The newly renamed Jaguar Cars after WWII - like most British motor manufacturers - felt constrained by the government's `export or die' drive to put various of its pre-September 1939 models back into production (albeit with some minor improvements).

Luckily for the Coventry firm, this entailed trying to sell a line-up of 1.5 litre four-cylinder and 2.5 / 3.5 litre six-cylinder cars which still enjoyed an enviable reputation for strong performance, good road manners and well-appointed interiors.

Retrospectively known as the MkIV range, the Jaguar 1.5 Litre Saloon sat atop a box-section chassis equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension, lever-arm dampers, Burman worm-and-nut steering and Girling mechanical drum brakes.

Its 1,608cc OHV straight-four Standard engine was allied to four-speed manual transmission and promised 70mph plus performance.

Utilising the same all-steel body construction as its late 1930s SS Jaguar forebear, the newcomer appeared even sleeker th...