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Jaguar: The Ultimate Pairing of Gorgeous Form and Spectacular Function

From the very beginning, Jaguars have been turning heads with their lightweight, attractive bodies and fast engines. Whether sporty or sleek, each Jaguar is more alluring than the last. 

Thanks to the smooth driving power of a Jaguar engine, Jags aren’t just for car lovers, they’re also for car lovers who love to drive.

Jaguar C-Type

Launched in 1948 as the first post-war sports car, XK120 wasn’t just a hit in showrooms, but it was also a powerful race car too. Noticing this, Jaguar decided to create a variant of the XK model designed specifically as a racing car. 

Internally referred to as the XK120C, the aesthetic changed enough that it was officially given its own moniker: the C-Type, with the “C” standing for “competition.”

Built and sold from 1951 to 1953, the C-Type was Jaguar’s first post-war racecar, becoming the preferred car for racecar drivers. As American Formula 1 champion Phil Hill said, “I was just in awe of the C-Type when I first stepped into it. When I look back on it now, it makes me smile. The steering was light—almost scary light. It was the first car I ever drove that had a really precise feel about it—it really felt like a racing car.”

The C-Type’s body is lightweight and devoid of any extraneous parts that might slow it down in a race. The triangulated frame is the ultimate in aerodynamics, made of aluminum and styled in homage to the Barchetta style. To streamline the car, road-going items like carpets, weather equipment and even exterior door handles were left off the car for ultimate speed and sleekness. 

Jaguar C-Types are rare and practically priceless. Most of them have been raced hard, and some have undergone significant changes, making every C-Type model its own unique work of art.

The Jaguar C-Type is an exclusive breed: Only 53 models were ever sold. While all 53 models are believed to still be in existence today, each one has far exceeded its initial sticker price of $6,000.

Jaguar E-Type

There’s no denying that the Jaguar E-Type, introduced to the world in 1961, is one of the prettiest and most important sports cars of all time. Why is this? A major reason is speed. When most family vehicles topped out at 70 miles per hour, the E-Type boasted high speeds of 150 miles per hour. 

Additionally, the E-Type was a true showstopper, even being described by Enzo Ferrari as “the most beautiful car in the world.” Many even regard the original Coupé and Roadster models as being perfect from every angle. Even in 2008, the car still had a lasting impact thanks to its unmatchable appearance, being awarded the title of one of the 100 most beautiful cars of all time by The Daily Telegraph. 

While there are three separate series of E-Types, referred to as Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3, each has an independent coil spring rear suspension, torsion bar front ends and power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes. In fact, Jaguar was one of the first vehicle manufacturers to equip its cars with four-wheel disc brakes. 

Series 1 vehicles, released starting in 1964, are easily recognized by their glass-covered headlights, a front, small mouth opening, signal lights and tail lights placed above the bumper, and exhaust tips below the number plate at the back. 

Series 2 and 3 E-Types had improved braking systems and headlight designs. Compared to the rounded look of the Series 1, the Series 2 sold from 1968 to 1971 had a more industrial, ribbed look, a wraparound bumper, and new seats with head restraints to stay compliant with U.S. safety regulations. 

Additionally, the Series 3 E-Type boasted stats of 0 to 60 miles per hour acceleration in less than seven seconds. Other exclusive models to note include the Series 1½, the Coupé, and the Lightweight E-Type, which was sold through 1964 and again from 2014 to the present day.

Jaguar XJ13

Once referred to as “the most beautiful car to never race,” the 1966 Jaguar XJ13 is perhaps the rarest of rare gems in collector cars.

The Jaguar XJ13 was a prototype racing car that was developed by Jaguar engineering director William Heynes. It was supposed to race at Le Mans in the 1960s but never officially competed on the racetrack. What makes the XJ13 so unique? 

Only one was ever produced.

While the car has never been officially valued, the owners declined a £7 million bid (almost $10 million) in 1996. The car was designed by an aerodynamicist who took inspiration from airplane bodies. One of the designers, Bob Blake, was such a visionary that he has been described as being “an artist in metal.” With a mid-engine format and a 5.0-liter V12 engine set behind the driver, there’s nothing quite like the XJ13.

The XJ13 was in development for quite some time. Once it was finally race ready in 1967, regulations had changed to only allow a 3.0-liter capacity, rendering the XJ13 permanently redundant. But that didn’t mean it wasn’t still a fabulous vehicle. 

For years, the car sat collecting dust, until Jaguar wanted to use it for promotional work. Head Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis drove the car at high speeds, showing off for the camera, leading to an unfortunate crash when an old tire disintegrated. 

Flipping end over end multiple times, the car finally settled in a twisted heap of metal. It was a major loss. Dewis survived, but the car was in shambles. The car sat in a workshop for years until the car was finally restored to its original glory, preserving the XJ13. From time to time, auto enthusiasts can still catch a glimpse of this stunner when it makes public appearances. 

If you want one for yourself, replicas were made available for purchase!

Jaguar XJ220

The Jaguar XJ220 is a two-seat sports car that was produced from 1992 to 1994 as a collaboration with automotive and race engineering company Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The vehicle was the fastest of its day, topping out at 212.3 miles per hour during testing by Jaguar at the Nardo Test Track in Italy.

The XJ220 was a labor of love, developed from a concept car that was engineered by an informal group of Jaguar employees in their spare time, with inspiration taken from the Jaguar racing cars of the 1950s and 1960s. It used the power of a V12 engine with rear-wheel drive and a six-speed manual transmission and sported a honeycomb aluminum structure and a “svelte, cocoon-like body shape” that some compared to the look of a bullet train.

While the engineering and aesthetic success of the Jaguar XJ220 was overshadowed by a recession, there’s no denying that even among contemporary supercars from Bugatti, Lamborghini and Ferrari, the XJ220 is known for its straight-line speed.

The XJ220 is an exclusive vehicle. Only 282 of the planned 350 units were ever made and sold. 

Jaguar XJS

The longest-running model of the Jaguar brand, the Jaguar XJS is a luxury grand tourer manufactured from 1975 to 1996. It was available in Coupé, fixed-profile and full-convertible forms. In total, there were 115,413 units sold over the 20-year, seven-month manufacturing life of the XJS.

Early styling of the XJS was headed up by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, who was one of the very first auto designers who applied advanced aerodynamic principles to vehicles. While Sayer passed away just before the design was frozen for production, his legacy lives on in one of the most impactful vehicles ever sold by Jaguar.

The XJS came equipped with a fuel-injected 5.3-liter V12 engine, which offered a 50-percent improvement in fuel efficiency over earlier Jaguar models and around a 270-horsepower range and reached top speeds of 143 miles per hour. Some also were made using a 3.6-liter, six-cylinder engine with manual transmissions.

While the 1976 release of the XJS was affected by a fuel shortage, the power and aerodynamic body of the XJS rebounded thanks to being featured in two television series: “The New Avengers” and “Return of the Saint.”

Jaguar XK120

With a breathtaking body shape from the very beginning, there’s no mistaking an XK120. Originally introduced in 1948 at the London Motor Show, the XK120 was introduced as an open two-seater roadster. 

The “120” in the XJ120 name comes from the car’s top speeds of 120 miles per hour. The car was a true celebrity, and the first production car was given to movie star Clark Gable. 

With an ash-veneered dashboard and door tops and leather seats, the XK120 is the epitome of Jaguar luxury sports cars. The modified frame was sturdy and narrow, only 51 inches in the front and 50 inches in the back. 

The XK120 had a high-temperature, high-strength aluminum alloy cylinder head, inclined valves, and twin side-draft carburetors. All in all, the engine in the XK120 was highly advanced for mass-produced vehicles of the time.

The Jaguar XK120 is not just a jewel in the automotive manufacturer’s history, but it’s an important part of British history too. Orders for the car came from all over the world, and around 60 percent of XK120s created were exported to the United States. As one of the first vehicles produced following World War II, the Jaguar XK120 helped the country recover from the devastation of the war with 12,000 units built and sold over its seven years of production.

Jaguar XKSS

Production of the XKSS was announced on January 21, 1957, in a press release that exclaimed:

“Jaguar is to produce a new two-seater sports-racing car as a result of the increasing demand from America for a type of vehicle equally suitable for normal road use and sports car racing. The new model, which initially will be for export only, will be based on the already famous Le Mans-type Jaguars and will be known as the Jaguar XK ‘SS’ type.”

Using leftover chassis, the XKSS was an attempt to recoup some of the investment costs incurred by Jaguar from the partially completed D-Type Series. With a planned production run of only 25 units, only 16 XKSS cars were originally produced in 1957 before a fire at the production plant destroyed the final nine vehicles. The completion of the run was made in 2016 when the remaining nine vehicles were meticulously produced and quickly sold (for around $1.3 million each). Most XKSSs were exported to the United States.

Of the vehicle itself, only minor changes were made to the structure of the D-Type series. Alterations included the addition of a passenger-side door, the removal of a large fin in the rear, and a divider between the passenger and driver seats. Other changes for cosmetic, comfort and safety reasons included a chrome-surrounded windscreen, side screens, chromed bumpers and rear-light clusters. Each of the original 16 XKSS units are valued today around $17 million, but to many, they’re priceless.