then copied aftermarket (and often got the position terribly wrong). They supplied leapers like that until 2005.

Arden also fit them to even their latest creations!