Why Jaguar?

[Downsideup11]

A question that I've never seen an answer to. Why did Fender call their (then) top of the range guitar "Jaguar"? Anyone have insights into why ? Seems a bit of a departure from their previous naming conventions.

[Ceylon]

My guess is because of the car, since the Mustang was then... also named after a car. And then there was the Bronco. Car.

The named was already connected to luxury, power and speed, and I think a lot of the vintage Fender finishes were also finishes that were available on the cars of the time, right?

[Downsideup11]

Thanks for your thoughts Ceylon and yes it could be a car connection. I did consider that but thought that with Jaguar being a British car then Fender would be unlikely to name their USA made guitar after that but maybe they did ...

[Embenny]

The Jaguar was Fender's top-of-the-line guitar, and Jaguars were top-of-the-line cars.

It's possible that Fender just liked naming his guitars after fast animals in the '60's, and that no Ford cars at the time had the right kind of name for Leo.

After all, the Mustang guitar and car were both first released in 1964, and the Fender Bronco came out in '67 after the Ford Bronco came out in 1965 (model year 1966).

There was an American speedy quadripedal animal-namesake car in 1962, the Chevy impala. So, either Leo didn't like the name (what would we call them as shorthand instead of jags, "imps?"), or he only liked Fords, not American cars in general. Or the fact that the impala was a popular Everyman-type car didn't fit Fender's chromed-out flagship model (the Impala was the top-selling car of 1962, not exactly an exclusive model).

Who's to say?

[windmill]

Were there advertising photos showing the guitars with jaguar cars ?

[Don B]

You mean like this?

[Unicorn Warrior]

You mean like this?

I think we have our answer, kids.

[Futuron]

Good find.

There was the Ford Falcon, I don't know if the American one was used for racing though, like the one we had here was.


Annoying thing about the 60s names is that by searching online marketplaces with the terms "mustang" "jaguar" "fender" I get a lot of emails suggesting car parts. And the tag-line "based on your searches for Corvette/Camaro/______" etc, when I have never in my life searched for any of those things.

[Unicorn Warrior]

Good find.

There was the Ford Falcon, I don't know if the American one was used for racing though, like the one we had here was.


Annoying thing about the 60s names is that by searching online marketplaces with the terms "mustang" "jaguar" "fender" I get a lot of emails suggesting car parts. And the tag-line "based on your searches for Corvette/Camaro/______" etc, when I have never in my life searched for any of those things.

How inconsiderate of the 1960s guitar makers to impose this onto our internet searches. They knew what they were doing

[Danley]

The Ford Falcon is/was regarded as a boring 'compact' car in the US when new; built to compete with the VW Beetle. They're more appreciated when modified (either by hot rodders adding big V8s, or Ford themselves transforming it into the Mustang.)

That said it appears the Australian Falcon was the same as the US version through the sixties, but ours was discontinued around the time yours started getting cool.

[Don B]

Not to mention the less famous Fender Porsche guitar:



[Sarcasm]

[JVG]

Because sometimes you just need to pull over to the roadside and give your acoustic guitar a good pounding in the breeze.....while your girlfriend watches.

That guy really loves his guitar!

J.

[jakeisjake]

I always chuckle when I ebay Fender Jaguar...and car fenders show up in the feed.

[MC3]

I always chuckle when I ebay Fender Jaguar...and car fenders show up in the feed.

Mustang is the same thing....Leo should've KNOWN that the internet would cause us such massive headaches

[Danley]

I always chuckle when I ebay Fender Jaguar...and car fenders show up in the feed.

Mustang is the same thing....Leo should've KNOWN that the internet would cause us such massive headaches

Actually the worst one is when names get re-used as something different; like 'Elite.' Actually it's also annoying when they reissue a guitar period and there's a lot more stuff to scroll past on Reverb