From an industrial design viewpoint, the slab-sided but also somewhat fuselage shaped[3] Mark Ten was a hallmark car for Jaguar by introducing the upright, often slightly forward leaning front fascia and grille, flanked by prominent quad round headlights.

When Jaguar replaced its entire saloon range with a more compact single new model in the late 1960s, the resulting XJ6 of 1968 used the Mark Ten as a template.

[4] Combined with the 3.8-litre, triple carburettor engine as fitted to the E-type, it gave Jaguar's lavishly appointed flagship capable handling and a top speed of 120 mph (193 km/h) at less than half the price of the contemporary Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

[4] Despite press acclaim from both sides of the Atlantic and Jaguar's hopes to appeal to heads of state, diplomats, and film stars,[4] primarily aimed at the large, affluent U.S. market, the Mark X never achieved its sales targets.

In 1961 the Mark X introduced a new upright, and slightly forward-leaning nose design for Jaguar saloons, with four headlamps set into rounded front fenders (derived from Daimler DK400), and a vaned grill.

Instead of relying on body-on-frame construction, like its predecessors and most of its competitors, the Mark X received a unitary body-shell, codenamed "Zenith" during its development.

But at the same time, the interior was Jaguar's last to feature abundant standard woodwork, including the dashboard, escutcheons, window trim, a pair of large bookmatched fold out rear picnic tables, and a front seat pull-out picnic table stowed beneath the instrument cluster.

From its introduction in mid-October 1961[7] until the arrival in 1992 of the low-slung XJ220 sports car, the Mark X stood as one of the widest production Jaguars ever built.

[6] Triple SU carburettors were fitted, fed from an AC Delco air filter mounted ahead of the right hand front wheel.

Stopping power for this heavy car came from power-assisted four-wheel disc brakes, the rear units being mounted inboard alongside the differential.