i was just thinking about this the other day after i actually saw one on the road. i hardly see ANY and im in one of the most populated places in the country, also near some of the more afluent towns in the metro nyc area! it was so refreshing to see one and it made me realize even more how these stand out in this vitual desert of automotive design boredom that has plagued us in this country for the last 10 years or so...

 

I only see one about once every month or so! Even then, its a X300 or a base XJ8 in horrible shape. I think thats a great thing. These things really turn heads. I see people staring at it EVERY time I drive it and people comment on it all the time. It almost feels like a Bentley or something in New England where the landscape is filled with Subarus and Hondas. The amount of attention can almost be a bit uncomfortable. One time a fire alarm sent about 500 ppl from an office building into the street, and everyone had to step aside to let me drive through. I heard "JESUS CHRIST! That is a nice f*ckin car!", and "Wow what is that?", and "That's a nice Jag. Hmm its a Vanden Plas too. I like it" and younger women saying "That's such a cool car" and "Oh my God, that car is gorgeous!"

I've parked her and saw a few people walk up to it to peek inside after they thought I walked off.

Yea these are pretty rare up here. In Quebec City, it got even 5x more attention. It was crazy.

In D.C. and Houston, people barely notice the car. The X308s aren't as rare there. Especially DC. For some reason, I saw a X308 about every 2 or 3 days! Strange. I even saw a XJ8 taxi cab. It hurt to see that one.

 

LOL, burmaz at the comments
These people have good points at staring too

 

there are a few here, so we see them often

 

I see one or two in my vicinity in suburban Boston. To my surprise, there are at least two in the rural town in Illinois where my mother lives. There weren't all that many to begin with.

 

I see a huge number of them, then again I would seeing as I live in the UK. I will pass at least 3 X308s parked on driveways en route to work, and it isn't unusual to pass one or have one pass me when I'm out and about.

In Britain people don't jump around yelling in celebration when they see a Jag, or any nice car for that matter. They just glance with a smile and a look of appreciation, unless they are under the age of 20 when they'll have a wide eyed jaw dropped look of wonderment.

 

For 6 months since I have my XJ8 I have never seen another one here in Bulgaria... it's like I have some kind of prototype I enjoy the feeling to be unique. The only Jags you can find around here are a few S-types and X-types.

It's great to be almost the only one with such car in a city with more than 1 million cars I've heard about one blue X300 and one snow white XJ8 but I've never seen them.

The only problem is with cheating my wife - all our friends easily recognize my cat and they keep calling every day just to say: "Hey buddy, I've just saw parked in front of that bar".

 

I see one X308 Sovereign every now and then, but that's about it. S-types and X-types are rather common (neighbour's son has a very nice black 3.0 AWD), but an XJ is a rare sight.

 

I see lots in the San Francisco Bay Area

 

I see at least a few a day coming through my town. When I go to Waco, I am sure to see even more Saw a very clean XJ8 L earlier.

 

anything european is rare in El Paso. Even volkswagen is only spotted maybe once or twice a day. There is an old green Xj6 (1984-1986) running around. There is a 1997 Xj6 running around. A light greenish xj8 base and a black xj8 base that belonged to soldiers used to be here but both PCSed., and my 2000 xj8 VDP. I think mine is the only VDP here. There is two more black XJ8s (x308) owned by workers at the dealership. Both of them base. One with fading paint job and one perfect paint job.
There is about a total of 3 or 4 X308s here including mine that is private owned. There is two more (one 1998 black and one 2000 beige), both base models that is for sale at an independent dealer.
BMW is the most common (though still uncommon and owned mostly by soldiers passing through for a few years.) and very rare outside the 3 series. Twp MBZs W126 in the whole city, two W140s, and three W220s(all owned by soldiers.). One local owned Maserati, one local owned Bentley and that's about it. Seen an old MG the other day.

 

I see lots of them over here in San Francisco's East Bay. Usually two or more a day. Strangly (?) they're mostly VDP's. Usually very well kept up. I haven't seen another VDP supercharged on the road yet, but have looked at a couple on lots. I sure do like mine and, they DO get looks!

 

In Europe VDP's are like diamonds - rare, very expensive and very beautiful Actually the first Jaguar I wanted to buy was an american 2002 VDP, Supercharged with 18'000 miles on odo that was for sale here in Bulgaria. The car had a very strange history - back in 2004 it was crashed in USA. The first owner left the car for scrap and later in 2005 a german collector bought it and brought it to Europe with the intention to restore it. I don't know why but he never did it. So a bulgarian collector bought it from him and for 5 years he had rebuilt it just as new.

When I discovered the car it was amazing - was looking just like new - imagine a VDP with only 18'000 miles! I believe it was still with the original oil on the engine And the price the collector wanted for the car stunned me even more - he wanted 2000 euro for it, after the Jag was completely repaired Where's the catch?! - well still back in 2004 when the first owner crashed it in USA someone, somewhere lost the documents of the car. So when it came in Europe it wasn't car, but a bunch of metal parts. And the problem is that in Bulgaria is absolutely impossible to register vehicle in such condition. I spent 3 months in search of way to own this VDP - but with no luck at all. Even found two russians from the local mafia that were offering registration for stolen cars... but I didn't like the idea to pay them 3000 euro for that "service" without being sure where I will be arrested with this car

Sorry... it went a little bit off topic But above you can see how the car was looking in USA after the crash and in the last photo - how I found the car

 

@Estilian - there's a couple of ways of getting some paperwork - if you contact Jaguar's Heritage dept. and supply the VIN number, you pay a small fee (E40) and they supply the Heritage Certificate, this gives the engine number, trans number, original colour/trim level etc. Then another request to Jaguar's main agents, depending on who you ask, maybe a Jag tech on here to do a vehicle search again with the VIN number, this gives all history they hold on the vehicle, original owner, service recalls, service records etc.
I see it's on UK number plates, I wonder if they're legal, and how they came to be on the car?? I do know importing a car as 'parts' means half the import duty/tax is paid....

 

Sean, I know about this way of taking some documents. But!!! The problem is that the local authorities require the original document for the last registration when the car was "in legal driving condition" as they call it here. And the problem is that the USA dealers I contacted with offered me just a white A4 document with some plain text, explaining what has happened with the car - no stamps on it, just text and signature... And here in Bulgaria they don't accept it as "official" document.

Believe me - the problem with registering this car is not with it's documents - the problem is with the bulgarian authorities! Here when you buy or sell a car you need to do it at a Notary + signatures of both sides and counsel!!! It's like you're dealing with a house, not a car

I was even thinking about transporting the car back to Germany, then register it to a friend of mine living in Stuttgart then take it back here and buy it from him Because in Germany is possible to register the car only with the Heritage Certificate.

About the UK plates - they are from the "donor car"... the bulgarian owner put them just to be able to take the car out of the garage and test it on road. - if you drive without any plates it would be very suspicious

 

Quite a (hi)story that car has It would be equally hard to register such an imported vehicle here in Finland, as they require you to prove that you have legal ownership of the car, and without registration papers and contract of sale that is practically impossible...

 

It has very strange wheels fitted to that VDP, they look like they have been stolen off a Hot Rod!

 

I live in the DC area and can attest to the fact that X300/X308s are fairly common. I see them daily on my commute. This is in VA by the way. We have two Jag dealerships run by the same company so it must be good for them.

 

In the Dallas, Texas area we see 300/308s daily; they are quite common. We have two authorized Jag dealers and many qualified independent Jag repair shops in this area. Dallas is a wonderful place to own a Jag. But I admit they don't turn heads as some of you have described; people here see them so often that they are not a novelty.Almost all appear to be in good condition.

 

I live in Bergen county nj - not too far from jaguar USA hq in mahwah.
I see enough Jags, including XJ's.
People do admire them - even though there are around - they are greatly outnumbered by BMW's,Mercedes and Audi's

There are 3 jags on my block

2006 S
2002 XK
1998 XJ8(mine)