CAT ROUSED FROM 50-YEAR SLUMBER
29,000-mile Jag– last on the road in 1966 – may have a motorsport future
A1958 Jaguar Mk1 3.4 is to be offered with no reserve at Brightwells’ Leominster sale on 4 September. The car, which hasn’t turned a wheel for 53 years, is one of 17,405 right-hand-drive 3.4 MkIs built; fewer than 100 are left.
The Cornish Grey with matching leather MkI has been in the same family since it was five years old, manging 28,794 miles between its then-home on London’s Old Kent Road and its final resting place in Cardiganshire, Wales, still with a 1966 tax disc in the windscreen. The vendors believe the car’s mileage to
be genuine, but there’s no log book, despite copious notes on file at Brightwells.
Jaguar Specialist, West Riding Race and Restoration, thinks that the MkI might end up as a donor for a historic touring car; several have been turned into Goodwood Revivaleligible competitors in recent years in memory of racer, Mike Hawthorn.
West Riding’s workshop manager, Ben Walker, said: ‘There are few MkIs left with good shells. We had to import a solid 2.4 from South Africa to get a car with good enough bodywork. That car sold after a week for in the region of £15,000.
‘Although the Brightwells car looks pretty much complete, it is, we believe, a “breaker/donor” car for a good solid shell. As far as value goes, the ID of the car is probably the most valuable thing to someone who could convert a 2.4 or a racer who hasn’t already got an ID.
‘ We wouldn’t want it owing much more than £1000, to be honest.’ brightwells.com westridingindependent.co.uk