Year of the cat: Jaguar owners celebrate the company's 75th birthday and reminisce

Bill and Rosemarie Young in one of their XK102 Jaguars. (Cody Ellerd Bay)

When Rosemarie Young, a petite, soft-spoken concert pianist, talks about her family's classic Jaguars, she gets a mischievous look in her eyes.

"There's always been a certain mystique around the old Jaguars," she says. They make people feel "recklessly wealthy" even if they're not. "There's something about the mahogany dash, the leather seats -- they make you feel naughty."

Even in its early days in Britain, Jaguar built its brand by offering a vehicle with a mouthwatering aesthetic that looked far more expensive that it really was. As the company celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, that principle hasn't changed. The 2010 Jaguar XJ has a base price of $72,500. The 2010 Mercedes-Benz S600, one of its competitors, lists an MSRP of nearly $150,000.

Young's husband, Bill, co-founded the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Jaguar Drivers and Restorers Club of Northwest America in 1959 -- it's the oldest Jaguar club in North America. The Youngs now own six XK120s, all from 1953. They're the oldest models in the club's chapter.

The 2010 Jaguar XJ (left) sits next to an XJ from 1968 at a special unveiling of the new model for Jaguar club members at Jaguar of Tacoma in Fife. (Cody Ellerd Bay)

"I know every single part of this car," Bill Young says. "I'm over 80. And when you get that old, you stick to what you know."

He found the first of those six XK120s in a junkyard in Gig Harbor and restored it. And he's proud to say that it can still reach its namesake 120 mph.

He bought his first Jaguar in 1958. His memories include taking it to go skiing, shooting a deer from the driver's seat, outrunning the police in a high-speed chase and arguing with his mother over whether he could park his head-turning trouble magnet in front of her house.

"She hated that thing more than anything," he says. "She'd make me park it in the garage where no one could see it."

Memories like these will likely abound at Jaguars on the Green, the club's big bash on Aug. 14 to celebrate the brand's birthday. Some 50 cars from the local chapter will be joined by members of the Victoria, B.C., chapter, as well as hundreds more classic and collector automobiles, from hot rods to Army tanks. The event is part of Dave's Picnic, a massive annual car show on a 35-acre estate in Monroe that is open to the public.

75 years of Jaguar: A timeline of key events at the company.
1922: William Lyons forms the Swallow Sidecar Company in Blackpool, England.
1935: SS renames its cars "Jaguars" to reflect feline grace, elegance and power.
1948: The XK120 is introduced. At the time, it was the fastest production car in the world.
1968: The XJ, the last Jaguar model to have the input of company founder Lyons, is introduced. It's the flagship luxury model that most production models are still based on today.
1989: Seeking to expand its global range, Jaguar accepts a takeover bid from Ford after a bidding war with General Motors.
2008: Amid financial struggles, Ford sells Jaguar to Tata Motors of India, best known for making heavy trucks and small, inexpensive cars.

-- Jaguar Heritage Museum