Introduction of the MkV, MkVII, and XK120

It was towards the end of WWII in 1945, that Lyons was the first to recognise that the SS initials had become tarnished by their identification with the Schutzstaffel in Nazi Germany – “A sector of the community which was not highly regarded” was how he later put it. So in April 1945, SS Cars became Jaguar Cars, a name Lyons had prudently registered back in November 1937.

Mark IV

Soon after the war the sidecar division was sold and the 1½, 2½ and 3½ litre saloons and dropheads were launched substantially as before, whilst the SS100 was dropped to avoid complication. Lyons had managed to buy the Standard tooling for the 2.6 and 3.6-litre engines, whilst the 1.8-litre engine was still available from Standard. Left-hand drive versions of these cars, known retrospectively as the Mark IVs, were introduced from 1947. Intended primarily for the United States, they sold well despite costing nearly twice as much as their pre-war equivalents, though still very cheap by post-war standards.

The Foleshill factory was also much improved as a result of rebuilding after wartime damage – six of the shops had been destroyed in 1940 – and plans for the future were well under way.

Jaguar Mark V

In September 1948 Jaguar announced its first new post-war, stop-gap model. A more radical saloon was being conceived but such was the complexity of the body for this (the Mark VII), that its chassis was used on the Mark V, replacing the Mark IVs from which its body was derived, and available with just two engine options: the 2½ and 3½ litre power units. It would be another two years before the Mark VII was ready for production.

A revolutionary new engine was also being worked on by Heynes for the Mark VII, but it was considered that the Mark V was a little too conservative in which to launch this, and so a new sports car was conceived intended for low volume production as a showcase and testbed for the engine.

XK120 Introduced

Unveiled a month after the Mark V at the Motor Show in 1948 was Jaguar’s new sports car: the XK120, powered by the 3.4 litre twin overhead camshaft engine developed for the big Mark VII saloon. The XK120, so named to respectively reflect its engine and top speed, represented a milestone in British sports car design and its success took Jaguar by surprise. This was the sports car that had everything: a roadster body more beautiful than anything even Jaguar had produced before; an immensely strong chassis; and an engine so sophisticated that it looked as though it should have graced a Grand Prix racer rather than a £998 sports car.This was not only the first pure-bred Jaguar engine, it was also the world’s first mass-production engine with twin-overhead camshafts and hemispherical combustion chambers.

The advantage of such an engine layout was in the additional power it could generate, however numerous disadvantages had to be overcome first: noise from the long chains or gears needed to drive the camshafts; manufacturing difficulties which meant that they would inevitably cost more; potential unreliability; and difficulties during services.

Heynes, Hassan, Baily and Mundy expressed their reservations, but Lyons would not settle for second best and insisted that the engine must have a twin-cam, and it also had to look good. The result was a sensational six-cylinder in-line XK unit that produced no less than 160 bhp from 3442 cc, enough to propel the XK120 to more than 120 mph – hence its designation XK120.

Jaguar Mark VII

The Mark VII saloon introduced in 1950 laid the foundations of continuing prosperity for the Jaguar Car Company. It was the culmination of years of development and was designed to sell in larger quantities than the XK sports car, at approximately 100 per week compared with the XK’s 60. The principal reasons for its success were that it was extremely good looking, it could carry up to six passengers in comfort, and it was very fast. In fact it was the Mark VII that introduced Jaguar’s “Grace, Space and Pace” slogan.

This magnificent saloon received a rapturous welcome when it was unveiled at the London Motor Show and soon after in New York to the American public. It sold well on appearance and a performance that had been confirmed by the XK120. It was competition success though that would boost sales even more. Early in 1952 two Frenchmen – René Cotton and Jean Heurteaux – would finish fourth and sixth in the Monte Carlo rally, which was the most important in the international calendar at the time. In the 1953 Monte Carlo rally, the Appleyards, who normally drove an XK120, came within a second of winning the event, with Irishman Cecil Vard fifth in his Mark V saloon. In the Silverstone Production Car Race, which was open only to saloons, Stirling Moss won in both 1952 and 1953 in a Mark VII.

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