Background
By the early 1960’s Jaguar’s model lineup consisted of the E-Type; the MK2; the S-Type; the MK X and the Daimler SP250. That’s a lot of distinct models for a 20,000 car a year niche producer and “Mr Jaguar,” Sir William Lyons knew it. TheSP250 was inherited under the 1960 Daimler acquisition and was for the chop anyway, but Lyons needed an all-conquering Jaguar saloon to render the disparate current models obsolete. And it needed to be a good’un! A project commenced in 1963 with the internal designation XJ4, or “experimental Jaguar” number 4. Lyons would later suggest that he and his team were working to the following brief: “Design a saloon car that sets new standards of comfort and luxury, road holding and ride, steering and braking; performance and safety – all in one car – with a level of outstanding value that Jaguar has traditionally made their own.” Hmmm! Sounds easy enough!
In terms of design, this is where Lyons stepped up to work his untrained and somewhat Heath Robinson brand of magic. This was very much from the school of trial and error and faffing about with clay models, sticks and probably lots of string. It seemed to work, however, with pretty much all Jaguars to that point - except Malcolm Sayers sublime C, D and E Types – having been predominantly the work of Lyons. The new saloon was finally launched on the 26th September 1968 with the range launching with two iterations of the erstwhile XK straight six engine – a 2.8 and a 4.2-litre. Given the engines’ configuration the car was christened the XJ6. Not only was this the first brand new Jaguar model since 1961, but it looked sublime, too. The thick and mouthwatering icing on this already deeply enticing cake, however, were the prices. The entry level manual 2.8 litre model weighed in at a featherweight £1,797 and the range topping 4.2-litre automatic was just £2,398. To put some context around this, a Mercedes Benz 300 SE of the time was well over £5,000 and even the Rover P6 3500 was £1,800 and considered to occupy a rung below the Jaguars in the pecking order of prestige.
So, it looked great, but was it any good? Who better to pass judgement than the highly respected Car Magazine. The conclusion to their road test said it all really with even a few elegant words of wisdom thrown in by the legendary LJK Setright for good measure. “In 4.2-litre form it offers at least as much performance as any of its direct competitors; it throws in supreme handling and silence, excellent breaking and comfort and all at the usual shattering Jaguar price. As the good Setright said in voting for it ‘it renders superfluous all cars that cost more.’ It is still not a perfect car………….but is probably the best this nation can offer and certainly amongst the best any nation has known in 75 years.” Sir William had pulled another gem, and ostensibly his last before retirement, out of the hat.
