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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  Incredible Car and a Great Value - 2005 Jaguar S-Type
  By Steve - December 20 - 10:06 am

  Absolutely love this car! Off the line performance put to shame my old 2001 996. Add 25 more HP, more aggressive differential and transmission gearing and you have the equivalent performance of BMW M and MB AMG at tens of thousands of dollars in savings. Ride is great and styling to die for...I get more walk-ups and comments on the Jag than the 911. The R is a rarety even in San Diego and people notice.

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  A dream car - 2006 Jaguar XK-Series
  By inheritablessing - December 13 - 3:13 am

  Love everything about it!!! There is nothing like the vintage looks of Jaguar. Its smooth as butter. Havent yet been called to have serviced. Absolutely a dream car.

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  Not impressed - 2004 Jaguar S-Type
  By Dillardo - December 11 - 7:33 pm

  I am not that impressed with my S-Type. It doesn’t even feel like a luxury car to me. The inside is very basic, the stereo system is horrible, and perhaps I needed to upgrade the stereo system. However, for the amount of the car, one would think the car would have a better sound system. The car has no cool features! Ok, I have memory seats, thats basically it. Nothing about this car feels luxurious! I hope that they do a better job with the redesigned S-Type. It should be more wonderful things about a car other than the exterior appearance, having a great interior, as well as great features makes a car complete. I cannot believe that the original asking price for this car was $45, 000. There is no way this car was ever worth that amount of money.

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  Looks great; pity about the mechanics - 2000 Jaguar S-Type
  By Dr B - December 11 - 2:00 am

  Love the outside, pity about the workmanship. Yes the interior doesnt hold much room, but I didnt buy it for that. Unfortunately just after the warantee finished both front windows fell off their levers costing and arm and a leg to fix. The moulding on the front of the car also came away.

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  looks great but repair happy - 2000 Jaguar S-Type
  By jagowner - December 9 - 10:00 am

  My s-type gets rave reviews for style and performance. But the car has many bugs (dashboard, trunk problems, transmission, engine computer, etc). Will sell it as soon as warranty runs out. Cant afford the $54 oil changes, $10 windshield fluid, $50 wipers, and $900 30,000 mile checkup!!

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  A Ford Contour w/ wood & leather - 2002 Jaguar X-Type
  By Tommy K - December 9 - 10:00 am

  Unfortunately, this cars mainframe is that of a Ford Mondeo (European Contour). And it drives like a Ford, save the $ 20k for the wood and leather.

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  THE Car to Buy - 2006 Jaguar XK-Series
  By Bob K - December 9 - 3:56 am

  2 months into this 06 XKR. Love the car. 3rd XK in 5 yrs. XKR is far superior to XK8. For Style and Performance, it is without peer. I park next to an SL600 every day and people stare at the XKR.

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  Sweet!! - 2002 Jaguar XJ-Series
  By DAMSr - November 26 - 8:40 am

  Very smooth car. I have it in Zircon Blue with Oatmeal leather. Good gas mileage. Good ergonomics. Great sound system. Superb handling. I have owned BMW, Lexus and MERCEDES. Love the Jags.

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  Awesome car!! - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By Josh boyles - November 24 - 2:06 am

  I saw this car and fell in love with it. Love the awd and the sport button, fast. Great horsepower. My first jag and so far am very impressed, the awd is great and the pick up power is nice to have.

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  Best Jaguar - 2007 Jaguar XK-Series
  By Achberger - November 18 - 7:20 am

  The Jaguar I purchased has these additional options: luxury package, premium audio package and 20" wheels. I also had the vehicle coated so that waxing never has to be performed. The car performs very well @ 300 hp but I like the gas mileage it can achieve. I have recorded 31 mpg. With fuel costs rising and the desire to own a fantastic looking performance vehicle, is there any other way to go?