1966' Jaguar Mk2 Mark 2 3.8

1966 Jaguar Mk 2, 3.8, manual gearbox with overdrive

First registered: 24 March 1966.

Mileage: Approximately 58,000.

MOT status: Currently on SORN.

Purchased by my dad in June 1981 and owned by him ever since until his passing last October.

This was my dad's long term project which unfortunately he never quite got to finish. The last MOT expired on 18 March 2016 prior to which the car was basically finished aside from a few minor changes that my dad wanted to make. As was often the way, those minor changes turned out to be a bit more complex than first thought and so the car came off the road again whilst he sorted them out.

The last problem my dad had been struggling to fix was I believe related to the starter motor not engaging properly. I recall him saying that although he had bought what he believed was the correct starter motor, it may be that the gear ring on the flywheel wasn't standard, and so the bendix might need changing. Unfortunately he never had a chance to investigate this further. If he had fixed this issue, then I am sure that the car would have been back on the road again.

There is lots of history with this car, including the original RF60 document showing that the first owners were HR Owen in South Kensington, and lots of receipts for work totalling in the region of £7,000. There is also a lot of photographic history showing the rebuild of the car over the years.

The car was already customised when my dad purchased it, with the rear window having been replaced with a perspex cut out of two opposing Jaguar heads, and the wheel arches having already been widened. The bumpers had already been removed and the rear lights had been replaced with curved perspex. The vinyl roof was also already fitted.

The car was used fairly regularly for about 7 or 8 years with running repairs carried out as and when needed. My dad then decided to strip the car back to bare metal and do some repairs that were needed to the bodywork. This slowly turned in to a major project, which along the way involved buying a recently restored Mark 2 Jaguar which a neighbour had unfortunately written off, and swapping a lot of the parts over from that one, including a very nice off-white leather interior, an E-type Jaguar head, the front subframe, the rear axle, an E-type steering wheel and E-type clutch master cylinder.

The engine is the standard Mark 2 Jaguar 3.8 litre but with an E-type Jaguar head and a triple carburettor setup in place of the normal twin carburettors. The head was converted for unleaded petrol in 1997. Electronic ignition (Lumenition) has been fitted along with a Kenlowe fan. The servo has been rebuilt. There are many other mechanical parts that have either been renewed, repaired or replaced over the years, and this is all detailed in the receipts that my dad kept.

The speedo has been recalibrated both times after my dad changed the wheels. He initially fitted the ones from the written-off Jaguar but then ordered some wheels from America which were custom built to his specification . There is a power steering conversion to go with the car which ideally will need fitting as the steering is currently quite heavy with the size of the wheels (8 x 16 inch).

The bodywork is solid with (as far as I am aware) no major areas that need attention. The car was resprayed probably 7 or 8 years ago, with some small areas sprayed again about 5 years ago. I know my dad would not have had it sprayed without sorting out any underlying bodywork issues. Some areas of the car where the bodywork has been modified were done with lead loading.

This is a project that shouldn't require too much work to finish off, or alternatively would require some work to return back to factory specification. The front sub-frame with the power steering conversion will be included in the sale.

As the car is not currently taxed and cannot be driven, it will need to be trailered away.

Car needs to be viewed before buying.

Viewing recommended. Quick sale needed.