Lot Ended
Description
In single-family ownership from 1978 - 2024; only 1,000 miles since
£16k mechanical overhaul including full engine rebuild; stainless steel
exhaust; repainted in 1990; always garaged; highly original; hard to find
in this condition
Launched in 1968, the Jaguar XJ6
was an absolute revelation, setting standards of performance, ride quality and
refinement that made all other sports saloons seem crude by comparison.
Dynamically superior to any Rolls-Royce or Mercedes, it was also a fraction of
the cost, inspiring Autocar to say: “If Jaguar were to double the price
of the XJ6 and bill it as the best car in the world, we would be right behind
them”.
CAR magazine voted it their ‘Car of the Year’ for 1968,
LJK Setright judging that “It makes redundant all cars that cost more”, while
Motor declared that it set a new industry standard that was “unrivalled
at any price”. William Lyons himself declared it to be the best car that Jaguar
had ever made, and he was to drive a Sable Brown Series One
XJ6 himself for the rest of his life, PHP 42G, which is now owned by The
Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust.
This highly original Jaguar XJ6 Series One
4.2 SWB Automatic left the Browns Lane factory in January 1971 finished in Light
Blue with a Dark Blue leather interior, as shown on the Heritage Certificate.
Supplied new by Ritchies of Glasgow, the first owner kept the car until June
1978 when it was acquired by Jack Denny of Southwold through Mann Egerton of
Norwich (their sticker is still in the back window).
Born in 1911, Jack ran the family tailoring business, Denny of
Southwold & Saville Row, that had been founded in 1851 to cater to the
gentry of East Anglia and London high society. George Orwell, Benjamin Britten,
Alfred Munnings, Rennie Mackintosh and King Edward VIII were among the firm’s
clients.
The Jaguar was to remain in the Denny
family for the next 46 years, passing from father to son-in-law in 1990 when it
received a fairly major recommissioning due to lack of recent use. This included
work to the brakes, steering and suspension with many new parts fitted, along
with a new alternator, new exhaust and a new set of the correct Dunlop SP Sport
tyres.
A new front wing was also fitted, along
with a new valance panel, and the whole car was repainted in the original Light
Blue. The leather upholstery was professionally cleaned to bring the original
Dark Blue colour back to life and a new headlining was also fitted using the
correct materials.
By this point the car had
covered some 76,700 miles and although it was MOT tested and checked over
virtually every year thereafter by the same local garage, with any faults
rectified as required, it was only lightly used, a mere 2,000 miles being added
to the odometer over the next three decades.
The
current owner acquired the car in October 2024, and although it was in good
running order with a current MOT, it was feeling somewhat tired mechanically,
due mainly to lack of use. Over the next few months almost £16,000 was spent on
the car to bring it back to tip-top running order.
This included a full engine rebuild by Mike Connor, a Jaguar
specialist in Cirencester with a lifetime’s experience of working on the XK
engine which cost £6,000 in labour with over £3,000 spent on parts – pistons;
bearings; timing chains; valves etc.
Another
£5,000 was spent on overhauling the brakes, steering and suspension, having the
carbs rebuilt and fitting new gearbox mountings etc. The fuelling system was
overhauled by flushing and cleaning the twin tanks and fitting two new
electronic fuel pumps.
A bespoke Powerflow stainless steel exhaust
system was also fitted at a cost of £1,600, the owner opting to have later
swan’s neck tail pipes fitted in place of the original straight pipes which were
fitted to the early SWB cars until it was discovered that they tended to suck
exhaust fumes into the cabin at speed, hence why Jaguar changed the design when
the LWB version came out in October 1972.
Since
the work was completed the car has covered just over 1,000 miles, being
carefully run in and not exceeding 3,000 rpm for the first 500 miles and
3,500rpm for the next 500 miles. This has included trips to Shelsley Walsh and
doing duty at a family wedding and a prom night.
It has also been to
various shows, including attending the big Jaguar celebration at Bicester
Heritage in May this year, a 150-mile round trip on a baking hot day which it
accomplished with ease, bowling along happily at 70mph with rock steady water
temperature and oil pressure at all times, both on the motorway and in heavy
stop-start traffic when approaching and leaving the event. We are told that it
took about 45 minutes to cover 10 miles when leaving the event, a tough test for
any old car but one which the XJ6 passed with aplomb.
Driven some 40 miles to Brightwells on another sweltering hot day, it
has been starting easily and running beautifully as we have moved it around on
site, with healthy 60psi oil pressure when hot.
The vendor advises that it is now due for an oil change and the head
studs will need to be retorqued in another 500 miles at which point the
performance can finally be exploited to the full. We are told that the
acceleration is very lively and the car easily keeps up with modern traffic,
comfortably exceeding the national speed limit even while keeping within the
current 3,500rpm rev limit.
Documentation
includes the current V5C, older V5C and V5; many invoices; original handbook and
lubrication chart; many old tax discs and 21 old MOTs; historic photos of the
car with the Denny family and a Heritage Certificate proving its
authenticity.
As you can see in the photos and
the video, this thoroughly rejuvenated Jaguar is in wonderfully original
condition throughout and has never been welded underneath. The paintwork still
looks great some 30 years since it was refreshed, with just the odd stone chip
here and there, and the interior is nicely mellowed. The original
brightwork is all nice and shiny with just a few signs of age in
places.
The eagle-eyed will note that YGE 67J
does not have wing mirrors as William Lyons refused to fit these because they
spoiled the lines of the car. The cabin is so airy and all-round visibility is
so good that these are not really necessary provided you keep your wits about
you.
Only reluctantly for sale because the owner
currently has two other classics undergoing restoration which are eating up all
his funds, this wonderful and well-historied XJ6 now needs a caring new owner
who can reap the rewards of all the good work so recently carried out.
Consigned by James Dennison – 07970 309907 –
james.dennison@brightwells.com