Lot 641: 1961 JAGUAR MK IX FOUR-DOOR SALOON

Opalescent Gunmetal with beige leather interior.

Engine: six cylinders in line, with twin SU carburettors and twin overhead camshafts, 220bhp at 5,500rpm, 3,781cc; Gearbox: four-speed automatic; Suspension: front, wishbones and torsion bars, rear, semi-elliptic leaf springs; Brakes: Lockheed servo-assisted Dunlop discs all round. Right hand drive.

Jaguar's large saloons had been nibbling at the heels of the aristocratic Bentley and Rolls-Royce ranges since the launch of the Mk V in 1948. Offering increasingly comparable technical competence, stylistic grandeur, and internal luxury, but bearing a price far less intimidating, William Lyons patiently modernised and bettered his offerings and in doing so built for his company a reputation that can only be described as solid and enviable.

The Mk IX saloon was the latest permutation of Jaguar's saloon, a continuation of the range begun in 1950 with the Mk VII and, as such, it was the last to use a separate chassis. Building upon the luxury offered by the Mk VIII, and virtually indistinguishable from the exterior, the Mk IX used the XK engine now in the 3.8 litre guise that had served so well on the race tracks during the 1957 and 1958 seasons. The Mk IX's unit produced 220bhp with an 8:1 compression ratio (7:1 being available for countries where only low-octane fuel was available). It introduced power-steering to the Jaguar range and was which confirms it to be a matching numbers car.