It's a question I've wondered for years. That's a picture of me and my dearly departed '78 from the post I just wrote for the HP. Check it out and let me know what you think!

 

They appear to be starting to rise in the UK. Probably because there is an inverse ratio of surviving cars vs year, as more and more succumb to rust. I think thats maybe a good sign.

The S2 Coupes continue to demand a ridiculous premium due to "something" (I have one so I can confess there is definitely "something" that you don't feel with the 4 doors)

I also "sense" perhaps XJS is starting to at least bottom out, or maybe go up.

I am always torn in these discussions....... I actually want them to stay cheap, because, if you know what they are, and know how to fix them and keep them going, they are amazing bargains. But at the same time, it's nice to think you are not throwing money down a hole.

 

Generally speaking 4 door cars dont appreciate much. There are a few exceptions. For example when a vehicle is used in a popular move or TV series. Think the 4 door Lincoln In the popular HBO Entourage series. Audi S8's did get a bouce from the Movie Ronin and the 80's Mercedes W126 series of sedans also enjoys some lasting popularity for their numerous TV and movie appearances as a symbol or 80's excess. The added value is minimal when compared to Coupes or Convertibles though.

Most men associate coupes with their youth. Then try to recapture that feeling with a the coupe. It may even be the same one that had in their actual youth or the one that always wanted so demand is there and prices go up.

Even new Sedans dont sell these days and sedan sales as a total percentage of the market have been declining for years. So much so that manufactures have resorted to making "4 door coupes". Buyers today prefer sport Coupes, SUV's and Cross overs.

As for XJS coups, I've been reading on these forums for about a decade that prices are on the up swing. That upswing has not materialized and probable never will.

 

I guess anything is possible if the right auction/collector people decide to find them fashionable and create a market, but I doubt it.

The S1 through III, while iconic, just don't hold the public's interest like other cars, especially those that boys once had as posters on their bedroom walls or saw their rich peers drive.... boys that later become men with money. Let's face it, most people that owned XJs were "mature" men and women, not kids.

And to be honest, I hope the market for XJ or XJS does not climb. I don't buy cars as an investment. And if they climb in price such that I can't afford them anymore, that's no fun!

I vote for keeping them cheap

.

 

At the end of the day, I do too. Great cars within MY price range .

I got priced-out of the muscle car hobby and am hoping the same doesn't happen with Jaguars.

The upside to higher values is that ...in theory....more people will be more interested in spending money on them, thus more will survive in great shape. Still, though, it's nice to have something unique for peanuts.

Cheers
DD

 

It's a great question so I guess, like a hairy old chestnut, it keeps popping up every few months. Owning several XJ6s, then only keeping the best (an immaculate '79 SIII 4.2L) and a pre-HE V12 XJ-S distraction, my heart has now gone out to the far superior and even more unloved XJ40 - especially the later Sovereign upgrade model and, so far, all with the base XJ6 4 headlight option that is far more popular here than the twin rectangular version.

I have bought 3 in the past month (for a total of just over AU$3,000 - say US$2,000). One lady was so grateful her pride and joy, owned since new, would go to a good home, she offered to give it to me for free - which I refused on the grounds of fairness. Even so, at any average of just AU$1,000 each, 2 of these cars had brand new sets of Michelin or Pirelli tyres, 2 had received total body resprays within the past 3 years, 1 had a detailed new parts replacement inventory exceeding $12,000 in the past 2 years including a full set of immaculate new BBS style mags . . . and only 1 requires any substantial work to bring it up to snuff; that being all electrical and stemming from the dreaded digital dash of the early XJ40s. Oh . . . and all came with full sets of keys, original manual packs, documentation and full service histories.

Logic tells me that if these cars are appreciating here, they are coming off a mighty low base and I don't think even our grandchildren can bank on a windfall inheritance. And you know what? Like others here, I reckon that's great! Terrific!!! Here's a still classy, roomy, performance car which can look great even while wearing a towbar. By doing my own restoration painting and trimming on a miserly budget, I can have a daily driver that, unlike the far more modern and expensive Jaguars on the other side of my garage, I have no hesitation driving around our regional township or parking at the local shopping plaza. Why tell the world how great that is?

Cheers and best wishes,

Ken

 

....and that's worth re-menioning, the XJ40 is really a bargain as it is as said above "much unloved" ...but I have to be honest that a well kept XJ40 still gets my attention like any vintage car that has survived in good shape as it stands out in the crowd. And although many will disagree, the XJ40 has grown on me over the years due to its unique styling.

Hopefully they too will remain "much unloved" and therefore CHEAP So here's what we do.... we just keep bemoaning how unreliable, rusty, hard to source parts or how expensive the parts are, difficult to work on etc.... knowing all the while these are exaggerations, then the prices will stay depressed

A good point though is that increased value and interest can certainly help with aftermarket support where OEM, custom or performance parts are not available today.

.

 

Agree on the XJ40 being unloved, but actually a very capable car once you get it right. Mine was returning 25mpg (US gal) on the freeway at 75mph this morning....... pretty useful, and by far my most economical car (although I admit, my fleet isn't optimized for MPG)

It's required nothing but routine maintenance to it. I bought it with 16k miles on the clock (yes, really) and it's now up to 35k with no issues at all. It gets driven along the dirt road to my house every day and gets thrown through a car wash with brushes frequently...... still cleans up pretty well don't you think?

 

Years ago I didn't like the XJ40s. Now I've actually become quite fond of them and hope to have one someday.

Funny how tastes can change, eh?

IMO, though, the XJ40 is one of those cars where color and wheels can *really* make a huge difference in the overall attractiveness of the car...more so than many others

Cheers
DD

 

I needed to get my cars valued for classic car insurance purposes. A normal two year cycle. This year, I did all the documentation, Guessed the value of my series 2 at £2500, and sent it off to Jaguar Enthusiast Club for the usual rubber stamp. It came back with an increased value of £5000. This says the value/rarity is increasing in the UK.

 

The four-door angle is really accurate, though I did think the Continental was always pretty collectible — due largely to the suicide doors — and then bounced after Entourage?

 

Yeah, I'm hoping that I don't get priced out either. But from the sounds of this thread, it doesn't look like that's in danger of happening! Ha ha!

 

The only benefit I can think of to prices climbing is for insurance. If either of my XJ's are appraised at what I paid for them, then it won't take much of a fender bender for the insurance company to declare them a total and that would be a shame.

 

My 2 cents:

Rarity, scarcity, nostalgia, badge, are all factors that determine increasing values. Ultimately, Series XJ's cannot avoid being impacted. And nothing defies the theory of 4 door sedans being less desirable better than the Jaguar MKII.

I don't believe XJ values will increase very significantly in my lifetime, but make no mistake, they WILL appreciate as time goes on. In our market, everyday 4 door family sedans from Ford, GM & Chrysler produced here in the '60's now fetch seriously silly money. They are increasingly hard to find, collectors & restorers have snapped them up, and a car costing $2000 in '68 now pulls 10 times that, and much more. Unmolested examples being most desirable.

Series XJ's have begun increasing just enough to be noticeable here in Victoria, and at the extreme end a couple of nice S3's recently sold for around $15k (each). So IMO they are already just pulling off the bottom. XJ40's and X300's, though mechanically superior in many ways, are still well behind - they just aren't old enough yet.

True, it may not be you, but your grandchildren will certainly reap the benefit should they inherit your cherished XJ!

 

I wonder at times who the buyers will be for interesting but at the end of the day commodity cars. The emerging generation(s) come with little historical love or engagement with cars and in another generation will be so disconnected from the joy of driving and ownership they will gladly hope into their autonomous EV to trundle around whenever they decide to brave the outdoors.

I am heartened at times when I go to big car events and see them well attended and populated with great cars, although I also see big majority of grey hair around. The tail end of the baby boomer wave will tell the story I guess. It may all become terribly retro and cool to have a well preserved internal combustion device.

 

Indeed. Collectability follows demographics and the first line collectibles are sports cars. Its mostly about nostalgia and only partially about automotive history. Most men have to wait till the kids have moved out, the mortgage is paid and he is at the peak of his career, ie in his mid to late 50s. Then the first thing he'll buy is a sports car either he wished he had when he was 16 or did have when he was 20 and regretted selling. Most men have a laundry list of such cars and only after satisfying that urge, will they move on to other cars for which they are nostalgic. Perhaps it might be a station wagon like the one his family drove to Yellowstone or a Jaguar sedan like the one his father's boss had. So do the math, the sports car values heat up at 25 to 35 years old and the sedans come along 10 to 15 years later but still never quite to the same level.

But that's for the baby boomers. My Generation X is not doing near as well as our fathers did financially. We're ten years behind. Most of us won't be able to entertain a classic car till we're in our mid to upper 60s and we'll be dead or in a nursing home by the time we exhaust our list of sports cars.

I've already seen the end game. I was lucky in that I've been able to play with cars my entire adult life so I've observed the hobby for over 30 years now. When I first started participating in car shows in the 80s, there would always be at least a dozen Model A Fords accompanied by grey-haired old men in their club vests with patches indicating all the events they'd attended over the years. They're nearly all gone now and we're lucky to see one or two Model A Fords at a similar sized show today. I imagine all those Model A cars are all still out there somewhere, inherited by families who care nothing about taking grandpa's pride and joy to a show, but still can't bear to part with it.

At some point on MY list is to have a 1927 Chevrolet like my grandfather's, but its WAY down my list and I'm NOT willing to pay very much for one if it happens. Much higher for me would be an XJS or Series 3 like I saw the successful businessmen driving when I was in high school and college. It just takes a LOT of guys nostalgic for the same thing and in the same financial position to make the values go up.

Yes, there is a little bit of market for historically significant cars. Heck, even the original Honda Civic is a collectable because of its revolutionary technology and huge impact on the market. But value is driven primarily by nostalgia so if you want to know when your Jaguar sedan will appreciate, just study the demographics.

As to modern 4-doors, I do kind of wonder if the "stigma" is no longer attached. When I was a teenager, if you drove a 4-door, it meant that your parents got a new car and you got the hand-me-down. By the 90s, there were WRX's and Evo's and teenagers wanted them. My own nephew insisted on a 4-door SUV for his first car so he could take his friends with him. In 40 years, when his own kids finish college and move out, will he be nostalgic for a 2-door or a 4-door? Today's teenagers first collectable might be an XE.

 

Great spread of opinion to agree with . . . even allowing for regional and market variables, the trends seem universal. Steve's point about disconnection by emerging generations with these classics is, IMHO, the crux of the matter. Where we responded to "Grace; Space and Pace" . . . today's bywords are "Price; Function; and Follow The Crowd".

I look at my 3 adult children whom I love and respect dearly and at a time when I desperately yearn to unload onto them some of our prized Jaguars . . .

• eldest son demurred, stating that with a growing family, they plan to replace his 18yo rice burner, owned since new, with a new sub AU$40,000 (that's sub US$30,000) Chinese Super SUV to lug around kids, bikes, etc and it has all the options of sat-nav, b/t and passenger DVDs that appeal to their world;
• second son would be happy enough to take a Jag, provided I accept that he believes "pampering" like servicing or even oil changes are not high on his priorities;
• daughter alone is smitten by "her" XK8 . . . currently planning an eventual house move to get a 2 car garage, at which time she will take "her" XK8 "home" . . . however, while actively supporting and encouraging my passion, has no real interest in any of the others.

Last weekend, my daughter confirmed what Steve is now saying. I was telling her of a seriously beautiful Powder Blue Series1 XJ6, complete and original in every respect except for the very professional custom extractors and the genuine Jaguar (ex E-Type) but rebuilt knock-off chrome wire wheels sporting new Pirelli Pzeros. Included were full keysets, manual packs and service history, and fully documented restoration records . . . and receipts for many, many thousands paid for parts and labour. Asking price? . . . AU$4,000 . . . that's US$3,000. My daughter's comment? She who thrills me by her excitement with her XK8? . . . "So? Dad, it's a 40yo car."

Cheers and best wishes,
Ken

 

Why does it matter??
None of us will Ever get our money out of them anyway! As I see it, in my limited experience with such matters, these cars are a Terrible investment!
(';')

 

Precisely.
Even if/when the values do increase a bit, none of us bought them with investment in mind, so the entire topic is academic. It's still fun to speculate though, and that's all it is. And of course, we'd never reach consensus even if it did matter!

At the risk of being provocative, I can say I hardly ever see a sports car these days, especially convertible, being driven by anyone grey or otherwise. Not sure if the aging guy yearning for his sports car is anything more than a myth in reality. Of course I'm always happy to be proven wrong, so here's the litmus test: Given what I perceive to be the average demographic in here, how many of us have a sports car in addition to the Jag?

 

https://www.jaguarforums.com/g/album/3006591

Yeah, I know you said IN ADDITION TO A JAG, and if I still lived in town I'd still have this Datsun. In fact, the Only reason I don't still have it is because I live out here in the Stix where I can't drive it, and I didn't want to watch it sit and rot.
(';')