I need to update you you guys on this on this one. I went to see it.

1996 Jaguar XJS

 

$2,500 more like, she's 'avin a larf.

 

Update away!

Let's hear about it!

 

Yes, tell us more.

 

I believe demographics and current marketing have a great deal to do with the collector car market. The 60s era cars, particularly muscle cars are hotter than ever right now because the guys who graduated high school in the 1960s have the most disposable income they've ever had (the kids have finally moved out, the mortgage is paid off and they're at the peak of their career-high earning potential and about to retire or mabe just recently retired). Now they want to buy back a part of their youth.

Value of 50s era and earlier seem to be driven by the demand for hot rods and customs now as the guys who really reminisce about them are dying off or can't drive anymore. 50s and earlier cars that still need restored (or restored again) are instead being customized, leaving fewer and fewer original examples.

Younger auto enthusiasts never learned to double clutch and are spoiled with modern cars, automatic transmissions, air conditioning and reliability. They may appreciate older styling, but they'll want classic cars that are not a "chore" to drive. That means more and more old cars will be customized but on the flip side, the more work it is to own and maintain a particular classic car, the less it will be worth in relation to other classics. I think that also partly drives the muscle car market, as the late 60s cars were starting to come quite well equipped, a/c, power everything, and with disk brakes they still drive quite confidently on today's freeways.

Conversely, I think the effort required to maintain an old Jaguar vs. many alternative classics of simpler or more common mechanical design may hold Jaguar values down.

Current marketing also plays a role. Remember when Chrysler reintroduced the "Hemi" trademark and played all those TV commercials with the silly guys asking "Has that got a HEMI in it?" 70 Hemi Cuda's were selling for $500,000 - $600,000 by about 2006. They're still in the six figures but way less than half what they went to during that marketing campaign.

I'm hoping to capitalize on current marketing myself. Back in the late 1980s I finished my first restoration on a 1966 Mustang base coupe. I sold it in 1988 for $4,500. Then I kicked myself in 1989 when prices went up by at least 25% during the 25th anniversary of the Mustang. I could have easily gotten another $1,000 if I'd held onto it just a few months. (Would still only be about a $10,000 car today). So to make up for my mistake, in 2009 while the market was still down, I bought a 1968 Mustang loaded with all those nice options that make it drive more like a modern car. Next year is the 50th anniversary of the Mustang and I hope to sell it for close to double my money. We'll see if I'm right about any of this car market stuff. Wish me luck.

 

let me see, what are XJS,and XJ worth,, sad to say,so far, not much!

my two jags, a 1978 xjs RHD from England, and a 1975 XJ12C coupe,with manual trans, both were given to me FREE of charge, just to get them out of the backyard!

kinda says the value of them, not much!

the 78 was a rust bucket didnt run, so i spent $,some place around $30-40K making it close to perfect, and a resto-type mod roadster.

the 75 coupe was unusual because it had a manual transmission with the V12 engine.

but after the 2 1/2 yrs rebuilding the 78 i was tired, so sold the 75 for a good profit, sold it in a 3day add, it went to Hawihi, car collector.

but it says to me JAGs dont have much resale value, what i have been offered for my 78 is so insulting that i'm not gonna say it here.
i got the car for nothing so should i sell it for nothing???
aint gonna happen!

and dupler your assesment is just correct, new guys have no artistic vision for the vehicles of the 1930s, some of the import guys dont like muscle cars,go figure!

 

Awsome care Barefoot that would fetch $26.000 to $28.000 here in New Zealand