I purchased a new XJR 100 in 2002. It is lightly used (19,000 miles)and garage kept. What are the chances that this will become a sought after collector car someday? My gut tells me that it will but I would be interested to know what Jaguar enthusiasts think.

 

The word "someday" is the key here. In the near future these cars are unlikely (IMHO) to become something that collectors hanker after, even pristine low mileage examples. Take the previous XJ models for example (X300 and X305) - good examples of these don't fetch much of a premium even now and are arguably in the same desirability category as our beloved X308s.

Someday they might be considered collectible, but my guess is that will be a long time coming.

(BTW, do you have any pics of that gem anywhere?)

 

Thanks for your input. As long as I have room in the garage I will keep it around as it is a very nice car. I couldn't bring myself to sell it for what they are going for today ($12,000). I checked the odometer and it has 17,565 miles on it. I held on to a 1967 Shelby GT500 for years and it paid off handsomely. May have to hold on to this one for a few more decades. I don't remember ever taking a picture of the Jaguar. Maybe when I pull it out in the spring I will remember to do so.

 

It always seems a shame to me, to by a nice car ( Shelby GT 350, XJR 100 etc ) and hardly use it, in the hope it MIGHT be worth a lot of money a few years down the line.


In fact, ALL cars deteriorate much worse/ quicker by not being used, than they do with regular exercise.


Electrical connections corrode due to lack of current passing through, Ball joints seize up due to lack of movement, tyres get flat spots etc ...


I recall the garage I was doing my apprenticeship at having to change a gearbox casing on a Ferrari Dino 246, because it had corroded through from the inside due to condensation.
It took months to sort all the little niggles and glitches that had occurred, in the end , although the car sold for good money, the owner spent over 2/3rds of its price putting it right !!!

 

Thanks for your response. Your assumption that I bought the cars and hardly used them in the hope that they might be worth a lot of money a few years down the line is wrong. I bought the GT-500 drove it for years, restored it and then stored it and sold it. The Jaguar XJR100 was indeed lightly used but not for the reasons you stated. Now I am keeping it in my garage because the cars aren't worth anything these days and I'd rather own it than give it away. I was thinking of giving it to my daughter but it seems like the wrong car to send a kid off to a new job in. I asked the question because I suspect that someday it might be seen as a rare car, just wondering what people like you think.
My experience relative to storage and deterioration has been the opposite of yours. Maybe I have been lucky not to have had my vehicles deteriorate.

 

Without doubt the XJR-100 will be the most desireable X308 in years to come. 2nd only perhaps to the Daimler Super V8 (Supercharged VDP in the US).

In fact i'd say it probably already is.

If you have the garage space, then keep it. See what happens.

 

If you ever do want to sell it, please let me know. I have a 2001 XKR Silverstone coupe with only 7k miles, same boat as you.

Thanks

 

Jaguar World magazine suggest this model to be a neo classic and collectable, prices have bottomed and risen in recent years, certainly in the UK. Exceptional condition, low mileage, originality all have a value. It's difficult to judge as everybody has opinions are what they are and their 'market value'. I will say exceptional cars make exceptional money, from Fiat 500's to Ferrari's. In Europe Jaguar have a fanatical collector base, most cars have leapt in value in recent years, taxation is favourable to invest in them. All models of Jaguar be it saloon or sports are classics and the modern ones will be in a few years (particularly the limited editions)- they keep building design icons.

Has anyone noticed the price of a Ford Lotus Cortina, Escort Mexico or 3 liter Capri? It's not just Jag's - historic, interesting or beautiful cars will always be of value above others.

 

I think it depends a lot on the country. As Sean touched upon- in the UK Jags are very favoured.
In the USA people are biased and come up with exaggerated tales of woe about how bad all jags are. (Funny, as growing up in the UK, I'd see plenty of Jaguars being used dependably (despite the rust) every day- no problems)


I have a 71 Jaguar XJ6 with only 16,000 miles on it, and yet it was worth nothing. Has that classic Le Mans winning 4.2 XK engine in it. When I was last in the UK, I found out that had it been RHD I would have got a small fortune for it. Not so over here. I think the X308 over here, even a XJR100 are very niche and the same rumours about how terrible jaguar engines are and how unreliable they are will continue, while Northstar engines and other junk still get a free pass.

 

When it comes to the 4.0L, they truly are unreliable to the general public
unless they are amongst the small number who know enough to change
the tensioners that the engine design team saddled us with.

The rest of the engine does not matter much when the tensioners
inevitably self destruct.

Even with the latest generation replacements, the owner still has
to be mindful that even the replacements can suffer a simlar fate
if the shoe gets thrown.

On paper, the original tensioner design is actually quite nice ... if
it had been manufactured in steel.

Instead they were manufactured in FRP and additionally, the team
went to town adding voids to the plastic to remove mass.


++

 

The secondary chain tensioners are undefendable.


True.


Now perhaps you'd like to comment on the Northstar- and its myriad of head gasket problems? GM don't have a fix and you have to rely on the aftermarket.


Or the Ford Powerstroke 6 litre International engine? EGR, exhaust manifold and head gasket problems


WHat about the Ford 5.4 Triton with its terrible spark plug issues?


Has anyone ever heard about muttering of those?


Didn't think so...


Cars should be judged by the vehicles around of the time. That's what sets the standard.
My point still stands.


Some cars get a free pass, others are scrutinised more closely.


Anything Japanese also gets a pass, even the new Infinities with the chain problems and tranny problems.

 

It takes time to build and tear down reputations, or high-profile 'catastrophic' (actual or hyped) events.... even the Japanese cars are starting to have their reputations tarnished as their issues become more commonly documented, and their competitors have caught up and leveled the field.

Newer brands/products always have an advantage for a while if they come out of the shoot well, and established brands/products have a hard time shaking old reputations. But if either keep a slow & steady decline or improvement, the brand will be impacted.

That said, Jaguars have been around a long time and they suffer from the realities of their peers at the time, in a similar way Harley Davidson motorcycles still suffer a lingering reputation for "leaking oil constantly".... but that simply isn't true anymore, and hasn't been for decades.

It takes time to turn a ship

.

 

I bought an XJR100 about ten months ago. I already have an XKR100 convertible and didn't really think I could justify another Jaguar but since it was only a few miles away,I thought I might as well take a look. The car had high mileage but was in outstanding condition. It had been for sale for quite a while and I made a very low offer on it expecting to be rejected but the owner accepted it. I have had no issues with the XJR unlike the XKR which has always been a problem child.