The Mark 2 is a reworked Mark 1 and the changes are unusually parts-relevant. Glass first: an 18 per cent increase in cabin glass area, with slender front pillars allowing a wider windscreen, a rear window that almost wraps around to enlarged side windows, and fully chromed frames on all the side windows. The rear track widened by about three and a third inches — 4ft 5¾in on disc wheels, 4ft 6⅛in on wires, against the Mark 1’s 4ft 2⅝in. Front suspension geometry was modified, Dunlop discs on all four wheels became standard, and the car gained over 100kg. What did not change is the back axle: the Mark 2 keeps a live axle on leaf springs. If you want independent rear suspension in this shape of car you want the S-Type.
Two dates split the parts. September 1965 is the gearbox: before it, the four-speed Moss box with no synchromesh on first; after it, Jaguar’s own all-synchromesh four-speed. Parts catalogues carry them as separate groups. 1961 is the window channels: early cars use felt-lined channels, later cars a one-piece rubber channel running front, rear and top, and the changeover chassis numbers are published per engine — 2.4 at 114991/114992, 3.4 at 162650/162651, 3.8 at 230297/230298. Then the run-out cars: the 240 and 340 of September 1967, gap-fillers until the XJ6. The 240 is not a Mark 1 engine warmed over — an E-type-style straight-port head and twin SUs lift it from 120bhp to 133bhp. They also got slimmer bumpers and Ambla synthetic upholstery in place of leather.
Jaguar Mk2 — specification & changes within the model
- Brakes
- Dunlop discs on all four wheels, standard, from launch.
- Rear suspension — still a live axle
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The Mark 2 kept the live axle on leaf springs. It is the S-Type that has independent rear suspension, not the Mark 2 — and not the Daimler V8 either, whatever one well-known buyer’s guide says.
- September 1965 — the gearbox breakpoint
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Before: four-speed Moss, no synchromesh on first. After: Jaguar’s own all-synchromesh four-speed. Overdrive optional throughout; Borg-Warner three-speed automatic the alternative.
- 1961 — the window channel breakpoint, with numbers
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Felt-lined channels early; a one-piece rubber channel later, running front, rear and top. Changeover chassis numbers: 2.4 — 114991/114992 · 3.4 — 162650/162651 · 3.8 — 230297/230298. Rear door glass is also catalogued as “from 1961 onward”.
- Glass against the Mark 1
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18 per cent more cabin glass, slimmer front pillars, a wider windscreen, a near-wrap-around rear screen, deeper side windows and fully chromed window frames. Windscreen glazing rubber also comes in a plain version and an improved one with moulded corners — worth knowing when a customer complains of leaks.
- Engines and the 240/340
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2.4 2,483cc 120bhp · 3.4 3,442cc 210bhp · 3.8 3,781cc 220bhp. 240 (1967–69): 133bhp from an E-type-style straight-port head and twin SUs — not a Mark 1 head. 340 to 1968. Both got slim bumpers, Ambla in place of leather, optional fog lamps and lower-grade carpet. 4,446 × 240, 2,788 × 340, and twelve cars recorded as “380”.
- Chassis numbers
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2.4 RHD 100001–121768 · 3.4 RHD 150001–172095 · 3.8 RHD 200001–235383. Suffixes: DN = overdrive, BW = automatic, P = power steering, A/B = South African assembly. A useful check — genuine 3.8 chassis numbers start with a 2, which catches 2.4 and Daimler V8 shells rebuilt as 3.8s.
- Not claimed
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Which engines got the limited-slip differential as standard. One source says 3.4 and 3.8, another says 3.8 only — check the car before ordering an axle part. Also earth polarity, the exact chassis number at the September 1965 gearbox change, and whether the modified front suspension geometry changes any physical part.
