Stylish and fast, the S-type saloon was beloved of film and TV stars but it came into its own if you were planning a bank job
Launched in 1963, the S-type bridged the gap between Jaguar's Mk2 and the vast MkX saloons Photo: ALAMY
Very nice car, Terry. Very good steal,”growls Richard Burton in the film Villain
as he appraises his driver’s 3.8-litre S-type.
Prior to this underrated 1971 crime drama (below), the Jaguar’s
main cinematic claim to fame was as a police car in the chase that opened
1967’s Robbery, but the sight of Burton & Co using the
S-type for a wages snatch in Bracknell sealed its image for a generation.
It has to be said that the S-type was virtually unsurpassed as a getaway car;
the boot was larger than the Mk2’s, it was more manoeuvrable than a Rover P5
and faster than a Vanden Plas 3-Litre or Humber Super Snipe.
By 1974 a gun-runner’s black S-type was being pursued through Kent by the
hero’s white Range Rover in Callan, while stunt maestro Peter Brayham leapt
a silver example over Tower Bridge in the John Wayne vehicle Brannigan.
Brayham went on to supervise the fleet of very ill-maintained Jaguars much
favoured by hoods in The Sweeney, and his work on the episode Stoppo
Driver set standards that major Hollywood productions would struggle to
reach.
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