The story of the Jag-lovers

Scott Fisher tells us:

Regards Scott.

Lawrence Buja adds:

It was only a couple years ago that we started a simple little e-mail list on the Internet called Jag-lovers. At first, it was just a dozen people, scattered around the globe, each trying to help the others keep their Jaguars on the road. Slowly it started growing and within a year the group numbered 50. This proved to be a critical mass of members and the doubling began; soon membership numbered 100, then 200, then recently, it doubled again to over 400 members. As of now we are talking 2124 .

The unique form of the near-real-time e-mail discussion suddenly made a wide range of Jaguars technical experience very accessible to us common folks with our uncommon cars. One was no longer working alone in the dark, wondering if ones guesses and assumptions about how that Jag was really supposed to work and go back together were truly correct or just right enough to cause certain disaster a few miles down the road. With the list, many years of experiences from a whole community of Jaguar owners and mechanics was finally available to draw upon. If you had a question about something, just stop and post the question up to the list. Usually within a day you had some sort of an answer about how to proceed. With the technical information also came stories of members and the adventures that they were having with their Jaguars, adding a personal dimension to the discussions. The really strange part of all of this is that very few of the members have ever met face-to-face, all of our communication is via e-mail.

With the increasing membership came increasing diversity. The initial Jag-lovers group were mostly home mechanics with a strong curiosity about how their Jaguars worked (and unfortunately, occasionally not worked). In the early days, many questions posted to the list went unanswered at that time. But the list soon grew to include people with backgrounds in electrical and mechanical engineering, fuel injection design, automotive design and a myriad of other technical areas. Now there are few questions which come up that don't get at least a first guess answer. Having this amount of knowledge on tap can sometimes be a bad thing. Some discussions have been known to launch off onto some theoretical tangents of dubious real-world application. When this happens, we are lucky enough to have a couple professional Jaguar mechanics on the list who are not shy about bringing us back down to earth on certain topics.

It is safe to say that the list has grown far larger and wider than any of the original members ever expected, becoming an invaluable resource helping hundreds of Jaguar owners keep their Jaguars on the road. Personally, even though I am lucky enough to have unlimited access to a fully equipped shop owned by a brilliant long-time Jaguar mechanic/racer, I really doubt that I would have bought a second Jaguar without the incredible resource of the Jag-lovers list to back me up. With the list, I simply don't worry about not knowing how to fix something which may go wrong with my Daimler XJ6. If I have a question about how something works, I can usually quickly get an informed answer. The technical help from the list rarely lets me down and the daily stream of stories about various members adventures with their Jaguars are a constant delight. This is an fantastic resource for me and I find that my involvement with the list is one of the primary things maintaining my keen interest and continued personal investment in the marque. Best of all, it's free.

Recently, Nick's excellent Jaguar web page has moved us up to a new plane of actually providing a service for other Jaguar owners. Nick's web-page has been a real catalyst to draw together the resources and past discussions of the Jag-lovers list and package them in a manner that new users can easily access. As the long list of entries in Nick's guestbook shows, the response from these new users has been incredibly enthusiastic. One can only guess where this will lead.

So, what does the future hold for the Jag-lovers list? If experience with other automotive e-mail lists is any guide, it will grow larger and larger as more and more people around the globe come on-line. At some point, the e-mail list will eventually start to falter under it's own weight and we will see a split into smaller specialty areas such as pre-war, XK's, E-types and XJ's. Once the specialty areas reach a critical mass of 50-100 members, they will bloom on their own and become active, vibrant e-mail lists in their own right.

What we've built here has been the result of the work of many of volunteers freely giving their time and expertise to make the world a better place for Jaguars. If you would like to join us, please feel welcome to do so. And don't be shy about participating because the ones who benefit the most from the list are the ones who aren't afraid to ask questions, who are brave enough share their mistakes and are willing to learn from the other members experiences.

/\      Lawrence Buja           http://www.cgd.ucar.edu/cms/southern/  
  \_][  southern@ncar.ucar.edu  National Center for Atmospheric Research
      \_________________________Boulder,_Colorado___80307-3000__________

What is the Jaguar cars mailing list network?

  - Jag-lovers is an international network of Jaguar automotive owners
    and enthusiasts dedicated to enjoying and maintaining the breed.
    Linked globally in real-time via the Internet, a global electronic
    mail (e-mail) network, we discuss various topics such as the daily
    dramas of owning the things, car maintenance and restoration and
    such.  Together, we provide an informal support system which ranges
    from sharing technical information and locating spare parts (or even
    whole cars) to swapping tales of adventure and daring-do.

  - The scope of this group is simple, discussion is open to any subject
    involving Jaguar automobiles.  Currently     2124

 folks are on the 
    list, not all of them owning Jaguars, some wanting to get info before 
    they make the plunge, others simply admirers of the marque.
    Presently list members own, XK120s 40s and 50s, E-Types, Mk I & IIs, XJS
    XJ6, XJ12, XJ40s, 420Gs, Mk 5s, Mk 7s and Mk9s.
     
  - jag-lovers is now based out of Norway. It was previously based in
    Perth, Australia.  New members from any continent and nation are welcome. 
    In other words the lists location does not make it a "Norwegian" Jaguar 
    mailing list. Norway simply happens to be where the machine is located 
    that re-directs e-mail to members on the list.  The task could be carried 
    out by any machine anywhere in the world with e-mail access.  

How busy are the lists?

  - This varies from list to list. Some have only a few messages 
    a day, others 50 or even a hundred.

How do I join?
   
  - Visit www.jag-lovers.org/cgi-bin/majordomo

  - When you join one of the jag-lovers lists, you are encouraged to introduce
    yourself and tell us a bit more about yourself and your car.  For
    example, tell us about the Jaguar you have (or want) and any
    adventures that you've had finding, buying or owning it.  Your
    Jaguar-related tales of treasures found, repairs, racing, rallying
    and any general misadventure are always welcome.

How to post to the list:

  - Send your message to <listname>@jag-lovers.org and from there it will be 
    relayed to all the other list-members.

Are there any rules?

  - Afraid so: http://www.jag-lovers.org/include/jlrules.php3

  - Commercial abuse of the lists is not allowed.
     
  - Often some of the postings to jag-lovers make great material for
    local club newletters.  This practice is encouraged and helps
    advertise the utility of the 'net.  However, don't assume that you
    have the author's permission to copy their material.  The informal
    rules we go by is that if you want to include anything off the
    jag-lovers lists in a local club newsletter, first get the author's
    permission and offer to send them a copy of the issue in which their
    article appears.
  
  - Also, be assured that you are among friends here.  It helps everyone
    if you relate both where things went wrong as well as where things
    go right when working on your Jaguar.  We all learn from it.