1960 Jaguar Mk2 3.8-litre Manual/Overdrive

• Jaguar's seminal Mk2 sports saloon in the ultimate 3.8-litre, manual/overdrive configuration
• Wearing Coombs-style metal spats, black wire wheels with chrome spinners, and leather bonnet straps front and rear, there is a real appearance of a period racing saloon
• Real kerb appeal backed up by a strong engine, a full stainless-steel exhaust, and a solid underside
• New carpets, belts and renewed seats
• A usable fun classic car designed to be jumped in, driven, and enjoyed

Launched in October 1959, the Jaguar Mk2 offered a noticeably improved driving experience over its predecessor courtesy of revised front suspension geometry, widened rear track, and four-wheel disc brakes. It was also better looking and, fittingly, the Mk2 was voted 'Car of the Year' in 1959 and would form the mainstay of Jaguar's saloon car production until 1967. One of the most readily recognised cars of the 1960s, thanks in part to countless appearances in films and on television, Jaguar's seminal Mk2 saloon set the standard for the class throughout its entire production life and today remains highly prized by enthusiasts. With the advent of the Mk2, the 3.8-litre version of Jaguar's XK twin-cam six became available for the first time in the company's medium-sized saloon. In 3.8-litre, manual/overdrive configuration with 220bhp on-tap and a whopping 240lb/ft of torque available at a lowly 3,000rpm, it was a genuine 125 mph car capable of reaching 60mph in 8.5 seconds, outstanding figures for a saloon of its size and making it the fastest saloon in the world at the time.

The car presented here a 1960 Jaguar Mk2 3.8-litre manual/overdrive example finished in fetching Indigo Blue. On offer from a small private collection of cars and used by our vendor on trips to Goodwood and Bicester Heritage, where it always turns heads, he describes it as “a fun usable classic designed to be jumped in, driven and enjoyed " and as having a ‘lovely, sweet 3.8 engine’  with no drips or leaks, fitted with small alloy trumpets, it is connected to a later 4-speed overdrive gearbox, this Mk2 both goes extremely well whilst looking a bit different from the more traditional examples out there.

Wearing Coombs-style metal spats, black wire wheels with chrome spinners, and leather bonnet straps front and rear, there is a real appearance of a period racing saloon and this is finished off with a badge-bar adorned with genuine period badges, Speedwell wing mirrors, yellow Lucas lens covers, and Dunlop fog light covers. The bumpers have had the overriders removed and have been painted, period roundels and stickers adorn the bodywork and the whole effect is enhanced by a full stainless Falcon sports exhaust. The bodywork is described as ‘straight, with a few minor marks’  and, reassuringly, the underside appears completely solid.

Between the photos attached being taken and the auction date, our vendor has treated the car to a renewal of its original Mk2 leather seats, the rears with picnic tables, the fronts now with period lap-belts, whilst a Moto-Lita wooden steering wheel, a new (but period-style) fire extinguisher in a leather holder and a new set of carpets have been added (photos of which will follow soon).

One glance at 'KSH 687' and you are instantly reminded of those close range, black and white images of Grand Prix drivers sliding their Mk2 Jaguars around Silverstone in the early 1960s. It's a great colour, correctly presented and just looks right. It's not a competition car or a heavily modified, intractable 'fast-road' saloon but a straightforward, owner-friendly, road-going Mk2 and, if today's images were in black and white, it could well be from 1961 when Mk2s in the hands of Moss, Hawthorn, Salvadori and Hill were dominant in British saloon car racing. A usable fun classic car designed to be jumped in, driven, and enjoyed and, with its nostalgic looks, would be welcome anywhere.