While the Jaguar’s engineering was certainly something to be proud of, I see more of post-war Britain in progressive designs like the 1959 Mini and the fabulous Rover P6 and Hillman Imp of 1963. Its appeal to American buyers was obviously limited by the mid ’60s and in many ways, the sedans which followed were similarly characterized by a caricature of old-world charm which no longer defined the UK or the world in general. The car was re-badged as the 420G in 1967, but remained a flop. The Mark X initially did well, with 17,500 sold through 1965, but only about 5800 were moved during the remaining five year run. ![]() As contemporary accounts of driving the MarkX/420G mirror my experience in the few Jags of the ’80s and ’90s I’ve driven, there’s obviously a chink in the armor. People rave about the marque’s masterful combination of ride quality and handling prowess, but complaints seem to center around ergonomic missteps and poor space utilization, never the crazy lightness of the steering. What it might have been was the overboosted steering, a Jaguar characteristic which defined later XJ40 derivatives and much as it defined the MarkX/420G. Jaguar cars used it in modified form all the way until the last XK8 left the production line and even then, it wasn’t necessarily the rear suspension which dated that car’s driving experience. Fully isolated from the body structure, using four coil springs/shocks, in-board disc brakes, big trailing links and axle half-shafts acting as upper control links, along with lower lateral links, it was a masterful way of reducing unsprung weight and tuning the chassis for ride comfort without losing the necessary degree of body and wheel control. If the Mark X was the first Jaguar conceived with American tastes, it had an equally enduring legacy when it came to the nuts and bolts, as it was the first sedan equipped with Coventry’s famed independent rear axle, a design used by no other manufacturer. At about 4,200 pounds, performance was as good as anyone could expect, but despite the added displacement meant to satisfy American customers, high-speed cruising was more the car’s forte. This was bumped up to 4.2 liters in 1964, which was the max displacement the engine, dubbed XK6, would reach until the end of its life in 1987 after a thirty-eight year run (1992 if you include the Daimler limousines). Under this earlier model’s sculpted hood sits a triple-carbureted, 3.8 liter twin-cam straight-six making 265 (gross) horsepower. Whatever else could be said about the car’s styling might spoil the experience of just taking it all in, and as all possible cliches have already been employed in describing Jaguar styling, these excellent pictures make it clear that I’d be wasting my… keystrokes by describing it much further. The combination of organic curves and a wide stance imparts a sense of athleticism and, when combined with the uniqueness of its overall appearance, makes it pleasing to most eyes. You can come to your own conclusions few sedans looked like this when it was new and the same is true today and for all its alleged girth, it looks svelte compared to contemporary models. Many criticized the car for being a bit too wide and fat looking fair enough, but in many ways, it simply underscored the nature of what was supposed to be an indulgent car. Even still, it looked low to the ground with a long 120-inch wheelbase and 202-inch overall length, and is dramatically squat to today’s eyes. Looking somewhat like a stretched version of the 1959 Mark 2, it introduced the now well-recognized forward slanting front end with four headlights at the same level.Īnd it’s quite a car, isn’t it? At 76 inches wide, it was broad of beam for its day and remains so in 2014 it’s 54.5 inches tall, which is low by current standards (though less so upon the car’s introduction in 1961). ![]() When this US-oriented high roller was conceived, however, it was still a while before sober-looking German models would redefine the elegant, high-end sedan and with its resplendent contours, it represents a very different aesthetic sensibility. Though known for their performance, the classic Jaguar shape suggests a lushness incongruous with grand touring and dynamic prowess in the current idiom. (first posted ) Long-term readers will recognize these shots as those of Laurence Jones, with a characteristic richness and saturation only fitting for a car with such exaggerated proportions.
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