Whilst Australia remains one of Jaguars smallest market segments, the enthusiasm for the Jaguar marque 'down under' is second to none. The amount of XJCs which were imported by Jaguar was only a small percentage of the total production figures. However, of those that did make it here, a significantly high proportion of them are still alive and kicking today. This is due to two facts: the kind Australian climate and Australia's love of the marque. There appears to be some confusion about the number of XJCs delivered and sold new in Australia between 1975 and 1978. However, the following numbers give an accurate indication of Australian complianced Jaguar and Daimler XJCs which were distributed through Australia by JRA at that time.

While we have managed to identify, either by owner verification, sightings or advertisements, some of the 241 coupes, there are many others whose existence remains a mystery. The fate of the lost XJCs deserves to be known, and our aim is to find them all.

Australia has often been referred to as the ' Lucky Country.' Lucky for collectors of classic cars that Jaguar Australia only imported 241 XJCs into Australia. Like XJC production figures, there will always be those that dispute the Australian import figures. The figures quoted were provided by Ann Harris from the JDHT. The first XJC despatched to Australia was a 5.3C with chassis number 2G1113. Finished in Regency Red it was despatched on the 12th September 1975. The last XJC despatched to Australia was a 4.2C with chassis number 2J3588. Present whereabouts unknown, it was despatched on the 20th January 1978. (We would love to hear about this coupe if you know something about its history)

Taking into account that quite a few of the original 241 are unaccounted for, the total number of XJCs in Australia has been supplemented over the years by many privately imported coupes. These 'grey' cars are the hardest to track down and record details. Reported sightings or coupes for sale can sometimes turn out to be the same vehicle but with a different registered number.

A quick count tells us that there could be more than 300 XJCs now in Australia. We are currently working through a list of XJCs that have come to our attention through advertisements, word of mouth or when someone spots an XJC and gets a rego number or part there of, to try to identify a chassis number, and add the coupe to the register.

Australia does have some of the best and rarest XJCs in existence. One of the Broadspeed Racing Coupes lives down under, as well as several prototypes, including the very unique 1969 Series l XJC prototype.