1958 Jaguar 3.4 Litre (Mark I) Saloon TOX 1
This left hand drive, automatic transmission car was owned by Maurice Frère of Brussels, Belgium, father of the late Paul Frère, F1 Driver, Le Mans Winner, journalist and writer.
The car was donated to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust by him in 1996 and restored by the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club in 2005.
In the early 1950s, Jaguar began work on a new compact sports saloon as a third model alongside the XK sports car and the Mark VII luxury saloon. Originally referred to as the ‘2 litre’, it was intended to use the four cylinder version of the XK engine, but eventually a short-stroke 2.4 litre six cylinder XK engine was adopted instead. An innovation for Jaguar was that the body was of unitary construction, supplied by the Pressed Steel Company.
The original 2.4 litre saloon was introduced at the 1955 Motor Show. The new model was extremely well received, as it offered the traditional Jaguar virtues in a compact and affordable package, with more than adequate performance, including a top speed of around 100 mph. Styling was typically Jaguar, with the narrow radiator grille similar to the XK 140. Full rear wheel spats were fitted as standard, with cut-away spats if wire wheels were fitted. Overdrive was optional, and later an automatic gearbox as well.
Although the 2.4 litre was very successful in many markets, there was a demand especially in the important American market for a more powerful model, and so in February 1957 the 3.4 litre was introduced. The engine was taken from the XK 140 model, and produced 210bhp. In this form, the car was capable of 120 mph, and could accelerate to 60mph in 9 seconds. The 3.4 model cost £1,672 in the home market (manual gearbox model).
The 2.4 litre needed only a few modifications to accommodate the bigger engine, although the radiator grille was widened, and a larger radiator fitted. The wider grille was subsequently also fitted to the 2.4 litre model.
TOX 1 was featured in the December/January 2024 edition of Classic Jaguar magazine
Registration Mark: TOX 1
Chassis Number: S990320BW
Owner: The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust
Inventory Number: 054/J.23
Price when new: £1,672
Price: 169 Weeks Average Wage