Among the legions of classic Jaguars that enthusiasts have access to on any given classifieds site, the Mark X or 420 series sedan is one of the more obscure options. This is the Jaguar that time forgot, as it didn’t exactly resonate with the buying public when new despite being the modern equivalent of a top-shelf S-Class when new. The Mark X was, on paper, a very well-built car with excellent performance and road manners but a variety of issues doomed its success from the start, and it’s rarely seen today. Find the big body Jaguar here on craigslist for $6,500.
This is one of my favorite Jaguars, largely for the obscurity factor. You simply don’t see them come up for sale all that often, at least not compared to the later XJ models. The history of this top-tier offering offers a fascinating look into the labor turmoil that roiled Jaguar more than once, with numerous worker actions tied to a powerful union that was able to cause the company serious pain at times. The MkX was deeply affected by such events shortly after the U.S. market placed a sizable order for the spacious sedan, where it was intended to appeal to buyers of larger vehicles.
The Jaguar was praised for its impressive build quality, luxurious appointments, and surprisingly sprightly performance: this rather generous sedan could reach 120 miles per hour and achieve 60 in about 10 seconds. A manual transmission was offered but the automatic was more appropriate for the car’s size and intended purpose. The overall feedback was that it was a thoroughly competent sedan, but some reviewers complained about its rather dull looks and the quality of the interior trim and seats.
Despite being a better handling car and significantly cheaper than the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud III, the Mark X seemed destined to remain a “might have been” in Jaguar’s family tree. Perhaps the issues at the factory were indicative of the car’s fate once introduced, but I still consider it a fantastic buy if you’re in the market for a classic British motor. The seller reports that the carburetors were removed for a rebuild that never happened, and that the Jaguar still cranks over without hesitation.
This could be a stunning looking car – after it was restored.
I wonder why they didn’t wash it,& take pictures – maybe the paint’s
not in great shape?And whitewalls don’t look good on these.
This is a car that you take a level-headed mechanic friend with
you to look at it,& talk you out of it in case you let emotion get in the
way.This one looks like it could be a huge money pit,especially if
you don’t do the work on it yourself.
It won’t sell for anywhere near that price for the same reason it didn’t sell when new. The body simply was what Sir Lyons thought Americans wanted. It wasn’t.
So it will be a rare duck who knows what that car is really worth as parts.
I have to agree on the body. Also feel that the upsizing meant they were taking the full size American luxury car head on. I imagine you could get a Buick with similar size and options (if not the same stately presence or smell of old England in the interior) for a lot less money. With the car no being pretty line most other Jags were, hard to compete.
I am always reminded of the early 1950s Hudson Hornets when I see one of these Jaguars and I don’t like the Hudson’s styling much either!
I found one of these in a junkyard last year that had a beautiful new paint job but the interior was trashed. The junkyard owner said an old man was restoring his dream car and died halfway through the restoration, and the next week his family dumped the car in the junkyard. Too bad of a nice car. I was going to buy it but ended up buying a Crosley Farm O’ Road that was sitting next to it instead.
The Mark X and 420 series are two different body styles.
Reckon they meant 420G, which was an update of the Mark X, whereas the 420 was a derivative of the smaller S-type, itself derived from the Mark 2.
My dad had a 68 420G and it was a real nice car. He paid around $6,000 for it and drove it for 2 years.
The thing I didn’t like about it was it needed retuning every 400 miles. Not fun at the side of the road when the temperature is over 100 and humidity at 85%.
In 1970, someone offered him $10,000 cash, so he sold it.
The Mark X evolved into the 420G (which is probably what this 1969 is). The 420 was part of the small saloon line sharing doors with the Mk II and the 3.8 S.
I like the Flatty with the Boogers.
If this was a U.S. delivered car, it would be a 1966-67 420 G. This top-of-the line sedan, which could even be ordered with a sliding-glass partition and seperate, rear A/C, (not sure if anybody did?) was continued in England/Europe until 1970, and overlapped with the more popular and familiar XJ6. A very elegant, but tempermental, sexy, sixties saloon! Restoring the elaborate wood, wilton pile and leather interior costs an absolute fortune, (if you can even find people to do that, today?) and outweighs the overall value.Might make more sense, and be cheaper, to rig-it-up and have it literally horse-drawn? Maybe some eco/green/climate change movie stars could rock-it?
That is a Mark X, the 420G had a central bar in the grill, a strip of chrome along the flanks and some detail changes to the interior. It’s not however from 1969; the last Mark Xs were built in 1966, after which they were badged 420G.
Absolutely correct. 420G had a clock in the dash edge, and vinyl covered dashtop, as well. So its not a 69. Lik or a 420G either. Probably a typo and could be from 62-mid 66 MarkX.
My 66 is a Mark X. 420G were from mid 66-70. Almost identical tho.
People bag the shape. I actually love it, although would smooth back and streamline the C pillar a tad if i had a choice…
Epic lines on this thing.
Clean her up, stuff a 427 under the hood with sidepipes, and you’ve got the car Cruella de Vil took when she needed to pick up family at the airport.
That engine you want to toss away will sell for what the car does. ( that’s before it’s rebuilt! which has a very good chance it won’t need.
Then the pumpkin in the rear end would be a great find for Hot Rodders, racers, and guys putting manual transmission in their XJS
Finally look at that dash. Those instruments are highly desired. Jaguar still made a beautiful dash.
Sorry, I was being silly. I thought the Cruella de Vil reference made that clear.
A 427 would indeed be wasted in this car.
This Jag is a nag. leave it there or make glue. I wouldn’t bet on this one in the first race.
This sadly is worth the value of the 3.8 engine and triple carbs, also it may well have a powerlock rear end, that has a value, the rest is more or less worthless,
I agree fully and sadly – it’s true. These cars are not highly valued. If one found a 420G with new paint in a junkyard (as in comments above), but it needed the wood, dash pad, door trim, picnic tables, and leather seats re-done, it would be a money losing proposition. Sad. These are really nice cars in good shape, and fairly quick for the era (although very heavy).
I would be shocked if it actually sells for even 1/2 of the asking price.
While the body looks rust free the cost of even DIYing it would likely be near the asking price and 10’s of thousands more if done by a profession shop.
Here’s an oxymoron. Jaguar and “impressive build quality.”
Some Jaguars did escape the factory as perfect. A good share of those were owned by ignorant fools who simply bought it to impress others and had no idea of the care needed to maintain it.
Little things like the SU fuel pump when it stopped working the points simply needed cleaning. A less than 3 minute task done once a year and like my SU fuel pump is working flawlessly since 1974.
The cursed Lucas electrical problem most often was a poor ground ( the black wire.) just tightening it usually returned it to functioning.
Those SU carbs are lawnmower simple and rarely ever need touching. But every ham fisted mechanic gets n. There “adjusting” them
I’ve seen engines torn apart and never put back together without any real justification. Or untrained mechanics taking 20 + hours to do a 1 hour job of adjusting valves. ( Jaguar cams can be swaped and adjusted. In an hour or less. While an American V8 takes a massive amount of more time to do the same task.
Swapping to an American engine usually doesn’t do anything for the car. Most are heavy Luxury cars that would be like putting a Chevy engine in a Cadillac.
Not lying when you say the project “stalled “.
Ok, the body looks good. The engine might be good. The interior is where this project would sink. All that leather and wood would be a HUGE amount of time and treasure to replace. This would be thousands of dollars. Electrical would be interesting as well, since this has refinements like A/C and electric windows, all about 60 years old. The Brits know how to make things out of metal, but sadly anything non-metallic (rubber, plastic insulation for wire etc) is less than worthless.
Too bad, it is a cool car.
Don’t be, this Jaguar could be a wonderful source of expensive valuable parts
Or the leather really does respond well to Leather conditioner like Leatherique
Torn leather can be permanently repaired with superglue on the edge of the tear. Repairing the wood isn’t expensive either. It’s paint with clear lacquer. Buy some lacquer thing and remove the finish. Next requires an eye for detail. Gently lift a loose piece of the veneer off and shop around for similar veneer. You might have to go to a lot of places selling veneer to find something that will work.
Most of that early veneer was done using horse hide glue. That responds to steam. (Work slow and patiently) you may have to replace a lot to match everything. But the veneer isn’t that expensive. The hard part is reattaching it. There creatively is called for. But modern superglue is a good substitute.
This is a BIG car in person compared to any other Jaguar, but without the excellent proportions of the XJ series. Impressive in size but not quite so In shape.
As for leatherique, I too was a fan until I used it on the front seat leather of a 67 Daimler Majestic Major and watched in horror as the leather shrank and split and disintegrated before my eyes. It happened so fast that I was only able grab a camera to take “after” photos to send to the company. They claimed that this was caused by people sitting on the seat in shorts and getting “human oil” on the leather, but If that was true those “people” must have been very flexible because the seat back was also destroyed by the leatherique application. The company claimed they had no liability for the destruction.
These always seem to be found in this condition. I have never seen a nice one, or even one that would be worthwhile to restore, even if it was free. (And I am a huge Jag enthusiast and have owned and restored several).
I’ve had two and still have one (65 British Embassy limousine). I have never seen the wood “burn” on the tray tables or surrounds on even the roughest example. Tool kit is a $300 plus, rear air is great if it works, a PITA if it doesn’t. Your looking at brakes (one end to the other (about $1,500), fuel system ($500-750 – and it sounds like you still need to rebuild the carbs). Every hose known to man (about $200) and OBTW the Borg Warner model 8 trans in these is known for complete seal deterioration. This is a $1,500 car on a good day
All Barn-Finds have a story. I bet this stable find has a good one, and I would like to take a stab at writing it…
The Jag was trying to get home one dark and dreary Saturday night. Lucas(Prince of Darkness) and a night of hard drinking at the track left our friend wandering the back roads, searching for a familiar site. He saw the barn, and the only near rational thought was to sleep off the effects of Lucas and low-octane fuel.
He stumbled toward that stall, and there was a horse asleep. When the scent of the horse filled his grill, his engine started stuttering and stumbling with hunger. Thoughts entered his mind that he had never experienced.
His mind went blank, and he didn’t remember anything until he awoke and found the horse gone and the stall covered in bones…
All he could think of was to reverse into the stall, get some sleep, and leave as soon as the sun came up.
But before the sun came up, he suffered a massive engine failure and remains there to this day. The purchaser may be required to remove the remaining bones before the transaction is complete…
I would bet that the horse stall is doing the bottom of that Jag any good either. Horse manure has a lot of acids in it, so the bottom of this probably not good either
Just another thought…they call it a 69 MkX. But official production ended with the change over to 420G in late 66….