JAGUAR MK II, Carmen Red

ABOUT JAGUAR MK II

The Jaguar Mark 2 is a mid-sized luxury sports saloon built from late 1959 to 1967 by Jaguar in Coventry, England. The previous Jaguar 2.4 Litre and 3.4 Litre models made between 1955 and 1959 are identified as Mark 1 Jaguars.

The Mark 2 was a fast and capable saloon in line with Sir William Lyons' 1950s advertising slogan: Grace . . . Space . . . Pace, available with all three versions of the advanced Jaguar XK6 I6 engine, the 2.4, 3.4, and 3.8 litre. There was no direct successor to the Mark 2 series. The 3.8 litre Jaguar S-type, an upscaled and refined version of the Mark 2, had already appeared in 1963, well before the first of the Mark 2 models was discontinued. 

A 3.4 litre with automatic transmission tested by The Motor magazine in 1961 had a top speed of 119.9 mph (193.0 km/h) and could accelerate from 0-60 mph (97 km/h) in 11.9 seconds.

The Mark 2's body lines, derived from the Mark 1, and overall layout proved sufficiently popular over time to provide inspiration for the second-generation Jaguar S-Type, a nostalgia model introduced in 1999. Brendan McAleer of the Globe and Mail described the 2015 Jaguar XE as the Mark 2's spiritual descendant.

A Regency red 1960 Mark 2 was used by Detective Chief Inspector Morse throughout the Inspector Morse television series.