ONE of the best loved British classic cars was the Mark II Jaguar, the premium saloon that made a status statement in the early 1960s and the car millions wanted in their driveway.

The Mk II range appeared in 1959, but by the mid-60s it was clear to Jaguar bosses that the range had to be made more competitive as eyes were turning to more modern designs like the Rover 2000.

So in drove the Jaguar 240 and 340. These were effectively the old 2.4 and 3.4 at bargain prices.

The changes, criticised by some actually gave the old 2.4 the boost it needed because thanks to a new straight port cylinder head it could top 100mph for the first time and gave the car a much better edge in the marketplace.

And prices were surprisingly low, because you would only have to fork out £1,364, just £20 more than the first MkII of 1956.

But one of the main moans about the new cars was the use of a leather-like material called Ambla for the upholstery. Ambla was adequate, but it was just not leather.

Another minus was the failure to offer power steering on the 240, although it was introduced on the 340. This was a bad omission and many Jaguar drivers voiced concern.

I owned a Daimler 2.5, a luxury version of the Mark II and I well remember just what hard work parking was without the now almost ubiquitous power steering.

In truth the 240 and more powerful 340 were interim models intended to fill the gap until the introduction of the XJ6 in September 1968. The 340 was discontinued on the introduction of the XJ6 but the 240 continued as a budget priced model until April 1969.

The straight six-cylinder engine of these cars was a masterpiece in all but fuel economy. You could only expect 17mpg out of the 240, but the acceleration from 0-60mph of this ton-up saloon was impressive at 12.5 seconds.

The whole Mk II family attained celebrity status on film and television being the popular wheels of law enforcement officers and villains alike.

Quite often you would see them on TV thrillers being driven as a getaway car, bouncing over kerbs and building sites with the boot flying open.

TV detective Morse drove one and the whole car just oozed glamour.

Thankfully there are still many about upstaging many other makes at classic car shows and making the statement that the 60s really was the golden decade for classy cars.