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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
![Jaguar E-type V12 series III](https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/12/jaguar_e-type_v12_fixed_head_coupe_6.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=480&ixlib=php-3.3.0&w=640)
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
![Jaguar_XJ12 Coupe](https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/12/Jaguar_XJ12Coupe_Side_Profile.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=360&ixlib=php-3.3.0&w=640)
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
![Jaguar_XJ6_XJ40 front three quarter](https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/12/Jaguar_XJ6_XJ40_1.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=360&ixlib=php-3.3.0&w=640)
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
![jaguar_xkr_coupe front three quarter](https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/12/jaguar_xkr_coupe_red.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=480&ixlib=php-3.3.0&w=640)
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
![Jaguar_XJ-S rear three quarter](https://hagerty-media-prod.imgix.net/2024/12/Jaguar_XJ-S.jpg?auto=format%2Ccompress&fit=crop&h=360&ixlib=php-3.3.0&w=640)
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.
Those were the days my friends we thought they’d never end. My mother was a WWII war bride, Jags got in my blood. 1997 XK8 and 2006 XJ8 Portfolio.
I actually worked at Henlys, The Hyde, London in the early 70s and saw so many of these cars brand new as they arrived from the factory. I used to buy all the trade-ins that Henlys had that did not meet their high standards to retail, so I owned many E types and XJ’s of all models up to about 1979, including a lovely white 1976 XJ12 C which is one of the quietest cars I ever had. Only surpassed by a 1977 XJS.
The only problem with the two doors XJC cars was wind noise from the side windows, which with the car being pillarless, never seemed to be able to get a good seal onto the roof and the rear quarter window.
The XKE 2+2 was never liked that much because it went away from the very smooth lines of a standard two-seater car. I could also never understand why Jaguar discontinued the faired in headlights as they looked far better than the later ones without the fairing.
The XJ12C did not have exactly the same V12 as was in the E type as the E Type V12 was fueled via Stromberg carburettors, as against the XJ12C by fuel injection as we’re all series 2 onwards XJ 12s.
When the XJ6 was first introduced it was fitted straight tail pipe extensions, and the change to curly ones was not done to improve the looks, but for far more serious reason. It was noticed that on both sides of the headlining, level with the front of the rear doors, wispy black stains would appear which was traced to be exhaust fumes coming back into the car so they changed to the curly exhaust tail pipe trim, so the exhaust came out at each rear corner of the car and was allowed great extraction away from the vehicle.
In 1992 I bought my dream car, a series 2 E-Type roadster. After spending six years restoring it, I enjoyed driving it for over 25 years. Now that I am 81 years old, I have difficulty getting in and getting out of it, but the timeless lines of the E-Type remain as youthful as ever.
I have three Jags. My first is a Kingfisher Blue ’92 XJS V12 Convertible that I bought in 2012. It will be my ‘keeper for life’. The next one I bought was a Regency Red ’05 XJ8-L for a daily driver in 2015. It’s a wonderful car that’s had very little issues, and none that I wasn’t able to handle myself. And the last one that I picked up is the ’92 XJ6 Sovereign in 2018. It is Brooklands green with barley interior and has the rectangle composite headlights. The ride of the Sovereign is like riding on a cloud. All of my Jags have been really good to me. None of them have ever been towed and they always got me home from wherever I’ve driven them.
The XJC is a great touring car and the one I have is the only car I have owned twice, having regretted selling it immediately. The best looking of the XJ’s in my biased opinion.