One of the most chaotic times in Jaguar’s long history can be traced to around 1966-68, the eve of the XJ6 series release (1968).

At the time, Jaguar’s flagship sports car was the well-known E type Series 1, but one can’t forget the existence of the Mk2, the buck of sports sedans. Equipped with the same 3.8 liter XK engine as the E type, the Mk 2 is a high performance sedan loved by many fans even today.

By 1967, the 3.8 liter version was dropped from the lineup and a smaller displacement 240 (2.4 liter) and 340 (3.4 liter) version remained.

At that very time, the S type wad released to fill the gap between Mk X and Mk 2. In addition, the 420, which placed the Mark X face on the S type, was released and the Mark X evolved into the 420 G.

…and as you can see, the Jaguar lineup was very chaotic during this time.

The Jaguar 340 was born during this period. It was the final Jaguar model to inherit the small sedan lineage from the Mk 1.

Since CARZY only deals with collectible cars, we usually don’t allow 4 door vehicles to be listed (the reality is that it’s very rare for 4 door vehicles to become collector’s items.) However, if a 4 door model warranting attention is submitted, we carefully evaluate those vehicles.

The Jaguar 340… While the Mk2 has a rich racing history, does a factory 340 sedan qualify as a collectible? We decided to inspect the actual vehicle to make that determination.

The vehicle was an utter surprise. With records showing that the last cars rolled out in Feb 1968, this is one of the very last 340’s. It was one of 15 vehicles imported into Japan back then and had 2 owners. Besides the weather stripping, it is a miraculously fully preserved vehicle, where almost everything is original. If you can’t call this a collectible, then I don't know what is?!

Vehicle mileage is 60,000 km, but the condition is extremely good. During a time when the Toyota 2000GT was 2,000,000 yen, this car sold for 8,000,000 yen. The modern looking engine bay is a testament to that status. Despite having reduced costs compared to the Mk 2, the finish on each individual part is high quality and we can admire the details and design.

Despite having some negative points such as faded paint, scratches, aged deterioration of rubber, chrome blemishes, bumper dents, and rust on the wire wheels, the fact that the original feel of the 1968 manufacturing is still alive makes all these negative points negligible.

Rather than to drive this car in pristine condition, it might be better to drive AS IS and to continue its well-cared-for history.

You could look at it all day and never get tired of the rare sedan design.