CarBrandLogos archive · Jaguar · 1959

JaguarMark 2

Fast enough for the police, which is exactly why the robbers wanted one too.

Photo: User Arpingstone on en.wikipedia · Public domain

The story

A defining chapter in Jaguar history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Jaguar Mark 2, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

Jaguar's compact saloon of 1959 was a rework of the Mark 1 rather than a new car, but the changes were the right ones: a wider rear track that cured the original's alarming behaviour at the limit, far more glass, and — crucially — the 3.8-litre version of the XK engine.

Jaguar MK2 - 02 · Arnaud 25 · Public domain

Design and engineering

That combination made the Mark 2 the quickest four-door saloon most British buyers could reach. It had disc brakes on all four wheels when many rivals still had drums, wire wheels and a limited-slip differential were on the options list, and the interior was wood and leather at a price no Bentley could approach. Nearly 84,000 were built to 1967, followed by some 7,000 of the cheapened 240 and 340 models.

1967 Jaguar MK II Automatic - interior · Niels de Wit from Lunteren, The Netherlands · CC BY 2.0

In production

In competition it dominated European saloon racing in the early 1960s, with Moss, Hill and Salvadori all winning in them before the Ford Galaxie's V8 arrived to end the run. Police forces bought them as pursuit cars. So, with some regularity, did the people being pursued, which gave the Mark 2 a permanent place in British crime folklore and in the television that followed it — most durably as Inspector Morse's maroon 2.4.

Mitsuoka Viewt 1994 · DeFacto · CC BY-SA 4.0

Legacy

The S-Type of 1963 was meant to move the range upmarket, but the Mark 2 outlived it in spirit, and a decade of British saloon design was measured against it. Good 3.8s, particularly manuals with overdrive, are now worth many times what the equivalent Mark 1 fetches.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

1959–1967

Units built

83,976

Engine

Jaguar XK engine

Body

4-door saloon

Technical specification

The Mark 2, in detail.

Production: 1959–1967 (Mark 2; 83,976 built); 1967–1969 (240 & 340; 7,234 built)
Class: Mid-size luxury / Executive car (E); Sports saloon
Body style: 4-door saloon
Layout: FR layout
Engine: Jaguar XK engine; 2483 cc straight-6; I6; 3442 cc straight-6; I6; 3781 cc straight-6; I6
Assembly: United Kingdom: Coventry
Manufacturer: Jaguar Cars