Jaguar Cars - as William Lyons' SS concern had been re-named in 1945 - commenced post-war production with a range of essentially pre-war designs. A considerable improvement on what had gone before, the MkV saloon's cruciform-braced chassis featured torsion bar independent front suspension, designed pre-war by the company's Chief Engineer William Heynes, and all-round hydraulic brakes. Jaguar's existing Standard-based, six-cylinder, overhead-valve engine was continued in both 2.5- and 3.5-liter forms in the MkV, whose bodywork likewise maintained the pre-war tradition, though with minor up-dating in the form of faired-in headlamps, deeper bumpers, and rear wheel spats. Like its immediate predecessor, the MkV was available in saloon or drophead coupé versions and featured the kind of luxuriously appointed interior that had become a Jaguar hallmark.

Few people had the chance to own the dropheads, because only 1,005 were built, of which just 28 used the smaller engine. In 1950