5 of Jaguar’s Most Underrated Designs
Jaguar built its reputation in a few ways. There were the race cars, yes, but Jaguar also sold sports cars that looked and performed like a Ferrari or an Aston Martin at a fraction of the price. It also sold brilliant sedans that were prettier than a Rolls or Bentley, with just as much shiny timber and fragrant cowhide for, you guessed it, a fraction of the price. Because of the obvious bargain that Jags represented, many buyers were willing to put up with sometimes dodgy reliability, until they weren’t. The Jaguar of 2024 was sadly out of tricks, and thus, the hard reset. With that said, maybe it’s time to take a closer look at the Coventry firm’s back catalog. Even the second-stringers were impressive. Here are five of our favorite underrated Jaguar designs:
1971-74 E-Type Series III Coupe
The Series III E-Type saw a new 5.3-liter SOHC V-12 stuffed into the car’s long wheelbase chassis of the 2+2 model. In period, the car was rather rudely treated by the automotive press and the public. People called it bulbous, ungainly, and a case of new wine in an old bottle. Those were some of the kinder epithets. The funny thing is, younger enthusiasts don’t see it that way.
Their tastes are different, and they’re not overly fond of the sainted Series I’s narrow track and skinny tires. To them, the Series III’s wider track, wider tires, and flared fenders have aged well. And maybe they’re right. A Series III coupe in the right color, like Silver Grey Metallic, Regency Red, British Racing Green, or Dark Blue—especially with disc wheels and not the anachronistic wires—is a great-looking car that has aged well. And while not cheap, it’s not that expensive for a vintage European V-12 sports car, either. Condition #2 (“excellent”) values in the Hagerty Price Guide range from $83,100 for a coupe to $135,000 for a roadster, though driver-quality examples can be had for much cheaper. The haters can deal with it.
1973-78 XJ6/12C
The BMW 2800CS and 3.0 CS (collectively known as E9 coupes) have been touted as the best-looking European coupes of the 1970s. Jaguar fans might have something to say about that. The original XJ6 sedan is a spectacularly gorgeous car in four-door form. Few, however, recall that there was a short-wheelbase, two-door coupe version of the car. The presence of the car was simply next-level—it even looked mean from the rear 3/4 with its squinty, Clint Eastwood-esque tail lights and the exhaust pipes that curved out of openings in the rear valance. The chef’s kiss? It was available with the Series III E-Type’s V-12. Nothing nearly as cool would come along until the V-12 C140 Mercedes, and the BMW 850i of the 1990s. In terms of rarity and style, the two-door XJ isn’t that pricey, with six-cylinder cars carrying a #2 value of $30,800, while the 12-cylinder cars’ complexity keeps them fairly close at $34,600.
1986-94 XJ
You mess with the styling of a Jaguar sedan at your own peril. Jaguar found this out with its first comprehensive re-design of the XJ6 since the model debuted in the 1960s. The XJ40 was, like the Series III E-Type, badly trolled by the critics of the day. Hysterics were directed even at things like the elimination of the radius curves at the bottom of the front and rear glass, and the square composite headlights. The design of the car has often been misattributed to Pininfarina—it was actually done in-house, although certainly, it appears as though Jaguar snatched a few elements of a 1974 Pininfarina design study for the XJ, like those aforementioned headlights.
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Regardless, I think it’s a case of another once-controversial design aging well. Much better, frankly, than Jaguar’s subsequent attempts to reboot the style of the original XJ6. In black or British Racing Green, the car looks both regal and menacing. It was once a fixture in the Westminster car parks of the powerful in Margaret Thatcher’s post-Falklands Britain, but now it’s a rare enough sight to garner renewed interest and it’s still quite a cheap car to buy.
2006-14 XK/XKR
It’s a bit of a toss-up between this car and the XK8 of 1996-2006. As the sole arbiter here, I’m inclined to go with the later car, designed by the brilliant Ian Callum. The earlier Geoff Lawson car just has a bit too much of the 1990s Taurus jellybean thing going on for me, while Callum’s design is more aggressive and harder-edged, particularly the post-2011 facelift XKR. The supercharged XKR-S was particularly impressive, both in looks and performance. The later F-Type certainly falls into the A-list of Jaguar designs and certainly overshadows this car, but that’s what makes it underrated, and at the moment there’s very little buzz around it.
1976-94 XJ-S
If there was ever a moment in Jaguar’s history that resembled the recent uproar following the unveiling of the 00 Concept car, it was probably the 1975 Frankfurt Motor Show, where the XJ-S was unveiled. The E-Type was a tough act to follow, and perhaps rightly so, Jaguar took a “copy nothing” approach back then as well. Despite being penned by longtime Jaguar designer Malcom Sayer, it looked exactly nothing like any past Jaguar. The profile, the headlights, taillights, and flying buttress roofline were all clean sheet elements. Few onlookers were impressed in 1975, and today it’s mostly remembered as the E-Type’s disappointing follow-up. Yet Jaguar went on to sell over 100,000 XJ-Ss through the mid-1990s in coupe and convertible form, as well as a few of the odd, semi-convertible XJS SCs. Now over a quarter century removed from the car’s replacement by the XK8, the elegant simplicity of the design is finding more admirers.
Looking at these classic, beautifully designed Jags, and then seeing their latest atrocity, makes me sick.
Personally, I’d give up my ’65 Backdraft 427 S/C Cobra before even considering the loss of my 96 XJ12 Sedan…
Priceless…and rare.
One of 153 imported for the last year of that style…..
Proud and happy owner of a 1976 XJ6-C for over a year now. Love driving this piller less coupe around town as much as possible. It gets lots of looks and love by people when out and about.
The XKR is definitely one of the best modern designs ever made as it’s unmistakably a JAAAAAAAAAAG
Such a shame with the direction Jaguar is heading into
The 1971-74 E-Type Series III Coupe does kind of prove Jay Leno’s statement about the first design/version is the best. I do think the car lost a little with each redesign but that does not mean they are ugly, just to me not as good. Any of these look good unlike that concept abomination they recently showed us.
The XK/XKR and F-type are responsible for the Type 00. They’re both beautiful Jaguar-esque cars in the tradition of the company. What everyone says they should get back on track and sell. But they didn’t sell. Seems like everyone wants Jag to soldier on and survive with the addendum of -‘ Not that I’d buy a new one . They have reliability maintenance cost issues. I’ll wait and see.’ You can’t pour money into improving engineering if it’s simply not there. Besides how many people buy a high end luxury car thinking it will be as reliable as a Sherman tank and as cheap to maintain as a lawn mower. Not that they mow their own lawn mind you.
I’ve owned most of these models. My daily driver was an ’87 XJ6. I still have a ’96 XJS and a ’14 XKR. The XJS is nimble and the XKR is a blast to drive.
Imagine , a 92 xjs roadster in good shape appearing to be an insurance case with possible flood damage in passenger floor wells . Recent top @ the rich man’s club Pic a Part in Prescott valley Arizona . Although I mentioned it to friends and could not take it on myself . 3 months later it was gone and I was told it had been scrapped !
Flood damage in the floor wells is a really bad thing for an XJS. there are control modules in both floors, under the carpet, just in front of the seats. And if the water got as high as the console, there are way too many connectors inside the console and inside the kick panels in front of the doors. It would have been good for parts above the waterline, but sadly that one would not have been a good candidate for resurrection.
The XJ-S and XK 2006 and of course the F Type (because I have one) get’s my vote.
Even with the F Type, I’d still want to own and XJS and XK-RS someday, fate willing.
I used to park cars at a nice country club back in the early 80’s, and the member’s jags were always may favorites. The XJ-S with those vertical gauges, the drop down boots of the XJ-6’s and -12’s, and the occasional -C all reminded me of the muscles of a race horse. Still love those lines.
As a kid I thought the 2 door XK-S was an exotic. Now this latest design makes me cringe.
I’ve loved the 6C/12C as long as a can remember, having essentially grown up in the Jaguar Club of Tulsa. XJ-S has also always been underappreciated, which has always been great for buyers.
Jag’s main problem has been the F-Pace, as it was too little, too late. No brand can survive in today’s mainstream luxury market on cars alone, without significant CUV/SUV volume. Even the high end is almost universally cashing in on the trend now (Rolls, Bentley, Ferrari, Lamborghini).
All of the German luxury marques have figured out that SUVs are the volume future – Porsche now lives on Macan sales today, whether or not we like to admit it. Of course, those German OEMs also have a wide variety of appropriate platforms, and/or significant modularity, in their portfolios. Maybe Rover could have been better used to give Jaguar some more CUV/SUV products?
I have to go with the XJS (2+2 convertible) since I just bought a 1994 one. Still trying for a replacement motor so the back passenger window will go back up when raising the top.
I’ve had several Jags, including a spotless opalescent Burgandy 66 E-Type Coupe, which I consider much prettier than a roadster, but damn I got tired of having to scrunch down my neck to drive it. I removed the blocks under the rear of the drivers seat to make it recline enough to keep from having contact with the roof but it was nowhere near as comfortable to drive, nor was it any faster than any of my three Austin Healeys. I also had the dreaded 88 Sovereign with a great fuel injected 4 litre 6 cylinder, page 144 of the worst cars ever built. First night I had it took a lady out for dinner and a movie. When we got back to her place, I couldn’t get her out of the passenger door, and finally she had to crawl over the centre console and past the steering wheel. As I was helping her come out through the driver door horizontally her boobs fell out of her dress in front of the neighbours. All I could say was ” well, if nothing else, it’s a bit of a time saver ” and that was a one-time only date. The door handle linkages were too flimsy and stretched. The cure ? None. I saw the car at an auction a year after I sold it. By then the drivers door still worked, the other three would no longer open. LOL. But then I had a fantastic 2003 Jag S-Type R, with that supercharged 4.2 L V-8 which was computer limited to 155 whisper quiet Miles Per Hour, super comfortable, reliable and beautiful in its classic style. Fantastic car for three seasons but forget about driving in even a dusting of snow. The traction control pulses the rear brakes constantly and destroys the rear brake pads and discs. The British Ford Mondeo was an all wheel drive version of it the Brits raved about, during the years Ford owned Jag and improved reliability. I wouldn’t take any car with a V-12 even for free.
I had the 2001 X-Type which was based on the Mondeo. It made the 70’s Detroit crap I had look like Rollers. Just a few weeks after I had it the car died. Turned out even though the gas gauge said I had half a tank I was out of gas. It seems a part (fuel sender?) that relayed info to the gauge was broken. And there wasn’t a replacement anywhere in the US. The dealer told me it would take several weeks to get one from England. Of course I had to make a 850 round trip drive for work the next week. The dealer said just fill up every 200 miles,
At one point I complained about how often the car was in for service and he told me it was only every 4000 miles or so which was very acceptable. Worse was several of those trips were for multiple issues that didn’t prevent driving.
And then on the way home to KY from Columbus, OH the primary computer module blew on I-71 limiting my speed to 25 miles per hour. Got towed to Cincy to a dealer. One of several tows. I should add there are many nice tow truck drivers as with that car I met quite a few.
We had a ’76 XJ12L and out of the 9 I’ve had it was the most comfortable riding car.
Unfortunately I hardly ever had an opportunity to ride in the back and take advantage
of it.
I’ve had an 86 XJ6 for 34 years. Windsor blue with grey leather interior with all the options. Just turned 70,000 kilometres. Never seen snow and only rain 3 times since I have owned it. The car is immaculate and looks as good or better than when it came out of the factory. I had it for sale twice. 2016 and this year. No bites. I just don’t understand why as it is a beautiful machine.
Where are you located can you send me pictures of the vehicle and can I test drive it