The Jaguar 420 and Daimler Sovereign

At the same time a Daimler variant was released. As with the smaller Daimler V8, it enjoyed a better level of standard equipment than the 420, but, apart from the slightly different grille, and badging, was otherwise identical. It outlasted the 420 by a year, because the latter was replaced by the first XJ6 in 1968, but there was no Daimler version of that model ready in time. It was eventually released in late 1969, leading to the demise of the Sovereign. This was the first Daimler that was truly a badge-engineered Jaguar, as the engine was now a Jaguar unit.

Although all Jaguar models of the mid to late sixties probably contributed to the evolution of the XJ6, it is probably this model above all which was the closest to the new car in dimensions, and performance. The new (in 1968) XJ6, was smaller than the very large MK X/420G. Several reasons have been put forward for the reason the 420 was produced. One of the more convincing is that it was to fill a market gap between the 3.8S model and the slow selling MK X/420G. Of course Jaguar could have just produced a 4.2 engined "S" type, (and even badge-engineered a Daimler version), but it is interesting to speculate that another reason for producing this short-lived model might have been as a test bed for some of the XJ6 styling and hardware, much of which was similar to the 420. Other sources say that the 420 styling was what the "S" type should have been from the beginning, but lack of time and money kept that model with a MK II styled front end, and that the "S" type therefore possessed unbalanced styling between its MK II derived front and middle section, and its MK X derived rear.  The 420 was aimed at the market segment that Jaguar felt the the 420G had missed by being being too large or expensive for the times.

For thise interested in such matters, we have provided a comparison of the leading dimensions of the 420, the 420G, and the XJ6 Series.

Jaguar 420 1967