JAGUAR 2.5 LITER « MK IV » 1948 Lot n° 11

2-door convertible bodywork, 4 seats Front engine, 6 cylinders in line Displacement 2663 cm3 Power 105 hp Maximum speed 140 km/h Mileage 37,455 km on the clock Serial number C1498 The immediate post-war Jaguar range was nothing more or less than a return to the pre-war SS Cars model range, the Jaguar 1 ½ Litre, 2 ½ Litres and 3 ½ Liter produced from 1935 to 1940. But before the end of the Second War, in March 1945, the SS Cars brand name had disappeared in favour of Jaguar, named after this pre-war flagship model, to avoid any unfortunate ambiguity with Nazi Germany. The post-war 2 ½ and 3 ½ Liter were therefore only the pre-war models and their name Mk IV is actually apocryphal and was given to them retrospectively after the introduction of the Mk V in 1948. The Mark IV was based on a separate 3.048m wheelbase chassis using semi-elliptical sprung rigid axles front and rear, lever shocks, Burman nut and bolt steering and Girling mechanical brakes. From 1938 onwards, the elegant bodies no longer used wooden frames, but adopted an all-steel construction. The Mk IV was offered as a saloon and a convertible, and featured the luxurious, well-equipped interior that would come to characterize most Jaguars. The engine was the sturdy seven-bearing Standard Twenty six-cylinder, used by SS Cars since 1934, but it was fitted with a Weslake overhead-valve cylinder head and paired with a four-speed manual gearbox on Jaguars. In its 2 ½ Litre version, it allowed the Mark IV to reach 140 km/h. The convertible offered five true seats and featured an ingenious Mylord soft top with three positions, open, closed or city coupe. Its hypoid rear axle allowed the floor to be lowered by 10 cm and the overall look to be refined. The sensuous curvaceous lines, still typical of pre-war Jaguar styling, had been developed at length by Sir William Lyons himself on full-size templates and models, as with all other Jaguars. The post-war British government had told the car industry to "export or die", so in 1948 the Mark IV convertible was almost exclusively exported, with the majority going to the USA. Production lasted just over a year (1947-1948), during which time only 104 Mark IV 2 ½ -Litre convertibles were built (compared to 560 3 ½ -Litre convertibles), 31 of which were left-hand drive, making this one of the rarest post-war production Jaguars. This 1948 British-registered Jaguar MkIV 2 ½ -litre is completely original and in need of restoration. Its last owner kept it for 39 years and always stored it dry. It is completely original and has never been modified in any way. It has all its original documents.