Project XJ16

There was a time when Sir William Lyons was much interested to get XJ6 into production, but the program was still behind the schedule, like the S-Type before it. Meanwhile, the need for another Jaguar was becoming increasingly urgent to meet the market demands and to compete with the other cars manufacturers. Therefore, the Jaguar 420 came into existence, in order to to stop the gap in saloon range. The idea of Jaguar 420 was better than expected; nobody knew that this new Jaguar is going to achieve highest standards in the motoring values. Jaguar 420 was judged from every conceivable standpoint and proved to be a great Jaguar from every aspect; like luxury, prestige, outstanding road holding and the advanced engineering. 

Development of the new model started by giving it the Jaguar project code XJ16, work commenced on updating the S-Type and giving it the 4.2 litre engine. Sir William Lyons had no interest to invest too much in new tools for the venture. As I stated earlier, the Jaguar 420 was going to be a stop-gap until the XJ6 was ready, therefore the production was entirely on the urgent basis. Having made a very rough sketch of what was required; Lyons had the panels hand made by Gardner’s department. Sir William Lyons wanted this new model to be ready for production by July 1966; but no detailed engineering drawing had been made till November 1965 so everyone was anxious to get the new model into production. Project XJ16 was given to Bob Knight, who managed the initial work by ordering the body panels to the suppliers (Pressed Steel Fisher). Suppliers agreed to meet the deadline but this interruption meant further delay to the XJ6 program, as the Pressed Steel Fisher was already working for XJ6.

To make the 4.2 litre engine model different from the S-Type, the entire front was remodeled to add more refinement in it. Lyons devised a stylized version of the Mark X front end. Superficially it looked just like a Mark X, but apart from being much smaller and all the details were different. Unlike the Mark X, where the bonnet follows is hinged at the front, the bonnet of Jaguar 420 followed a more normal pattern and is hinged at the rear, as it was on the Mark II and S-Type. Getting the style of the forward-sloping nose was not easy and it did give Lyons some trouble, but he preserved and the result was very pleasing. The Jaguar 420 was fitted with two-carburetor (SU HD8s) version of the Mark X 4.2 litre engine with slight modifications to made it compatible to get desired performance. Jaguar equipped the 420 with three-speed Borg Warner model 8 automatic transmission; this was not manufactured in UK but imported from the North America. Inside the Jaguar 420 wood and leather was used, but in difference to the US safety requirements, the solid wood dashboard and lower screen rail was replaced with the padded vinyl surround. 

Finally, the new Jaguar was announced in 1966 and impressed the people who were informed about a new Jaguar’s arrival in a very short period of time. The motoring journals were also praised the Jaguar 420 so much for its wonderful handling on and off the tarmac. Jaguar produced 420s until the Daimler XJ6 Sovereign arrived. By the time production ended some 16,060 examples had been built, 10,236 Jaguar 420s and 5,824 Daimler Sovereigns.