Malibu Street Sighting - 1966 Jaguar 420

The Jaguar Mark II sedan is considered a true classic among Jaguar enthusiasts. A lot of four-door Jags have come and gone since then, and not all of them have been great cars. The Mark II was supplanted by the S-Type, which evolved into the 420 during an interim period that fully adopted a blockier, squared-off front with four headlamps. This would become a trademark Jaguar styling cue for decades with the arrival of the new XJ midsize luxury sedan in 1968. The design language had first appeared on the 1961 Mark X. The 1966 420 looked like a slightly scaled-down Mark X, and that resemblance may have had something to do with the Mark X being renamed 420G the same year.

The point of the 420 appears to have been to offer a car with the best qualities of both the S-Type and the Mark X. People weren't buying the S-Type because they didn't like how it looked, and they weren't buying the Mark X because it was too big. The 420 was a smaller-sized car with the styling and luxury - and the 4.2 liter power - of the big model. It was good for 0-60 in under 10 seconds and a top speed around 125 mph.

This Jag 420 was found across the Pacific Coast Highway from the 1978 International Scout II I featured a few weeks ago. It's a very nice daily-driver condition example painted a timeless silver with classic wire wheels and spinner hubcaps. There are a few knocks against it, pardon the pun. The vertical divider on the grille is bent, there are some rock chips (from being used as it was intended to be used) and it looks like there's a bit of rust starting in the rockers. I'm ridiculously picky about vintage Jaguars and this is only the second one I've featured here. Granted, there aren't a whole lot left that get parked on the street.