Do you think that the XKR and the XK8 be a future classic similar to an E-type? Or will it slowly be forgotten like the XJS?

Comments please.

 

XJS and XK8\R have very different positions. While the XJS barely sold enough for Jaguar to continue producing it, XK8 sold quite a lot, and got a lot of good reviews in the media. If any of the modern jags will be a classic, I'm sure the xk series will be it.

That's what I think at least

 

That's a double edged sword though. The XJS, with little volume sales could make it rarer someday, than an XK8 with higher volumes thus harder to find and more sought after. I shopped XJSs for a while looking for a project car and I found them way too expensive, relatively speaking. There are many XJS devotees out there and if you watch Ebay, they bid pretty competitively.

It really is a coin toss which cars turn out to be classics, but just in case, I have no plans on dumping my XK8 anytime soon. I think the XK8 fits much more into the E-Type lineage than the XJS does. I have a poster in my office titled the Jaguar Evolution and the XK8 is a natural design progression from the XK120 - D-Type - E-Type - XK8. But the XJS on the poster looks like a design misfit. But again, logic probably has nothing to do with some future passion.

I attend Barrett Jackson in every year. Although some cars from the past are obvious classics, I am amazed every once in a while with what comes up on the auction block from the past and ends up selling for big bucks.

Some added thoughts

 

The XK8/R styling is surly going to be classic in the future as it is now. The concern I have is the plastics and electronics. Imagine finding a correct and functional thermostat enclosure or ABS control unit 40 years from now. That's about how long it has been since the E type was introduced.

 

I can see XKR Coupe becoming a classic because of low production numbers. They are already proving difficult to find. Convertibles, on the other hand, are rather common..

 

Sadly I think not. A good example is the Porsche 928. Cost 2 1/2 times as much as an average house when new. The fastest production car on earth 1 year and remained among the fastest. A 2+2 - vastly ahead of it's time. Now almost held in distain even by Porsche people.
Why?
Their electronics is the main reason. The motor/drivetrain good for 250,000+ miles - but not the electronics, which is horrific as time passes. They are, of course, by today's standard underpowered - though the last models in the 80s would outrun through an 09 XKR. They are not considered collectables and the resale values are pitiful.
The control-freak computer systems of the Jags now reach into every aspect of the car. From what I see, 80-90% of problems with them now are "error codes," cars being put into "limp mode", windows that take a life of their own - or don't - and (worse than old 928s) the computer system largely prevents your doing much to upgrade their performance in some regards.
As time passes and the wear, the computers problems will worsen. Computers don't last forever -well known - nor remain in date. Like all our all-but-worthless early navigation systems.
Some eras of cars never become collectables. That is virtually all cars in the 80s. Who wants a 1980s TVR - as opposed to one from the 60s and early 70s? I doubt a 1986 TVR will ever become collectables? Nor will a 1986 Jaguar XJS.
I see the computer systems in late model/new Jaguars as essentially built-in obsolescence (even as they roll off the assembly line actually). So I don't see them as becoming collectables. Rather, the question is will we even be able to keep them running a couple decades from now?

 

The XK8/R will, unquestionably, be a classic vehicle. It will not be a classic, to the extent that the XKE is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_E-Type On its release Enzo Ferrari called it "The most beautiful car ever made". The XKE was a groundbreaking vehicle, at its time, a derivative of a true race car, the D type (a friend of mine has an uncle who owns one) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_D-Type The XK8/R is a vehicle that embodies the beauty of that original design into a more modern look, while adding a lot of technical, structural and mechanical upgrades. It is that very beauty, that has already, and will continue to make the XK8/R a classic vehicle. By this, I mean that it has a classic beauty that will make it desirable through ages. The original XK8/R has a look that will never be dated, it will always be a beautiful car, as the XKE is, to this very day. I said, in one of my first posts on this forum that the XK8/R is like a supermodel, it is high maintenance, and if you don't want that, buy a Camry. The more problems that they have, and thus, the fewer that there are, the more valuable that the operating ones will have, because, like every beautiful thing, people want to posses them. I am considering starting to buy some and store them to part them out over the years. Could be the best investment that I could make. (well, one of them, anyway) On a side note, the cars that become classic cars are the ones that are kept as they originally came from the factory. Once you have done a lot of modifications to them, you have destroyed the value, insofar as their value over a long time. A purely stock and pristine 2001 XK8 will be worth MUCH more in 2025 than one with an aftermarket supercharger and all sorts of other mods. (of course, it won't still be running at that time, it will be in the scrap yard, being parted out)

 

No 80's cars will be classic/collectors? Coming from American cars, the 87 and up 5.0 Stang will be, Irocs and Z28's will be. Hell some of these were are already creeping up in value until the recession hit. The 80's Monte Carlo SS will be up there.
I think the 97 era XK8's will be collectors. How much, on any of these cars, who knows. But the XK8's are slick looking cars. I think the electronics won't be a huge issue. With todays tech. there will be someone or something that will help keep them on the road.
Hell look at the Ford Converts, what, 60-66, tbird to name one (I had one) the switchs that it took to get those tops to go up and down never worked right, they were all a mess, this one or that one went out and made the tops act crazy. Then came along a electronic board that replaced them all and made the top almost 100% always a working top.
This type of thing will come along for the Jags. Worst case, someone makes a Chev Drive Line conversion, ha ha ha ha

 

brg, you are correct. Replacement electronics and whatever is needed will be produced to keep these beautiful cars on the road. These cars have a look and a ride that will last through time. 20 years from now, anyone who looks at a pristine XK8/R will remark about how beautiful an automobile that it is.

 

And that is exactly why I bought mine - if I had been looking for "dependable transportation", there are a lot of 4 door box sedans around! DaleD

 

In Norway and the other countries, the XJS is a highly unloved vehicle. It's only considered a classic by some few people already owning Jags. From what I have read on classic magazines also, the XJS is not amongst the popular older jags.

US might be different though, loving big engines.

 

Who made the electronics such as ABS? Jag themselves? Usually if it's a third part of some sorts, aftermarket stuff usually is made.

 

Thread is a bit dated, but I gotta jump into this one. in a word ... Absolutely! Driving my "new" '03 XK8 up from silicon valley thursday, I found myself surrounded with "builder bob's" and "jetsons" for almost 4 hours. My F-350 is a '98 .. last year it looked like a truck ... the Cat is like that for Jag's imho. Mabe I'm just mellowing with age, but these XK's are going to be around for a long long time. Saw an XKE on a board the other day .. $62K .. mabe 3 times new .. when I was in hs! Always wanted a Jag ... just forgot .. for just the right amount of years :-)

 

I have to agree as well - as a novice, not an expert. Just tof=day, in a gas station, I saw an owner of a newer BMW AMG look longingly (can I say lovengly?) at my XKR as we pulled out. Ego boost - priceless! DaleD

 

I didn't know BMW hitched up with Mercedes...now THAT would be priceless!

 

Every time I drive my car I get comments on how beautiful it is. Setting at stop lights I have even had pedestrians leave the crosswalk to comment to me on how beautiful my cars is. It has to have some collector potential.

 

I read an interesting comment in Octane magazine a couple of months ago. A reader pointed out that with the amount of plastic and complex electronics on contemporary cars, it going to be very difficult...read expensive...to keep them in perfect condition or restore them 20 or 30 years from now when they are old enough to become classics. It's a good point which I had never thought about.

 

True. I think USA Today mentioned how most newer cars can only be serviced at dealerships because their systems are so tightly integrated. It's not just a Jag issue.

OTOH, it's easier for me to get parts for my SO's '90 XJS 'vert than ever before ... even the ABS! but this last frontier of Jag-exclusivity is another thread which I'll start when I can get her car to stop

In a similar vein, I hope the aftermarket can find a similar way to capture the XK8/XKR ... it would be nice to see two collector coupes out there ;-)

 

Jag like so many other manufacturers go thru phases where they can't seem to do anything right. Jag hit it with eh early XK's then right out the park with the E. Then they lost their way with the XJS which looked and felt like a boulevard pimpmobile. The XK8/XKR are one of the best styled Jags ever built along with earlier XJ's. Now with the XF and XJ looking like Lexus or Ford they lost their way again and newer XK looks again like it should come with a wide brime hat and feather. Here is the deal. Don't violate your heritage. Jags are cars with low profiles, a cat like stance, wood dashes, instruments and leather interiors. You want to change demographis fine, but don't expect someone who loves classic cars to buy one.

 

I guess you've never owned a Toyota. If you're out of warranty, you'll be paying the same if not more for the Toyota.

Out of almost all of my friends with new cars, my XKR isn't any more expensive to maintain than any other new car from it's model year, in fact, it's been cheaper than a few...