Jaguar Mk1 (1955 – 59)
The Jaguar Mark 1 is a British saloon car produced by Jaguar between 1955 and 1959. Its designation Mark 1 followed its October 1959 replacement by Jaguar’s 2.4-litre Mark 2. The 2.4 Litre was the company’s first small saloon since the end of its 1½ and 2½ Litre cars in 1949, and was an immediate success, easily outselling the larger much more expensive Jaguar saloons. The 2.4 Litre saloon was announced on 28 September 1955. The 3.4 Litre saloon announced 17 months later in USA on 26 February 1957 was designed for the American market and was not at first freely available on the domestic market. Jaguar’s new 2.4 and 3.4 introduced a modern style and a new level of performance to this respectable company and It was also the first Jaguar with unitary construction of body and chassis.
The interior was of similar design to the contemporary Jaguar saloons and sports cars, with most of the dials and switches being located on the central dashboard between the driver and passenger. This arrangement reduced the differences between LHD and RHD versions. Although its profile was very different from that of previous Jaguars, the side window surrounds and opening rear “no draught ventilator” (quarterlight) windows are reminiscent of Jaguar Mark IV saloons. The car was available in standard or special equipment versions with the former lacking a tachometer, heater (available as an option), windscreen washers, fog lights and cigarette lighter. Both versions did however have leather upholstery and polished walnut trim.
The Mark 1 was initially offered with a 2.4 Litre short-stroke version of the XK120’s twin-cam six-cylinder engine, first rated at 112bhp net by the factory at the launch in 1955. From February 1957 the larger and heavier 3.4 Litre 210bhp (gross) unit already used in the Jaguar Mark VIII also became available, largely in response to pressure from US Jaguar dealers. Wire wheels became available. The 3.4 had a larger front grille for better cooling, a stronger rear axle and rear-wheel covers (spats) were cut away to accommodate the wire wheels’ knock-off hubcaps. The 2.4 Litre was also given the larger grille.
In September 1957 a three-speed Borg-Warner automatic transmission (previously an export-only option) became available with either engine, and Dunlop disc brakes for all four wheels were made available as an optional extra on all Jaguar models except the Mark VIII saloon. 19,992 of the 2.4 and 17,405 of the 3.4 Litre versions were made.
Performance.
A 2.4 Litre saloon with overdrive was tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1956. It was found to have a top speed of 101.5 mph (163.3 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 14.4 seconds. A fuel consumption of 18.25 miles per imperial gallon (15.48 L/100 km; 15.20 mpg‑US) was recorded. The test car cost £1532 including taxes.
They went on to test a 3.4 Litre automatic saloon in 1957. This car had a top speed of 119.8 mph, acceleration from 0-60 mph in 11.2 seconds and a fuel consumption of 21.1 miles per gallon was recorded. The test car cost £1864 including taxes of £622.
A manual overdrive version of the 3.4 Litre was tested by The Autocar in June 1958. Its 0–60 mph time was 9.1 seconds, and 0–100 mph in 26 seconds, little more than a second behind the contemporary XK150 with the same engine
Mark I 3.4 Litre saloons competed successfully in many rallies, touring car, and saloon car races, notable drivers including Stirling Moss, Mike Hawthorn, Tommy Sopwith, and Roy Salvadori.
On 22 January 1959 former motor racing world champion Mike Hawthorn died in an accident involving his own highly tuned 1957 3.4 Litre, registration VDU 881, on the A3 Guildford By-Pass in Surrey, England.
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