Overview & Reviews

Jaguar cars have a long history of elegant styling and sporting performance. The brand was born in the United Kingdom, and for years its vehicles were synonymous with the old-world luxury of the British upper classes. More recently, Jaguar has been under the ownership of other automakers, but Jaguar cars will always bear the unmistakable gleam of traditional English refinement.

The company traces its roots to the Swallow Sidecar Company, founded in 1922 by Bill Lyons and William Walmsley. Based in Blackpool, England, the company produced a popular line of aluminum motorcycle sidecars. Swallow eventually switched its focus to automobile production, changing its name to SS Cars Ltd. in 1933. The first vehicle to carry the Jaguar name was the SS Jaguar 100, released in 1935.

After World War II, SS Cars switched its moniker to Jaguar so as not to be associated with the Nazi paramilitary organization that bore the same initials. Its first postwar offering was 1948's Mark V. The luxury sedan was joined that year by the XK 120, a sports car that was the fastest production automobile of its day — its name indicating its top speed. The XK 120 proved quite popular, and helped Jaguar establish a strong presence in the sports car market.

By the 1950s, Jaguar had begun exporting luxury vehicles to the United States. Created just for the American market, the Mark VII Saloon was introduced in 1951 and was a hit with stateside motorists. In 1956, the car took the prize at the Monte Carlo Rally. Later in the decade, Jaguar added the Mark VIII and Mark IX to its lineup. Meanwhile, the XK became the XK 140 as performance increased. Then came the XK 150 which was obviously even faster, though not quite as curvaceously alluring as the 120/140 models.

The 1960s saw the launch of one of Jaguar's most well-known models. The E-Type (or XK-E as it was known in the U.S.) debuted for 1961. The new sports car, available as either a coupe or convertible, provided performance and refinement wrapped up in an undeniably sexy package. The success of groups like the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and icons like Twiggy the fashion model made British culture a hot commodity during the '60s — a fact that likely had positive implications for Jaguar's popularity in the U.S.

A decade later, Jaguar introduced the XJ6C and XJ12C coupes to join the sedans. At one point, the XJ12 was the fastest production sedan of its day. By the mid-'70s the lovely E-Type was replaced by the relatively bland XJ-S. The 1980s saw Jaguar continuing to raise the bar in performance with the launch of the XJ-S HE and a true world supercar, the XJ220.
By this time, however, Jaguar's cars had also built up a reputation for questionable reliability, electrical problems being the chief source of owners' angst. Increased competition from German automakers and adverse exchange rates didn't help matters either. Without much capital to work with to improve matters, the company decided to pursue a partnership with another company. This decision ultimately led to a full buyout of Jaguar by Ford in 1990.

Ford's influence (and financial support) was evident with the 1997 launch of Jaguar's XK8 and supercharged XKR sports cars. Powering both was Jaguar's new AJ-V8, a compact yet powerful engine that was also used in certain Land Rover vehicles. A few years later, Jaguar made an effort to broaden its product line with the introduction of a lower-priced, entry-luxury compact sedan known as the X-Type. Unfortunately, this model sold poorly, as its modest European Ford sedan underpinnings proved to be a liability. Around this time, Jaguar's old-school traditional styling grew stale as competitors moved into the new millennium with cutting-edge, modern designs inside and out.

Sales plummeted, and Jaguar's financial problems caused further headaches for parent company Ford, which was also experiencing financial turmoil. Ford cut its losses and sold Jaguar (and fellow British premium brand Land Rover) to Indian manufacturer Tata in 2008. Though reliability still remains a concern, new models like the XF and redesigned icons XK and XJ seem to indicate a bright Jaguar future, as they feature modern designs sprinkled with a fair share of classic Britannic charm.

User Reviews:

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  2004 3.0 Jag X-type - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By Jagdriver - July 23 - 10:00 am

  This is an incredible car in the snow. Also fun to drive in the turns. I love the quick pull-out from a dead stop that the 227 horse allows.

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  X-Type Sport - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By KristenMarie - July 17 - 10:00 am

  I love this car and would surely recommend it to others. It drives well, looks beautiful and is a lot of fun to be inside of. It is great that their exterior styling hasnt been influenced by all the Japanese lines that other Euro car makers are currently wrapped up in. Jaguar should take a look at the interior of Audi A4s to get some hints on how to make the interior feel more like a luxury vehicle though. It is very nice but some aspects like the seat track and some other materials just really dont belong in a Jag.

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  Georgious to look at fun to drive - 2000 Jaguar XK-Series
  By Atlanta - July 4 - 10:00 am

  I bought my ’99 XK8 used with about 30,000 miles on it and have been happy with it. While not in the same category of vehicle, my decision came down to a BMW540 or the XK8.

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  big bucks,small car - 2006 Jaguar X-Type
  By a goldenberg - June 17 - 7:16 pm

  good looking, but a hard ride..problems with air bag sensor, squeaky windows and squeaky emergency brake cable. took 4 trips to service, and finally fixed all issues.

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  My Last Jaguar! - 2002 Jaguar XJ-Series
  By rollsroyceowner - June 12 - 12:10 pm

  I have owned many Jaguars through the years and have had great experiences with the exception of my 1989 XJ6 (it had all the problems that series was notorious for) and my current 2002 XJ Sport. My current Jaguar is a 42,000 mile, Carfax clean, two owner, fully dealer serviced car since new. Despite proper pedigree, it is a complete money pit! Past three months: Failed power seat module, $800. Two failed power window switches, $250 each. Failed power steering pump, on and on. The latest repair is the most insulting. At only 42,000 miles, the flywheel cracked and began rubbing on the bell housing. That repair plus two failed sensors, $1500. Get a warranty or stay far away!

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  Beautiful but costly - 2004 Jaguar XK-Series
  By t2000s - June 11 - 10:00 am

  Beautiful car, get lots of compliments. Have had a lot of problems. Just recently had the whole engine replaced. Under warranty of course! Every couple of months its something else wrong. Power window went out on psgr side. Convertible top gets stuck often, cig. lighter goes out, engine coolant light always comes on, pwr to side mirror has gone out sveral times.

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  Great at a good price - 2003 Jaguar XJ-Series
  By trexville - June 11 - 10:00 am

  I paid $41k for a 2003 XJR in 3/2004 and figured it was a great price to sample a car I have always liked from afar. At $41k Im super, super pleased but dont know if I would have been so pleased if I had to pay close to the sticker price. The car looks great and drives great. But you get more bells and whistles with the Japanese and German luxury cars, so if thats important, I might look elsewhere. However, theres no beating the Jaguar styling inside and out. This car has big-time personality -- all that wood and leather and its feline exterior make for a scrumptious package.

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  What A Car - 2006 Jaguar X-Type
  By Paul Worthington - June 8 - 3:50 am

  When I pulled out of showroom and got this car on the expressway, I never realized a driving experience quite like this. Wow. Now I know why I always wanted to own one. This is no Caddy or Lincoln.

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  Can a Car Have Too Much Power? - 2003 Jaguar S-Type
  By RGB - June 6 - 7:06 pm

  My three year lease is coming to an end soon, so its time to start thinking about a replacement for my 2003 Jaguar S-Type R. Its been a fun 3 years even though there have been some second thoughts while the car sat in the shop for a variety of problems. The car is beautiful (yea, if you try real hard, you can see some resemblance to the Taurus, especially the back end). I get plenty of looks and smiles. The interior was our real decision point. It is probably the most beautiful interior of any car out there. Performance is incredible. Can a car have too much power? Maybe, especially for city driving. Main complaint - always wants to go and hard to control at slow speeds. Next car - ??

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  What a disappointment - 2007 Jaguar XK-Series
  By Ron - June 6 - 5:53 pm

  I bought my dream Jag 2 months ago, only to discover, the dreaded electric gremlins attacked, over $2k for fuel pump and fuel pcm to be replaced, thermostat and housing over $400, over $1300 for tires, after all that that fuel system acts up yet again, would not start after a long drives, traded it for a 2013 BMW 328i. In the future maybe the BMW on. 2010-2014.