1955’s show stars driven
JAGUAR 2.4
ENGINE 2483cc/6-cyl/DOHC POWER 112bhp@5750rpm TORQUE 140lb ft@2000rpm 0-60MPH 15sec MAXIMUM SPEED 102mph FUEL CONSUMPTION 20-27mpg TRANSMISSION RWD, four-speed manual ENGINE OIL Castrol Classic XL20w50 6.8 litres GEARBOX OIL Castrol Classic XL30 1.4 litres AXLE OIL Castrol Classic EP90 1.4 litres
Jaguar showed off its first monocoque saloon at Earls Court alongside examples of its Le Mans-winning D-type, popular range of XK140 sports cars and Bentley-rivalling MkVIIM. Looking at the 2.4 here, complete with spats over the rear wheels, it’s easy to see how any visitors to Jaguar’s stand would instantly home in on the newcomer even among such well-regarded company.
There’s no denying that the 2.4 has a deceptively clean and simple shape. Jaguar considered a four-cylinder version of the XK engine for this car, but thankfully opted for a short-stroke version of its existing in-line six instead.
Turn the key in the wooden dash and it fires easily, settling to a quiet, vibration-free idle. It’s probably the smoothest of all the XK engines, its creamy delivery and musical engine note making it sound more powerful than it really is. The 112bhp it offers inevitably can’t compare with the outputs of its 3.4- and 3.8-litre brethren, but it has prodigious low-speed torque. The Moss gearbox isn’t the slickest, but engine and road noise levels are low and the ride quality is excellent, despite the live rear axle. The low-geared steering demands big arcs of the wheel in corners, but the Jaguar hunts out apexes with a precision that few saloon cars could match in the Fifties.
The Jaguar soon came to dominate saloon car racing grids and very nearly took Tommy Sopwith to the very first British Saloon Car Championship title in 1958. Equal on points with the Austin Westminster driven by Jack Sears at the end of the season, he lost a ten-lap tiebreaker by little more than a second.
It was in a Jaguar saloons that stars of Grand Prix and sports car racing such as Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Roy Salvadori and Ivor Bueb regularly rubbed door handles in the later Fifties. Mike Hawthorn thoroughly enjoyed his own much-modified 3.4, though he died following a crash in it in 1959 just a few months after securing his Formula One World Championship.
The range was replaced that year by the Mk2, and although the later cars are sometimes seen as more desirable the earlier cars are rarer, so values work out about the same. Standard, original cars are the most soughtafter – modifications tend to reduce values rather than increase them. Parts availability is excellent, but restoration costs are substantial, so it pays to find one that has already benefitted from plenty of attention.