Why is it that the mark 2 gets all the press and attention over the Stype when the Stype is simply an improved mark2

 

the rear third body design of the S type is the reason, most don't like it, so they compromise looks over ride and performance. Simple.

an even better S type is the 420, only made for 2 years, with the 4.2 liter engine, alternator, and redesigned dash, but people don't like the front of the 420 either. Go figure.

The MK-2 is simply an outdated small saloon, it's just for "looks". The S type and 420 are superior cars overall.

personally I like the elongated S type and 420 better, less cramped interior, huge trunk, twin exhaust system, twin tanks, twin fuel pumps, larger auxiliary lights, the Independent Rear Suspension of the E-type, a more attractive wood dash, nicer looking bumpers, a design which Jaguar has carried until today.

 

The MK2 was in the movies quite a lot and the police car of choice for many constabularies in the day, that's probably the main reason, the S type followed and although this too hit the screens, was it mistaken for a MK2 so didn't get credit in it's own right ?

As Jose said the S Type is better car as far as mechanics was concerned, but was not as fast as the MK2 due to the extra weight, and some didn't like the back end.

The S Type bridged the gap between the Mk2 and the MKX which was far bigger and had independent rear suspension etc. with the S Type being more expensive than the MK2 and with the credit squeeze in the late 60's and the upcoming XJ6 on the horizon, the S Type just didn't seem to make it into everyone's hearts.

 

For me personally, the *** end of the S type is just wrong, the lines dont suit the rest of the car, the height of the bootlid is too low, compared to the rest of the lines, the rear wheel arch line is different to the rest of the car, and the boot is too long.

Even the front end is smoother without the blinkers on the wings, which is something else I prefer on the MK2.

Every other aspect of the S type is far better, I love the IRS, and wish the MK2 had the same suspension.

As mentioned, the racing pedigree the MK2 had, the fame from TV shows, and what not all add up to the appeal.

 

I don't like the S-Type's rear end in photos, especially the side profile. But it looks a lot better in the real world, IMO, where the elongated rear & slightly flattened wheel arches give the car a regal limousine-like character, which the Mk II never had. But the Mk II is definitely the better looking car on camera, which is why they got so many movie roles. I do find it quite perverse that the market values show over go, in the case of these cars. But as an S-Type owner, who could never afford a Mk II, I have to say that it doesn't bug me at all that I get the better car for a fraction of the price.

 

As they say, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

https://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/d...13817013/?Cr=1

Drool!

 

I had a 1966 S-Type and it was lovely car, looked much better than in the pictures above but I always thought it would look much nicer with round rear arches.

I think the rear door shape still following the MK2 arch line always let the car down as you ended up with an odd detail at this point, as the doors were different anyway it would have made sense to make the S-Type door specific for the car.

I guess with old cars what makes then desireable to a lot of people (me included) are their character, historic standing (how they were thought of back in the day) and also the design faults or primative design that they had .

For a lot of people the idea isn't to make them like new cars but to enjoy them for what they were, in that respect the MK2 had the competion history, the film history etc and the fact that the S-Type is a better car isn't really relevant as a modern XF is even better still but they don't have the same character (Although they are damn fine cars).

 

I think that once you lower an S-type to give it a nicer stance and then fill in the wheel wells with nice rims and wider tires and then the S-type really looks cool. I was initially going to get an MKII but the S-type to me looks much better besides being mechanically a better performance platform.

 

the funny thing is that the rear wheel openings of the S type were copied from the E type and carried over to the S type, the 420, the 420-G, the MK-X, and the Series 1, 2, and 3 XJ all the way to 1992.

 

In my opinion the proportions and jewellery on the MK2 just work.

I parked my MK2 beside an S Type at a resent get together at the local Bunnings.
My non Jag petrol head mate’s thought the MK2 was a good choice. I had to point out some of the differences but they thought the MK2 just looked better proportioned and stylish. (One mate summed it up. The MK2 looks like a Premier and the S Type is the Kingswood.)

The S Type is a step up mechanically and has a more usable boot but as a classic these things are not that important to me.

If I had to choose between the two as a daily driver the S Type would win.

 

What i'd really like to know is why didn't they ever fit IRS to a Mk II? They made them until 67, when every other Jag in the range had IRS. & it was supposed to be the sports saloon! Surely it couldn't have been that hard to adapt the S-Type's IRS to a Mk II? The S-Type's system was famously designed in a month, when Lyons bet one of his engineers that he couldn't do it in that time. So with that kind of ingenuity on the payroll, why not do the Mk II too?

 

I seem to remember reading that the S-Type rear suspension was tested in a MK2 prior to the s-type going into production. I guess they did this as the e-type and MK10 rear suspension are narrower or wider than the s-type.

The amount of re-engineering in the S-Type to fit the suspension was quite considerable, they even have a middle sill rather than just and inner and outer.

Jaguar probably had visions of the S-Type replacing the MK2 but when MK2 sales were still strong following the launch of the S-Type they kept making them. Also adding IRS would have increased the cost of the MK2 making them less competitive in a world where most people had no idea what IRS was.

 

The solid rear axle was a standard component on most passenger cars well into the 80s. I still have several vehicles with a solid rear axle, and they are solid, reliable cars that handle great. The IRS is great for racing, autocross, but completely unnecessary unless you add 18 inches to the back of a car and throw off the balance.


Any yes, I think we need more threads pontificating on the relative beauty and mechanical complexity of specific model antique Jaguars. Are there any with four gas tanks and four fuel pumps in them, because that would be really awesome.

 

doesn't fit. lots of body and chassis work required, and you end up with a S type.

Fiboy did it to a MK-1 using a XJ-40 IRS. Somewhere in Finland....

FiBoy's Mk 1 restoration; modernization of a Jaguar Mark I Saloon 2.4 litre

 

Thanks for that link.

The Mk1 is certainly a very pretty car from the front.

Apart from the doors, are the Mk1 & Mk2 shells totally different?

 

they are very similar, the MK-1 came with full rear wheel spats, the MK-2 came with open spats. the front grilles are quite different too. The MK-1 dash is very spartan.

 

It doesn't fit for backyard fabricators. If you control the manufacturing process, as Jaguar did, you can do what you want. As I said the S-Types IRS was designed by one bloke, Bob Knight, within a month. After William Lyons bet him a fiver that he couldn't. So I'm sure they could've afforded another fiver & given Bob another month to do the Mk II. I realise that Bean Counting's probably the reason it never got done. But with the legendary way that Lyons could wring the value out of every penny, I'm sure it could've been done within budget. & imagine the car they'd have created. If you think Mk II values are good now. A factory fitted IRS version would leave the fixed axle car languishing behind S-TYpe values today. IMO

 

All of the early Jaguar saloons (MKII & S type, 340, 420) all looks pretty good. I still personally prefer the S-type and my car gets tons of thumbs up and positive comments.


You can put an IRS into a MKII but it is not an easy thing. Look at this posting below as it has many options on how to do it; the new Callam (designer of the MKII) restomod, JD Classics, and MKII Wide body whom posts many of his build process on Youtube, all have converted it to an IRS in different ways. None are easy but if you really want handling it is needed as all modern cars have IRS unless they are trucks.


https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/m...ilable-142615/