Jaguar were almost unrivaled for offering value for money in their luxury and sports cars, when they were merged with BMC in 1966. The company continued to develop their own range of cars with reasonable success, despite the fall in quality. Some level of restoration of damaged reputation came when the company were privatised in 1984. The company survived with just 2 model lines (the XJ and XJS) for 2 decades both of which needed significant development by the time Ford took over the company in 1990. Happily the company survives in much stronger form today, although no longer in British hands.