I was going through some old movies I had and was watching:

Our man in Havana - starring Sir Alec Guinness

spoiler alert:

Right near the end of the film you see the lead actors daughter hug this beauty after she gives up her love for horses and moves onto cars!



IMCDb.org: 1957 Jaguar Mk.VIII in "Our Man in Havana, 1959"

 

How does one know if it's a Mark VIII or a Mark IX?

 

Very difficult !
Wikipedia tells you, but the visible changes are very subtle. It was the mechanical changes that were a significant advance on the Mark VIII
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaguar_Mark_IX

 

The referenced IMCDB.org page has a comment that asserts the car has a registration tag from Aug-Sept 1957, so that would pretty much guarantee it's a Mark VIII (unless the observer was wrong about the plate dating, or the car was actually a new Mark IX and they grabbed another vehicle's plates for filming). Either way, simply a gorgeous car; I need to go pet my Mark IX now.

We just started watching 'The Crown', and I have to say, I've got a near-constant chubby over the vehicles...

 

Count me in !

Rws

 

Was it the Mk VIII or the Mk IX that got the full windshield with no centre divider ?

 

1. The MkVIII & IX both have the one piece windscreen. Only the Mk VII has the split screen. I think the much earlier Mk IV &V are split.

 

I saw the Union Jack flag option on eBay for the same purpose (behind spoiler) and much more prefer that. I would love for the blue and red to reflect the actual British flag colours. Anyone has any sources for that?

 

The Mk V is just one piece of glass, and totally flat.

 

According to a film site it's a 1957 Mk VIII. They could be wrong.

IMCDb.org: "Our Man in Havana, 1959": cars, bikes, trucks and other vehicles

 

Wrong area.

 

Hm? Wrong number maybe?