ROBERT COUCHER
THE DRIVER
The subtly sporting appeal of the Jaguar saloon
AS YOU ARE undoubtedly aware, I have become a bit of a Jaguar enthusiast. My love affair with my XK140 FHC continues because it is such a usable and enjoyable car. I prefer classics with roofs (the 911 Targa counts) as I use them in all weather (except on salt) around London and on Continental rallies. And my fast-diminishing coiffure needs all the protection a lid can offer.
The heart of the XK is, of course, that magnificent doubleoverhead-cam straight-six. Quiet, smooth and powerful, it must be one of the top five best engines ever created. William Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Bailey, under the auspices of (Sir) William Lyons, engineered a true masterpiece that went on to win Le Mans five times.
This engine was first seen in the XK120, launched at the Earls Court Motor Show in 1948; it saw service in the C-type, D-type, XK140 and 150 as well as the fabulous E-type and XJ6 and soldiered on in the Daimler DS420 limousine until 1992. The XK ‘six’ was also the engine of choice in Jaguar’s range of sporting saloons, from the Jaguar 2.4 Litre (it only became known as the Mk1 after the launch of the Mk2) to the S-type and later the 420.
I really like saloon cars, even if the ‘investor’ market doesn’t. Many classic saloons are much nicer to live with than their more rakish coupé or drop-top siblings; there is no excuse for compromise in practicality or ease of operation. Saloon cars have to work, whether on the daily commute or hauling families long distance on holidays. Leaky roofs, noise or contorted ingress and egress are not excused for a more aesthetically pleasing bodyline.
Some can be boring but a surprising number are anything but. A vintage Bentley with foursquare Weymann fabric coachwork is a fabulous piece of kit and, remember, it was a Bentley Speed Six saloon that Woolf Barnato used to beat Le Train Bleu back to London by four minutes, not the sexier Gurney Nutting Sportsman Coupé as was the long-accepted mythology. And the four-door, pre-war Lancia Aprilia was another revelation. With a 1354cc V4, light monocoque construction and independent suspension, an Aprilia will blow the fabric clean off the aforementioned Bentley on a tight country road. The GTI of its time.
Having grown up with a number of superb Alfa Romeo sports cars, I had the good fortune to enjoy a boxy Giulia saloon for a few years. With its revvy twin-cam engine and snorting Weber carbs, the Giulia had the same brakes and suspension as the two-door cars and almost exactly the same performance and handling in a molto practical package. Being young and (more) stupid, I swapped it for a better-looking, more ‘girl-friendly’ Giulietta coupé and then often missed the easier Giulia on long European rallies. Yes, that’s what we all think we want: better-looking sports cars and hang the challenging ergonomics.
As you will read in Mark Dixon’s article on the Jaguar 3.4 Litre, starting on page 148, these sporting saloons (a Jaguar invention) were wildly popular and successful in the 1950s and 1960s because they retain the fun of their sports car sisters and can also be used hard and fast by enthusiastic drivers. The rare Mk1s are now rising in value and so are being properly restored, as is the case with the gruntier 3.8 Mk2. But these saloons still command only half the price of the equivalent XKs while offering very similar driving dynamics. Thanks to the huge array of upgrades now on offer by Jaguar specialists, you can tune your sports saloon from feline to ferocious. And there is no better-looking classic saloon than a Mk1 or Mk2 sitting on wide, body-coloured, competition wire wheels! But if you are really smart, you should take a close look at the underrated S-type or the subsequent 420 of the 1960s. Fitted with independent rear suspension, these Jaguars are undervalued and are even better to drive than the Mk1 and Mk2. They’re not quite the ultimate, however. Because…
The Jaguar saloon I most often hanker after is the first XJ6. It would have to be a manual/overdrive, pre-73 Series I, with its short wheelbase, poverty-model steel wheels and hubcaps. I’d leave it looking totally stock with those twirly rear exhausts, but have the lusty 4235cc straight-six rebuilt to hightorque, fast-road spec, firm up the suspension, vent the discs and re-valve the steering for greater feel.
A fast, sporting saloon – and very much a Jaguar.
‘WITH THE HUGE ARRAY OF UPGRADES NOW ON OFFER, YOU CAN TUNE YOUR JAGUAR SPORTS SALOON FROM FELINE TO FEROCIOUS’
ROBERT COUCHER Robert grew up with classic cars, and has owned a Lancia Aurelia B20GT, Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Porsche 356C. He currently uses his properly sorted 1955 Jaguar XK140 as his daily driver, and is a founding editor of this magazine.