Jaguar Mark VII

The Jaguar Mark VII was a four-door luxury car produced by Jaguar Cars of Coventry from 1950 to 1956, launched at the 1950 British International Motor Show as the successor to the Mark V. It was numbered VII because a Bentley Mark VI was already on the market. Where the Mark V had a prewar pushrod engine, the Mark VII took the new 3442 cc twin-cam XK straight-six, giving 160 bhp and a claimed top speed over 100 mph, on the Mark V chassis and its ten foot wheelbase. In 1952 it became the first Jaguar offered with automatic transmission, and the Mark VII M of 1954 raised power to 190 bhp. Its reception in Britain and America prompted Jaguar to move production to the larger Browns Lane plant in 1951, and it was successful in racing and rallying.