Lot 207: Jaguar MKII 3.4 Saloon

By 1955 Jaguar were well established. The XK engine had been a great success as had the cars powered by the superb dohc straight six. The XK 120 & 140 and MKVII Saloon were selling well and Jaguar had won at Le Mans but they lacked a compact saloon that would compete with the MG Magnette, Citroen DS and other mid-sized saloons of the era. This all changed in 1955 with the launch of the new compact Saloon (they were never designated MKI), which sported the legendary, Le Mans winning 3.4 and a de-stroked 2.4 version of the XK engine. While these new saloons were quite sporty they did retain some of the heavy styling of the MKVII, the car also had a very narrow rear track and had quite opulent yet dark interiors. All of these criticisms were addressed in 1959, with the introduction of the MKII. The MKII was a much crisper design. The glass area was improved with a much larger rear window, deeper windscreen and slimmer A and B pillars. The frontal treatment was cleaned up and the rear track increased by 3.5 inches. The MKII was, by far, the most successful of the classic Jaguar saloons.This example is said to have been sold to a member of the United States Air Force back in 1962 and to have returned to Arizona, despite being right hand drive, when his tour of duty was over. The car remained in the dry state of Arizona until it was repatriated to the UK in 1998. It was then subjected to cosmetic and mechanical overhauls and was found to be structurally superior to the usual UK based cars. Finished Old English White with red leather interior, the car is equipped with the 3.4 XK engine, which is mated to a 4-speed + overdrive manual gearbox. Said to be ready to show or go, the car has recently been serviced and checked over by well know MKII specialist RS Coachworks.