A young ( to me ) and attractive woman came up to me outside the library today and exclaimed " what a beautiful car you have". Now the color is aquamarine, which is certainly uncommon, and she may have been checking to see if I'm not old and might be rich, a disappointment on both accounts, but that's classic enough for me.

 

I agree - didn't mean to p-ss in anyone's corn flakes but when I hear the word classic, I imagine wannabes with their Cosworth Vegas showing up at car shows claiming bragging rights.

I get plenty of compliments on my car, even from younger folks, but it never makes me think of it as 'classic' per se.

 

Strongly disagree.

Compare XK production to rare special edition cars and they're in similar company...

Look how many Cobra Mustangs have been produced:
YMR - Cobra Production Numbers

Those are similar numbers to XK's.

Calling an XK a standard production vehicle, which it really is, is misleading. The production numbers don't reflect that at all.

Production for XK's is greater than E-types, but not really by a whole lot... look how collectible those are now.

Seriously, comparing production numbers with the mass-market high-end cars produced by America and Japan in the past, the XK's are truly a low unit product run that will certainly be treasured some time in the future.

 

BurgXK8,
I think that your definition of "classic" needs adjusting. I don't think anyone here believes that their XK8/XKR will bring boatloads of money 20 years from now (although it wouldn't surprise me); I think you are confusing "collector" with "classic." XKE coupes don't bring any money in the collector market, but would you not agree they are classic automobiles. I have a 1968 GTO coupe, perfect examples of which sell for less than $20K, only the Judge models have any worth. It's the design that is classic, and it's what I believe those of us who call the first generation XK series "classic" are referring to. There are thousands of XK8/XKR owners who pour lots of money into restoring, upgrading, and maintaining these cars; do you really believe that 1996 Toyota Camry owners are putting the kind of dollars and dedication into their cars in order to keep them looking like and running like new? Of course not. When I bought my 2002 XKR a few years ago, it's not because I needed another car (like a hole in my head), it's because it fit my definition of classic in looks, performance, and comfort, and because it was so damn cheap. I could afford newer, higher performance cars, but didn't see anything I thought was as "classic" or that offered as much value or enjoyment. I guess what I'm saying is that "classic" describes a car whose owners are willing to do whatever it takes to keep it at or near new condition regardless of the ability to get the investment out of the car at a later date. The first gen XK series is most definitely a classic, and more and more publications are suggesting that it's a classic on its way to collector status.

 

I would be interested in reading a few of those declarations and the reasoning behind them. I agree that appearance wise, it was a big throwback to the early XKE and brought everyone to consider Jaguar as more than just a plushmobile for wealthy divorcees (from what I witnessed going to college in FL in the 1980's, anyway).

In 1989, Porsche came out with a so-called Speedster which was nothing more than a 911 with a chopped roof and a low windshield. Did this car become a classic (ok, collector)? No. And one potential buyer I knew back then called it right - there was nothing special about the engine or performance aspects that would make it so, and he did not buy it. I'm not sure of the status of that car which, in spite of it's rarity, never made much waves when it came out or was sought after, particularly when the 911 model line continued to improve.

As for the plus factor in our cars, honestly, I think the lines of the earlier XK8s and XKRs have a lot more going for them than the first couple of years of the current generation. They make me think "Ford Taurus" just looking at the front grill. But the latest iteration of the XK lineup - which I've only seen in dealer promos - looks a hundred percent meaner and better, with engine performance to boot. Classic? We will have to wait and see.

 

Classic has nothing to do with rarity, value or collectability... The visual design of the XK alone makes it a classic, even before it's time to officially call it a "classic" and I think most of us here agree on that much. Whether or not it will appreciate and become more valuable or desirable has yet to be seen.

Hagerty even considers the XK to be an Exotic, even though most of us here don't. It's probably one of the lowest MSRP cars to be considered as such by that company. Not that it means that much, but it means more than nothing, IMO.

 

Hey pgguy...after all of the cars that I have had, for all of the different reasons for having them, only one thing matters in the long run.
Do the women want to rub their bodies on the car?
That is really all that matters. And when you are pulling up in an XK8, it won't matter if it has a 4.0 or a 4.2.

 

Hear hear!! Well said!! I'll never recoup the money I'm putting into this car 02 xk8, except when I drive it with the top down!! My other car is a 2010 XF with custom black pack and gets heads turning everywhere I drive it. My XK8 holds its own as well !!

 

There's no doubt most any car will be a classic after so many years. Here's a pretty good article helping to define a classic. I noticed that this months Hemmings considers the Kiasers four door sedan a classic.

Everyone knows a classic when they see one, right? At least they know of those cars that are universally accepted classics such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, and most of the other exotics autos. So what's going to be the classic car of tomorrow? In the past the Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, and Plymouths of 30-40 years ago were not meant to become future classics, but some of them have actually earned a spot among the Ferraris and Aston Martins at shows and classic car auctions around the world. Will any of the less collectable cars of the 1980s and 1990s make it? There are so many different definitions of what a classic car is. Some would put specific age limits on the definitions, and others would say that only special variants would qualify for classic status. In my hunt for the �perfect� definition, the best that I could find stated that a classic car is �a car that retains its appeal after it is no longer produced.� I would say that the �appeal� of a car is determined by the individual. I mean, some people find a Ford Tempo �appealing�. To me a classic car is one that stops depreciating in value and either levels off or begins to appreciate over time. The value increasing because of demand ties into the definition that the classic cars have appeal long after they are no longer produced. The goal is to catch these cars when they�re at the bottom, before they become more valuable. Of course, values do vary from year to year, so like any potential investment there are risks.


I guess the real question would be if they ever will be considered a exotic? Here's the definition for an exotic.


The term "exotic" ALONE by definition means, in its purest form, "strikingly strange or unusual". Concepts that can be unilaterally or bilaterally applied to appearance of an object (as an adjective used to describe a person, place, or thing) or concepts that are exotic in nature -- as in a term used to describe an overall feeling evoked by an idea that lead individuals to an assessment of an object as producing a sensation of foreign or alien -- are easily described as exotic.

Personally I think it's in the eyes of the beholder.