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Where are all the old Jaguars?

63dot

63dot

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jun 12, 2006
5,269
339
norcal
or Bentleys, BMWs, Fiats, Chrystler K cars, Yugos, AMCs, or Rolls?

These cars, some expensive and some cheap, seem to disappear from the roads. I saw many of these cars when they were new but I see plenty of old Volvos, Ford trucks, Volkswagons, and Honda Accords.
 
Depends where you live I guess.

Around here I see plenty of old BMWs and Fiats, and the ones you listed. No Jaguars around here though, old or new.
 
Consultant said:
Depends on the car, cars of certain prices might be well maintained by owner so that they'll look new even if they are older.

More worn out versions of prestige cars are usually bought by car people and fixed up.

Why is Yugo on your list?
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1658545_1658533_1658529,00.html
Click to expand...

I used to see a lot of Yugos, and after a few years, they completely disappeared. Other inexpensive cars from that time period like Honda Civics, Ford Escorts, and Volkswagon Jettas are still around.

The one car I know of that people buy and keep for a very short period of time are the Jaguars. Not only are they relatively expensive, they break down a lot and are expensive to fix. But such is the case with MGs, but people still seem to put up with the constant breaking down.

Perhaps the really wealthy who do buy the Bentleys and Rolls simply drive them for a few years, sell them, and buy a new one. I have heard extreme cases of rich kids getting a new car from their parents every single year. One kid who had an annual car that I know of who wasn't wealthy but more middle class drove a new car from her dad's dealership and she was a driving advertisement. Ironically, that family eventually became very wealthy and she now drives the same old piece of junk around. :)

There must be a certain psyche that makes people hold onto constantly unreliable MGs or sell off cars that are perfectly usable. I first thought it was price or reliability, but some cars stay around due to a certain x-factor (such as old Datsun 510s, 60s Mustangs, and the famous '57 Chevy). For instance, why does somebody cherish a '65 Mustang more than an equal or superior '68 or '69 Mustang? Why the '57 Chevy over the '56 or '58?
 
The answer is simple: They died long ago because they were crap. Stone age technology in cars that rusted and dissolved away before your very eyes in colder climates, or just fell apart and stopped working long ago in warmer places.

There are more old Volvos and Ford trucks around because people like them and take care of them, and more old Volkswagons and Honda Accords because they were better built in the first place.
 
Also a lot of governments will pay you to take an old car off of the road. In Ontario Canada (I think they pay you, but I'm not sure) there are emission tests and other checks. If the car does not pass, then it has to be taken off of the road. There are exceptions for classic cars and such.

My guess is a lot of these cars (particularly the K care) which could not pass these tests, and were therefor scrapped.
 
4D4M said:
The answer is simple: They died long ago because they were crap. Stone age technology in cars that rusted and dissolved away before your very eyes in colder climates, or just fell apart and stopped working long ago in warmer places.

There are more old Volvos and Ford trucks around because people like them and take care of them, and more old Volkswagons and Honda Accords because they were better built in the first place.
Click to expand...

Yes, that makes sense, to a point. Explain the legions of MG vintage users who almost take pride in two things:

1) MGs break down more than anything on four wheels
2) to be able to fix one makes you a God in the vintage car world
 
63dot said:
Yes, that makes sense, to a point. Explain the legions of MG vintage users who almost take pride in two things:

1) MGs break down more than anything on four wheels
2) to be able to fix one makes you a God in the vintage car world
Click to expand...

There's a guy who lives in the building over the road from me who spends pretty much every single day (he's pretty old, must be retired) taking apart and putting back together an old MG-B.

He finishes putting it back together, drives it around for a bit then I suppose it breaks down and he has to take it all apart again.

I don't understand it at all...
 
Well first of old cars, especially British ones are expensive to fix and parts can be hard. The Jaguar V8 isn't very reliable and are known for having very poor reliability. Additionally older cars don't have galvanized frames or body panels which leads them to rust out. It's a shame, there are a lot of cool cars that disappear because of that very reason.

I'd take a Triumph TR-6, but they're expensive, rare, and they rot out.
 
Not that this hasn't been touched in this thread already - but I would have to imagine that the reason some old cars remain on the roads and others do not has to do with the conflux of a few factors:

1. The initial price of the car new, which is related to how many were actually produced in the first place.

2. How well the car was built, from the engine to transmissions to electrics.

3. The power of the Brand. This is reflected in brand-loyalty of the customers to a manufacturer (or even a specific model), or what principles/concepts that brand embodies to a customer(s).

This also has to do with the amount of dealerships (past or present), the amount of mechanics knowledgeable in the car(s), the availability of parts, and their ease of repair.

4. How well these cars were taken care of, and where they tended to be distributed related to the environment (eg: niche cars popular in the rust belt, would. well, rust).

You see 30 year old Volvos driving around because they are simple, have bulletproof engines and were quite numerous to begin with. Same with old Hondas and Datsuns. Parts on these cars are/were reasonable.

You see quite a few Saabs because they also were well-designed and had great engines. They, however, had certain deficiencies over time that certain people overlooked due to their quirky niche in the car world. Parts are also fairly reasonable and there is an established network of dedicated mechanics to service them. This overcomes the fact that they have always been somewhat of a niche car manufacturer (so not too many to begin with).

You don't see a lot of old Jags, because they were expensive, lost value quickly, had famously poor electrical design, and not many people could afford to work on them. Alfa Romeo probably falls into this category also.

Cars like Peugeout (and Alfa) also left the US market, stranding their cars (obviously not that numerous here to begin with) - with more difficult to access parts and less mechanics to fix them.

I think MGs and the like survive despite being in a similar boat because they were roadsters, which seem to be a favorite for restoration - though that's only a guess.
 
I guess most of them either rusted away, were scrapped and turned into pop cans or in collector museums depending on where you live and what kind of cars there are. I remember seeing plenty of K-cars and big American land yachts until very recently, and now I don't really see them anymore. Anyone remember the Hyundai Pony? That's another good example. Those cars sold like hotcakes in the mid 1980s, since they were very cheap. (We had one too), but I haven't seen one in person for probably well over 10 years.
 
Chundles said:
There's a guy who lives in the building over the road from me who spends pretty much every single day (he's pretty old, must be retired) taking apart and putting back together an old MG-B.

He finishes putting it back together, drives it around for a bit then I suppose it breaks down and he has to take it all apart again.

I don't understand it at all...
Click to expand...

As far as tinkering with stuff, I used to modify my guitar, get a sound I wanted and then dismantled the thing and modify it yet again. This process went on and on over many years with many guitars. In the end, the sound came from my fingers and the instrument amplifiers and not my modifications to the guitar so much, but it was fun playing instruments on the edge of falling apart or just not sounding good live or recorded.

At some point, I got very tired of that and now I just stick to what I have with my car, guitar, computer, etc and spend the precious time we have in life getting the job done and using the rest for things I want to do.
 
blackfox said:
The power of the Brand. This is reflected in brand-loyalty of the customers to a manufacturer (or even a specific model), or what principles/concepts that brand embodies to a customer(s).
Click to expand...

This is SO true - in fact it outweighs all other points (so forget everything I said in my last post! :rolleyes:)

I had an MG Roadster years ago and it was lovely to drive, but a complete piece of crap in terms of engineering and build. Broke down every few miles. But the backing of an enthusiastic support network keeps these things on the road. Parts are reproduced in large numbers, so are cheap and easy to get hold of, lots of people know how to work on them, owners clubs provide a social life around them.

The truth is, an MG was just another sub standard British Leyland car underneath it all. Same mechanicals as the abysmal Austin/Rover/Triumph saloons. But attaching an MG badge had a magical effect of giving it everlasting appeal to some people.
 
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