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:

• 

  the best ever - 2004 Jaguar S-Type
  By amalanga - February 22 - 10:00 am

  unquestionably, the best car i have ever driven!

• 

  Fun Car but has some problems - 2002 Jaguar X-Type
  By jgwebwoman - February 22 - 10:00 am

  I love driving this car! However, when we purchased our car (used) the check engine light came on in the first few days. Over the course of 6 weeks the light went on and off and the service station didnt know why and could only reset it. Also, the driver side door handle is poorly designed. If you dont lift up on it just right it wont release the latch so you can open the door. It is very frustrating. Also the boot open indicator occasionally comes on when driving down the highway, but goes back off shortly. Overall though Im extremely pleased with the car and still feel happy every time I get in to start her up!

• 

  What a wonderful machine - 2004 Jaguar XJ-Series
  By Paul Omara - February 22 - 10:00 am

  This car is without a doubt a truly wonderful machine to drive and to own. Its styling is exquisitely Jaguar and its performance/handling is amazing. You can take Mercedes and BMW and show them the door - Jaguar has done its job superbly with this car. I LOVE it.

• 

  Fun car - 2005 Jaguar S-Type
  By TomH - February 19 - 10:53 am

  This car is a joy to drive especally with the adaptive cruise control andnavigation. It makes taking a trip easy. The car is not perfect and could be improved quite a bit with just a few changes like better drink holders and adding heated steering wheel like moms XJ8L. Still the car is well equipped. The car handles very well and most times I prefer to take it over the wifes Boxster . While the Boxster is a true sports car the S is very close to as good handling and has better acceleration plus more room. One caution with the standard tires forget even going to get winter tires if the roads have any ice or snow.

• 

  Jaguar X-Type 3.0 - 2003 Jaguar X-Type
  By dawgfan - February 16 - 2:00 am

  Excelent car... JAGUAR, says it all.. Beautiful car.. 3.0 is a must... Handles and accelerates like a sports car... Looks and rides like a Luxury car... Glad we chose the JAG over the 330i or the C-class...

• 

  Even the Wife Loves it. - 2003 Jaguar S-Type
  By CJames - February 16 - 2:00 am

  It is nice to be driving a car again that other people, Complete strangers, come up to you and compliment on the cars looks and color or style. I did not get that with my Mercedes and have not had it happen since I owned a Jaguar before. Twelve years and five other cars before.

• 

  Jaquar Joy! - 2004 Jaguar S-Type
  By Pam Mullins - February 9 - 2:00 am

  The style, comfort, creature comforts, and durability are excellent!

• 

  My Baby Jag - 2003 Jaguar X-Type
  By AL - February 6 - 4:30 pm

  I have had mine for almost a year now with no problems. The car handles like no other I have ever owned, it has good power, and it turns heads like no car I have ever owned, and this thing will really take a corner at any speed, no torque steer, no drift, a joy to drive.

• 

  3.0 Bigger is Better - 2004 Jaguar X-Type
  By Bernard Ellenson - February 4 - 10:00 am

  Do not buy or lease this car with the 2.5 engine.It does give very good gas milage but it lacks power and responsiveness.Obviously the modified DCHC block from Ford has been set up to please English drivers who want gas milage over performance while USA drivers prefer the performance.Whenever you down shift to accelerate the car sort of thinks it all through and then decideds to respond-causing some anxious momments in traffic. Through sources besides the DCHC block modifications the car has a "cheap" transmission from either Germany or Japan that has already been recalled.

• 

  Excellent buy as a Used Car - 2002 Jaguar X-Type
  By David - February 4 - 7:10 am

  I am generally happy with this car. I bought it for its appearance and I have not been disappointed. I am, however, disappointed with four things: Poor gas mileage, approximately 20 MPG, even in Highway driving. This vehicle (the 2.5) is severly underpowered, with poor pickup and hill climbing ability. The leg room in the back seat is very poor. It is impossible to tighten the rear view mirror and it moves when you hit a bump. An excellent buy if you dont mind getting poor mileage from special gas and never have anyone sitting in back.