I was at the Classic Motor Show on Sunday. This is probably the UK's biggest indoor classic car show, held at the National Exhibition Centre (NEC) in Birmingham, England. It's always a brilliant show and my local multi-marque car club (The Cambridge & District Classic Car Club) organises a coach trip to save on fuel and parking so I've been the last four years or so.

The thing that disappointed me was that despite the fact the show was spread over about 12 halls, but I only saw two X300s all day. One was on sale, a SWB Sovereign, and it was £5000. The other was on the Jaguar Driver's Club stand, but they had roped everything off and didn't seem interested in talking to passers by.

This is a bit sad as it was the X300's 20th birthday! I saw several 38A Range Rovers (which launched at the same motor show in 1994), with some mention of its 20th anniversary. More worrying, I saw as many Leyland 18-22 Princesses as I saw X300s.

I don't recall seeing a single XJ40 or an X308 either, but there were lots of XJSes. That, primarily, is because the XJSOC were in attendance.

Which got me thinking, why isn't there an XJOC? Either for 40/300/308s, or for all XJs from 1968 to today.

I think we should club together, spend a few quid on some banners and try and get to next year's NEC show. People need to know how good these cars are!

 

Wouldn't do me a lot of good in the USA probably per your specific example, but is a good idea

 

Dare I say the X300 is nearly forgotten by now, after only a 3 year run? Perhaps in some circles it is considered a practice run for the X308? Nonetheless, there were no X308s there at all? And this is in Jaguar's backyard! At least XJS was represented. But they have an unfair advantage of a 20-year production run.

Anyway, we here at JF know the value of the most antique model of modern Jaguar, and that's why we're here!

 

I think I'd call the X300 "exclusive"

It may be somewhat forgotten due to its relatively short production run, and for those that are tempted by the more powerful V8 the X300 probably seems like an 'almost ran' .... but I find its relative rarity and unique place in the XJs evolution to be its advantage.

It is the penultimate example of Jaguar's long history with large displacement inline 6 engines, and that's something worth appreciating

....plus, the interior is the last of the old world interiors on a Jaguar. It may have been thought old and tired by 1997, but I think it looks classic and stands out from the pack of swoopy & Tokyo-by-night interiors of today.


And no kidding: I must receive almost daily compliments from all sorts of people when I pull up in the car to work, fueling, or even stopped a light. I honestly really do. People come over, wave me down or just comment in passing what a nice car it is and are amazed "it's a 1997?!" Many will say something to the effect that "they just don't make them like that anymore".

I had a guy in a 2002 near mint BMW 540 come track me down in my office this morning to ask me about the XJR.


I bet it Jaguar made this body style again, they'd sell. But please don't do so Jaguar Let's keep the X300 exclusive



.

 

Well put Al! I too get positive comments fairly often. Did you ever show a casual observer the engine bay? Most of the time their eyes go wide at the sight of the huge inline 6. Its not the six cylinder of the present day! It's true, they don't make em like that anymore.

 

Couldn't agree more, we of the converted know what a great machine X300 really is!

I don't support any notion of X300 being a practice run for X308 though - based on all I've read about the "new" alloy V8, I'd rather have the proven AJ16 any day of the week (and personally I love the X300's more traditional interior trim!). In fact, I see X300 as the final refinement of the Series 3 (even respecting Series 3 with a throw-back to its body styling cues).

IMO XJ40 seems to be the model they practiced on in the process, perhaps for too long before finally hatching X300. I've always felt that the X300 will ultimately come into its own, and if for no other reason, the low production run should assure its growing scarcity and therefore exclusivity. Historically these factors attract interest and fascination among admirers and collectors.
Values are another thing, but the upside is their affordability for us right now!

theJPster, I think the Jaguar Drivers Club UK has an XJ register? however I am not familiar with the club as a whole. In Aus, each state has a Jaguar
Club with active XJ registers.

Cheers,

 

The Jaguar Enthusiasts Club is devoted to all Jaguar, Daimler and Swallow vehicles. Its monthly 140 page magazine has a section devoted to the X300 from 1994 to 1997 or so its title says. In addition there has been a long series of articles devoted to technical service items. And very good they have been. The annual cost of being a member is just changing next year to £40 I believe. Very good value for 12 months magazines alone - just try and buy a decent magazine from your local newspaper or book seller.

 

I agree Tony, that the XJ40 ran for a long time after Ford's money came round! So did the X308 after the X300. We are in the sweet spot with X300! Classic styling, upgraded engines, but avoiding the early X308 V8 years. Maybe it was Sir William himself that could not accept the notion of the Jaguar V8, hence it's early troubles???

Anyhow, back on topic, I'd like to get ahold of that JEC mag. Sounds fun!

 

I am a JEC member and the X300 'forum' as they call it, particular under Rob's stewardship, has done some great things. But the JEC has to cover all Jaguar models, and they didn't have an X300 at this year's NEC show. In fact I don't recall seeing one on the stand over the past few years. JDHT took the Daimler convertible a year or two back, and they had the last ever XJ12 from the collection that same year, but it's slim pickings really.

An XJOC isn't going to be able to, or should it try to, replicate the things the JEC does well. It would simply exist to promote the model in its own right.

 

Having only owned Inline engines, I'm a HUGE fan and it is one of the biggest reasons I got my x300 XJR. '82 Datsun 280z I6, 1981 Toyota I4 diesel truck, '93 I4 Jeep wrangler, '00 I6 cummins diesel dodge then the jag, I'm noticing a pattern.

 

In view of our various comments here I thought it would be fun to look up total production runs for XJ40 / X300 / X308. It's a tedious task to get accurate data breakdowns (especially for XJ40), and I confess my study isn't exhaustive, but using Wikipedia and a couple of other sources it seems this is how it goes:

XJ40 - 208,706
X300 - 92,038
X308 - 126,260

All Jaguar & Daimler (VDP for North America) variants are included, as are all engine variants for each respective model, although in the case of X300 I totaled up that about 85,000 of the 92,038 built are 6 cyl.

So indeed, X300's are more exclusive!!

 

Surprised there aren't more X308s than that..... significantly longer production run from 1997-2003, versus 1994-1997 for the X300.

 

During the X308 production era the S type and X type were added to the line up. The expanded sedan range would have resulted in some traditional XJ buyers taking up these options, therefore prompting Jag to produce fewer XJ's. During the XJ40 & X300 periods, you could only buy an XJ!

 

So, it appears a stand at the NEC is free of charge. But, they're inundated with applications so you have to make a good case for yourself. It would involve setup on Wednesday, teardown on Monday and five nights accomodation in or near Birmingham. I think three display cars would be a good starting point with three to four people on the stand (two to chat, one to stand by and the fourth can have a wander around). I don't mind if this comes under the heading of Jaguar Forums / X300 section, or with separate branding.

In addition, there are some good places to get X300 tech info (the FAQ pages here, Jim Butterworth's website, a bit on Go LPG, the JDHT CD-ROMs) but I'm wondering if it's worth putting together a Jaguar Wiki, so we can collect all this information in once place. Primarily for the X300 to start with as that's what I know and love. A nice hierarchical tree might be easier than searching through a forum?

Anyway - any volunteers? I don't think I can do this by myself.