INITIAL IMPRESSIONS
CMC helpfully presented a standard Jaguar Mk2 adjacent to 38 BUY, allowing us to better appreciate the differences between them. It’s fair to say that changes are subtle.
What’s most apparent is common to all Coombs cars; deleted rear spats, with rolled wheel arches to match the profile of those at the front. Tim explains: ‘It’s possible for the tyres to catch the rear spats under extreme cornering, and the wheels can be removed and refitted more easily without the spats.’
Coombs also offered a louvred bonnet, plus an additional Le Mans-style fuel filler cap. Driven with sufficient restraint, a 3.8 Mk2 can return 22mpg, but its 12-gallon fuel tank works against it. Coombs addressed this by fitting an additional 9.4-gallon long-range tank. The pair work independently of one another, with each having its own fuel pump, so once the main tank empties the driver simply switches to the auxiliary tank, making a non-stop drive from London to Edinburgh possible.
Tim adds: ‘It did have the Coombs boot lid luggage rack as well, but the owner elected not to have that refitted when it was restored.’
Wire wheels have become such a common improvement that it’s easy to forget they weren’t fitted as standard. Coombs offered 72-spoke items that again this car’s original owner specified.
The unusual Pearl Grey colour was the same hue the Coombs racing team chose for its racing Jaguar team. Its ‘BUY’ registration is also an homage to Coombs’ racing saloons.
The Coombs car is almost indistinguishable from a standard Mk2, bar the discreet ‘Coombs of Guildford’ plate and threespoke E-type steering wheel, complete with a bespoke centre horn push by Coombs mechanic Ken Bell – the same person responsible for authenticating Coombs Mk2s.
Rather than standard seat belts, this Coombs Mk2 is fitted with four-point parachute harnesses, which do a fantastic job of holding the driver in place on seats that lack any sort of bolster support. They might not be part of the Coombs spec but, as we discovered, a helpful addition nonetheless.