Vehicle Description
1962 Jaguar MK II Saloon
The word 'saloon' comes from the French 'salon', which means a
large room. The term 'saloon car' was originally used to refer to
the luxury carriages on a train. It was adopted by British
carmakers in the early part of the 20th century to describe cars
with an enclosed passenger compartment.
For consignment, a car oft used by bank robbers or gangsters in
jolly old England, and then eventually put to service by the
"bobbies" due to its power and handling, a 1962 Jaguar MK II. This
was the beneficiary of a total rebuild 25 years ago, but still
holds its "parance" (sic). Beautiful styling, a sporty sports car
with a snappy engine, and cracking interior. Bloody well right
Grommit!
Exterior
The body styling looks like it could have been blown from a bubble
machine as there is not a straight line on this car. Leading with a
leaper, it jumps just above an oval shaped vertical ribbed grille.
On either side are the larger round headlights and below some fog
lights showing slightly smaller. On the lower corners of the
bulbous front fenders is a small round signal light. A nicely
fitting bumper is below and has a small central bump to accommodate
the bean shaped grille. Front fenders round over and form the wheel
wells and flank the V shaped hood. This runs back to the curved
oval windscreen, a thin A pillar and more oval styling for the side
glass and door sills. This is a 4 door version, and gaps are pretty
well minded. Just a few areas of some blemishes and bubbling metal
underneath white paint are noted. A sill trimming runs from the
front of the hood edges rearward across the sills then dives
downward to the rear quarter edges and eventually the rear of the
car. Here a large tail light resides just above another shiny wrap
around bumper. The trunk lid is curved and has a large plate light
above. Gray steel wheels are wrapped in black wall rubber and have
chromed center caps.
Interior
Inside red leather buckets in bomber style flank a center red
console. Upfront a burl dash top has a slightly angled dash front
and here in front of the driver are 2 large circular gauges. In the
center is a litany of toggles lined up just below some round
gauges, the ignition and a mounted radio just above the console
intersection. More burl for the door sills, and more red leather
for the door panels. In back is a near perfect red overstuffed
bench. Red carpeting floods the floors, and above is a nice tan
fuzzy broadcloth headliner and visors.
Drivetrain
Under the bonnet is a silver dual snorted air cleaner veering out
to the sides. This tops a silver engine and valve covering. All
buttoned up is a 3.8L 6 cylinder mill with 2 SU carbs, (H6D's), and
a Borg Warner 3 Speed Autogear automatic transmission. Power goes
to a rear axle of 3.54 gearing.
Undercarriage
I say looking mostly chipper underneath with some slight invasive
rust on the corners of the lower rear curved undercarriage, mainly
on the driver's side. Otherwise black undercoated stamped steel
floor pans and rockers. Independent coil springs in front, and leaf
springs on back provide the ride, and disc braking on all 4 corners
is on.
Drive-Ability
As with all the British cars I snapped this one up for the test
drive, and it was a fulfilling experience. The red leather grabbed
me and I turned the key and off to the test track for my tool I
went. Nice smooth acceleration and plenty of it, good solid
braking, and shifting was seamless. The speedometer, brake lights
and clock are all not working, and I could hear a faint noise from
the bottom of the engine.
In the: "and now for something completely different" category, a
snappy rounded design Jag from 1962 that runs great and is a great
looker, all bathed in white with nice chrome. Quite right, you're
bloody well right to snap this roadster up. Come in and pluck it
from our Hallowed Halls.
Classic Auto Mall is a 336,000-square foot classic and special
interest automobile showroom, featuring over 650 vehicles for sale
with showroom space for up to 1,000 vehicles. Also, a 400 vehicle
barn find collection is on display.
This vehicle is located in our showroom in Morgantown,
Pennsylvania, conveniently located just 1-hour west of Philadelphia
on the I-76 Pennsylvania Turnpike. The website is
www.classicautomall.com and our phone number is (888) 227-0914.
Please contact us anytime for more information or to come see the
vehicle in person.
