Lot Ended
Description
Fully restored and in magnificent condition throughout; power
steering; synchro gearbox; Coopercraft brakes; Coombs wheel spats; flawless
paintwork; find a better one!
This fabulous
Jaguar MkII 3.8 comes with a Heritage Certificate confirming that it left the
Browns Lane factory in June 1964 finished in Opalescent Silver Blue with a Grey
leather interior and manual overdrive transmission. It was supplied new via J
Park Ltd of Newcastle-upon-Tyne to first owner AB Best of Gateshead with the
registration number ACN 64B.
It then had five
further local owners before being acquired by a Mr D Lowes of Northumberland in
December 1999. He compiled a history of the car up to that point which makes for
interesting reading, especially as most of the previous owners were all known to
each other and the car was often seen at local shows.
Owner of a modern car dealership, Mr Lowes entrusted the Jag to the
Wilson & Young Bodyshop in Sleaton Sluice who he had worked with for many
years. They treated it to a bare metal restoration in 2000/2001 and the brakes,
steering and suspension were all refreshed at the same time, the mileage at this
point being 64,884.
In 2006 disaster struck when
a broken gudgeon pin clip damaged a cylinder so the car was sent to Derek Watson
of WatJag Ltd in Derbyshire for a full engine rebuild which cost £7,500. Over
the next year or three it also got a new wiring loom; interior retrim; upgrades
to the brakes and suspension; all-synchro gearbox and all the brightwork was
replated plus much else besides, the total for this lot coming to over £26k, as
detailed in many invoices on file, the mileage at this point being
68,143.
In 2010 it was acquired by a Mr J Bristow
who continued to look after it well before selling it to our vendor in the
summer of 2014, the invoice showing that he paid £30,500, the mileage at this
point being 73,064.
Something of a perfectionist,
our vendor decided that he wasn’t happy with the appearance of the car so in
2015 he sent it to Andy Michael Restorations of Somerset for a second repaint
which cost £15,000 but boy was it worth it because the paint finish still looks
spectacular 10 years later. A new stainless steel exhaust system was also fitted
at around the same time.
The following year he
also had the seats retrimmed in cream leather by Larry Piper of Sparkford which
cost another £9,000. The interior woodwork was all redone by Silver Cress of
Bucks at a cost of £2,400 and looks absolutely stunning.
In 2018 he sent the car to the North Wales Jag Centre in Llandudno to
have it fitted with hydraulic power steering. A high output starter motor was
also fitted, along with conversion from dynamo to alternator charging, the bill
for this lot coming to over £5,700.
In 2020 it
was fitted with electronic ignition and new halogen headlamps. The braking
system has also been uprated with Coopercraft calipers and all new discs at a
cost of £2,200.
A quick tot-up of the bills
shows that this car must have had well over £80k spent on it over the
last 25 years, around £35k by our vendor alone. No doubt there has been much
other work carried out for which there are no invoices – the chrome wire wheels
look virtually new, as do the matching set of Pirelli P4000 tyres. Other
features include inertia-reel front seat belts and Coombs rear wheel spats. We
also noted extra sound-deadening material on the boot floor and under the
bonnet.
Regularly waxoiled and serviced during
the current ownership and by the previous two owners, it has only covered some
6,000 miles since the engine was rebuilt. Although it is MOT-exempt, it comes
with 14 old MOTs showing that it has been tested every year, nearly always
flying through with no advisories recorded, sailing through the MOT this August
which was another clean pass.
We are told that
the car drives as well as it looks and it has certainly been starting promptly
and driving beautifully as we have moved it around on site, with nice light
steering, excellent brakes and healthy 40psi oil pressure.
As you can see in the photos, this MkII 3.8 looks sensational and you
would be hard pressed to find a better example anywhere, let alone at the modest
guide price suggested. Our vendor also owns the Sunbeam Alpine elsewhere in this
sale (Lot 25) which is equally good so you can tell what kind of man he is.
It is a great wrench for him to part with both
these cars but sadly his health is no longer what it used to be and he has
reluctantly decided that the time has now come to pass them on to new owners who
are better placed to appreciate them.
We
absolutely love both of them and we are sure that you will too, so make sure you
come and see them!
PLEASE NOTE: If bidding on this lot over
£25,000, you will need to increase your bid limit within your
account.
Consigned by James
Dennison – 07970 309907 – james.dennison@brightwells.com