Latest XK and Jaguar News
Latest XK and Jaguar News
NEW: XK309 – May 2023
Online William Lyons exhibition from JDHT
T he Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust has devised a new and original ‘virtual journey’ through the life and work of marque founder Sir William Lyons. ‘Sir William Lyons – The man who made Jaguar’ is a digital exhibition that has been produced by the JDHT with curator and historian Andrew Nahum, author and TV producer Peter Grimsdale, and Painting the Cave, which is a specialist in creative digital technologies.
Lyons combined the roles of company boss with a natural flair for automotive styling, and was responsible for the dramatic shapes of the cars his company built, which won worldwide admiration. This is the first exhibition devoted to his work and the first vehicle museum experience to be ‘originated’ online. From the first SS sidecars to the E-type, it gives a vivid 3D tour in a virtual space through Lyons’ life and his creations. The exhibition can be accessed at www. sirwilliamlyons.com and is free to all.
XK308 – May 2023
XKs at Bonhams’ Goodwood Members’ Meeting auction
Bonhams’ Goodwood Members’ Meeting sale on 16 April included a 1960 XK 150 S 3.8 Fixed-Head Coupé from the collection of the late Peter de Savary. Chassis number T825157DN was supplied to its first owner, a Mr Douglass Growcott, via Henlys of London on 23 March 1960. The XK 150 had five recorded owners from new before the sale, the third acquiring ‘660 NPJ’ in 1965 and keeping the car for five years, and the fourth keeping it for the next 18 years. Peter de Savary purchased the XK at Bonhams’ Bond Street sale in December 2018.
In 2003 the engine and gearbox were rebuilt, while further modifications include power steering, upgraded brakes, an electric fan, alternator conversion, inertia-reel seat-belts, a 12-volt battery and rebuilt front suspension. It sold for £97,750.
A 1956 XK 140 SE Roadster, chassis number S812699, also crossed the block and sold for £92,000. The vendor purchased the car in Florida, where it had been sold new, and it was imported into the UK in 2016.
XK307 – April 2023
Ex-Phil Hill LT3 sold at Bonhams Amelia Island auction
A collection of XKs owned by the late enthusiast Thomas C Hendricks was offered for sale at Bonhams’ Amelia Island auction on 2 March, including LT3 – one of the works-built lightweight racing XK 120s, and driven in period by Phil Hill. The famous car was part of a trio of XK 120s originally intended to understudy the new C-type in the 1951 Le Mans 24 Hours. LT3 and LT2 were brought to the US by West Coast distributor Charles Hornburg to race and promote the Jaguar marque in America. Two decades later, having been given a lead about an unusual looking Jaguar for sale and realising it was LT3, Hendricks bought it in 1974. Never restored, and only shown once for the anniversary of the C-type in 2001 in Nashville, Tennessee, it sold for $775,000. A 1954 Jaguar XK 120M Roadster, purchased new by Mr Hendricks’ father, sold for $78,400. Two restoration project 1951 XK 120s, a roadster and a fixed head coupé, were also sold for $31,360 and $20,160 respectively.
XK306 – March 2023
Hampton Court Concours of Elegance 2023
once again be coordinating XK Club attendance – for which we are, as ever, extremely grateful. Many thanks, Steve.
Visit the event website at concoursofelegance.co.uk to book tickets, click the button and use the following club discount code: XK23.
If you have any questions, or for further information, please contact Steve by emailing him at stevebeeson@gmail.com.
Please also let Steve know when you have booked your tickets so he can coordinate the club’s attendance.
XK305 – February 2023
CKL Developments named Specialist of the Year 2022
CKL Developments was named Specialist of the Year at the 2022 Octane Historic Motoring Awards in London. The Sussex-based restoration and race-preparation company had a busy and successful 12 months, from running cars in events such as the Le Mans Classic to winning a second-in-class award at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
CKL has also been heavily involved with the Heritage Skills Academy and currently has three apprentices on-site.
Managing Director Mark Hews has played a central role in that, having recognised in 2014 – while he was working for P&A Wood – that a lot of specialist skills were in danger of being lost as older craftsmen retired. After discovering that only modern car apprenticeships were available, he worked with John Pitchforth to establish a classic car restoration apprentice scheme and helped with setting the national curriculum. Pitchforth then started the Heritage Skills Academy solely for the classic car industry and Hews continues to be involved as chairman of the Restoration Trailblazer Group.
The HSA now has two academies at Bicester Heritage and Brooklands Museum, with 170 apprentices and 14 staff. For further details, see www.heritageskillsacademy.co.uk. For more information on CKL Developments, including its 2023 track-day schedule, see ckl.co.uk.
XK304 – January 2023
1958 XK 150 S at RM Sotheby’s Arizona sale
The RM Sotheby’s Arizona sale on 26 January 2023 will include an XK 150 S 3.4 Roadster, completed on 26 June 1958 and delivered to California. Chassis number S830794DN is finished in black with a red interior and a black hood – which was its original colour combination.
The car retains its matching-numbers engine, cylinder head and body, according to the accompanying Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate. It has been updated and modernised with a Tremec five-speed manual gearbox; the matching-numbers gearbox has been retained and will accompany the car at the time of sale.
The bodywork was restored in 2009. In 2010, the 150 was sent to XK’s Unlimited of San Luis Obispo, CA for a restoration and reassembly of the engine, transmission, brakes and rear axle.
It’s offered for sale with a reproduction owner’s manual, tool roll, grease gun, jack spanner and jack.
XK303 – December 2022
1950 XK 120 alloy OTS at RM Sotheby’s Munich sale
This 1950 XK 120 OTS is being offered for sale at RM Sotheby’s Munich sale on 26 November with a guide price of €225,000-€275,000. Chassis number 670117 is an alloy-bodied car that was completed on 3 February 1950 and dispatched later that month to New York-based importer Max Hoffman.
As noted by its accompanying Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate the Jaguar was originally finished in Red over a Biscuit interior with complementary Fawn soft-top. The car was also equipped with a high-compression engine, though the original block has since been swapped for a later SE unit, while the cylinder head is of unknown origin. An invoice dated 2003 details an engine overhaul.
After leaving the US in the 1980s, the Roadster is thought to have spent time in Sweden prior to being bought by the consignor and exported to Germany.
XK302 – November 2022
Original D-type wooden body buck at Historics auction
Historics Auctioneers is offering a D-type wooden body panel buck at its next sale, which will be taking place on 26 November at Mercedes-Benz World, Brooklands. It is one of the original bucks that were used when Jaguar was building D-types during the 1950s.
It is not documented which cars’ bodies were shaped using it, but the auction house states that it is ‘more than likely’ that most would have been hand-rolled over this historic wooden wooden structure.
According to the catalogue listing, the buck was previously owned by someone who had an original D-type and it was kept so that, should his car be damaged, any repairs could be carried out using the original buck. It was later used by Lynx Engineering in order to create its own longnose D-types.
The wooden buck carries an estimate of £70,000-£90,000. For more information and the full listing, see historics.co.uk.
XK301 – October 2022
Competition XK 120 at Goodwood Revival sale
An XK 120 with period competition history was sold at Bonhams’ Goodwood Revival sale on 17 September 2022. Chassis number 660066 was the 66th right-hand-drive roadster built and was dispatched by the works to Swedish racing driver Oscar Swahn, who raced it in major events in his homeland between 1951 and 1953. Swahn also owned a C-type.
After display in a Swedish motor museum, during which time the colour scheme was changed from black to Old English White with red interior, ‘660066’ returned to the UK in 2010 and was registered XKV 186. In 2011 the engine was overhauled by Phoenix Engineering.
Between 2010-2015 various competition modifications were carried out by Phoenix Engineering, Guy Broad and Nick Finburgh Limited. Over the past 12 years the XK has taken part in numerous rallies, and it sold for £117,300.
XK300 – September 2022
Denise McCluggage XK 140 race winner at the Auburn Auction
Worldwide Auctioneers’ Auburn auction on 1-3 September will include this 1956 Jaguar XK 140 SE DHC, in which famed automotive journalist and racer Denise McCluggage won her first race. Chassis number S818207 was assigned to McCluggage by motorsport team owner Briggs Cunningham, with whom she struck up a friendship at the Connecticut Yacht Club.
McCluggage was already covering sporting events at the New York Herald when they met. She physically did whatever she wrote about: when she was covering the sport of skiing, she skied; when she began covering motorsport, she raced. After her first victory victory in the XK 140 at an SCCA regional event in Montgomery, New York, she launched a successful career, becoming the first woman to win a feature sports car event at Thompson Raceway in Connecticut, and also took victory in the GT class at the 1961 Sebring 12 Hours.
XK299 – August 2022
Jeremy Broad Memorial Trophy at Shelsley Walsh hillclimb. Guy Broad is hosting a hillclimb day at Shelsley Walsh in Worcestershire on Thursday 25 August 2022 in celebration of the life of his father, the late Jeremy Broad. The Jeremy Broad Memorial Trophy will pay tribute to his life with a great day of driving pre-1979 cars with a special focus on Jaguars: XK 120s, 140s, 150s and E-types.
The day will be non-competitive and there will be no timings – it will be all about people enjoying their cars exactly the way Jeremy loved...
XK298 – July 2022
J D Classics has been relaunched by its new owners at Mille Miglia 2022. The company, based in Maldon, Essex in the United Kingdom, was formed in 1987.
JD Classics cars were regularly and successfully entered by both their owners and the company in Concours d’Elegance events at Pebble Beach, Amelia Island, Salon Privé and Villa d’Este. JD Classics also race-prepared and raced classic cars for their owners in its Competition Department, as well as entering the company’s own cars in races such as the RAC Tourist Trophy race at the Goodwood Revival and at the Le Mans Classic.
Due to difficulties off track, the company faced administrators in 2018, resulting in a new company, Woodham Mortimer, being created to take the business forward under new management.
Woodham Mortimer is now resurrecting the brand of JD Classics, having retained its operations and staff. It will be a division of Woodham Mortimer, specialising in classic restoration, sales, events, racing and race support.
XK297 – June 2022
Tony Brooks – 1932-2022. Tony Brooks – who died on 3 May at the age of 90 – may never have raced a Jaguar, but we felt it only right to pay tribute to one of the all-time British greats. Having raced mostly at club level during the early 1950s, Brooks was invited to join Connaught for the 1955 Syracuse Grand Prix. Having carried out minimal practice in an attempt to save the car for the race, he went out and defeated the factory Maseratis, in the process scoring the first Grand Prix victory for a British car since 1924. He had an unsuccessful season with BRM in 1956, then moved to Vanwall in 1957. Although Brooks was occasionally irked by Stirling Moss’s number-one status, the two men made a formidable team and shared the winning car at the British GP. Brooks went on to win three times in 1958, and at three of the most demanding circuits: Spa, the Nürburgring and Monza.
Having joined Ferrari for 1959, Brooks won in France and Germany, and only narrowly missed out on that year’s World Championship. He retired two years later at the age of only 29, having also won the Nürburgring 1,000km and Tourist Trophy sports car races for Aston Martin. A quiet, modest man, Brooks once sat next to Mario Andretti’s wife at a function, and by the end of the evening she was only vaguely aware that he’d done a bit of racing, such was his reluctance to blow his own trumpet. ‘That guy,’ Mario told her, ‘was the best of the best.’
XK296 – May 2022
Hampton Court event to celebrate pioneering women. The Concours of Elegance is introducing a brand-new feature to its 2022 edition on 2-4 September, designed to celebrate the pioneering women of the automotive world.
The new Levitt Concours shines a light on female enthusiasts and their vehicles, with a new one-day driving tour and showcase at Hampton Court Palace on Saturday 3 September, which will feature 30 rare and exotic women-owned vehicles.
The new Levitt Concours is named in honour of Dorothy Levitt, the first English female racing driver. Famed for setting the ladies’ World Land Speed Record as well as the first Water Speed Record, and dubbed the ‘Fastest Girl on Earth’, Dorothy Levitt was an automotive pioneer, avid motoring enthusiast and accomplished pilot. She began her racing career in 1903 at the Southport Speed Trials.
In 1905, Levitt broke the record for the ‘longest drive by a lady driver’, driving from London to Liverpool and back in just two days – at a time when tarmac roads barely existed, and road maps, road signs and petrol stations were yet to be invented. She had only her small Pomeranian dog, Dodo, by her side, plus a Colt revolver kept in a drawer known as ‘the secret of the dainty motoriste’
XK295 – April 2022
There will be two new races at Goodwood’s 79th Members’ Meeting on 9-10 April. The inaugural AFP Fane and Robert Brooks Trophies will join returning favourites such as the Graham Hill Trophy and Peter Collins Trophy.
The AFP Fane Trophy is named after legendary Frazer Nash racer Alfred Fane Peers Agabeg – better known as AFP Fane – and will be a oneoff race celebrating one of Britain’s oldest marques via chain-driven Super Sports, Shelsley single-seaters and racing specials. The Robert Brooks Trophy is named in honour of Members’ Meeting stalwart and original Governor of
the modern meetings, and it will recreate the club races of the Motor Circuit’s heyday with Lotus Elevens, Cooper T49s, Lola Mk1s and more taking to the grid.
E-types will feature in the Graham Hill Trophy, taking place over 45 minutes with a driver change, as they take on Cobras,
Porsche 904s and Lotus Elans in what will doubtless be one of the most competitive and exciting races of the weekend.
The Peter Collins Trophy evokes the spirit of the Goodwood 9 Hour races of the 1950s and will close the Members’ Meeting
weekend in style as the likes of C-types, D-types and DB3Ss do battle.
XK294 – March 2022
Bonhams has announced that it will be offering a 1970 US-spec E-type Series II that was delivered new to the SOLAR Movie Productions set of the Le Mans film.
The car will be offered in the Bonhams Monaco Sale during the 2022 Monaco Historic Grand Prix, on 13 May. The now Swiss-registered 1970 4.2-litre roadster will be offered with its original period UK number plates, carrying an estimate of €250,000-350,000 at no reserve.
The left-hand-drive unrestored US-specification car has also retained its original silver over black colour scheme. Owner Fredy Zurbrügg was a young chef when he was approached by the movie’s production manager, Hubert Fröhlich, to work on the sixth Bond film, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, which was filmed partly in Switzerland. Fröhlich approached him to work on his next production, Le Mans, and there the crew established its own compound known as ‘Solar Village’. Fredy brought his own kitchen from St Gallen, which was soon catering for 800 cast and crew members, including the lead Steve McQueen, for whom he invented a special dish – the ‘Steve Steak’. According to Fredy’s account, this friendliness extended to a generous gift, when the actor asked him to ‘choose one’ of the famous petrolhead’s personal fleet: a Jaguar, a Porsche 911 and a Mercedes Pagoda SL. ‘I decided on the silver Jaguar.'
XK293 – February 2022
The organisers of Salon Privé have announced a new international luxury car event at the Royal Hospital Chelsea on 21-23 April 2022. This inaugural event is in addition to the existing Salon Privé, which will return to Blenheim Palace for its 17th edition on 31 August-4 September.
The focus at Blenheim Palace is the Concours d’Elégance, whereas at Salon Privé London, the basis will be that everything on display is for sale. The ‘Concours de Vente’ will feature 60 of the very best collector cars from the UK and Europe’s most prominent specialist dealers, with all of them available for sale. The exact opposite is true at the Blenheim Palace Salon Privé Concours d’Elégance, which is a traditional ICJAG event, open only to privately owned cars, and where it is forbidden to enter a car that is for sale. The event will occupy the main South Lawn at the Royal Hospital Chelsea, London.
Salon Privé founder, Andrew Bagley said: ‘This is a world exclusive – an opportunity for the global elite collector car dealers to take centre stage themselves and enter a car in the inaugural Salon Privé Concours de Vente with all the cars in the new concours for sale across the three days of the event. But there will be judging and silverware too, with the most prized classic car being awarded the ultimate Prix d’Honneur in the Concours de Vente Gala Dinner on the Friday night in the Great Hall of the Royal Hospital Chelsea.’
XK292 – January 2022
The unique 1954 Pinin Farina-bodied XK 120, chassis number S675360, has been announced as one of the first lots at Bonham’s Amelia Island sale on 3 March 2022. The car left Browns Lane on 5 April 1954 before making its way to Italian coachbuilder Pinin Farina, which gave it a full body makeover.
It made its debut at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show before being shipped to the United States for East Coast importer Max Hoffman. 672 UYW’s history is a bit of a mystery after that because there is not much information about its first owner or its whereabouts after 1955.
The car languished in a poor state for 40 years in Germany before being found in 2015 and restored by Bridgnorth-based Classic Motor Cars. Its restoration, which took 6,725 hours over a period of two years, won the Restoration of the Year award at the Octane Awards 2017.
XK291 – December 2021
This 1977 Lynx D-type was offered for sale at H&H Classics’ Imperial War Museum Duxford auction on 17 November with no reserve. A similar one was recently bid to $280,000 in the US on the ‘Bring a Trailer’ website, and this one sold for £213,750.
The fourth chassis number allocated and the third Lynx D-type to be completed, it was supplied new to Blair Hamilton of Classic & Thoroughbred Motors Ltd in Vancouver, who was a personal friend of company founder Guy Black. It was initially built to long-nose, high-tail 1955 specification with single screen and an aluminium body crafted by Williams and Pritchard, and raced at club level.
OKV 421 was the subject of an article in the Vancouver Sun newspaper on 25 January 1978 and was repatriated two years later. It reportedly passed through the hands of Victor Gauntlett, Casper McDonald Hall and John Baynes thereafter; the latter had a slight off at Brands Hatch, which saw the two-seater returned to Lynx for minor repairs.
Bought by Barry Eastick during 1983, OKV 421 resumed its competition career the following decade at the Nürburgring, Silverstone and Spa- Francorchamps (having been the first Lynx D-type converted to dry-sump lubrication). Lynx converted it to ‘works 1956’ specification for the vendor, adding a passenger door and wraparound windscreen.
XK290 – November 2021
RM Sotheby’s is offering C-type chassis number XKC014 at its London sale, held in partnership with the London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, on 5 November, with an estimate of £4,000,000-£4,500,000. The C-type left the Browns Lane works in Coventry on 7 October 1952 and was immediately dispatched to its first, Florida-based, owner – Commander John ‘Jack’ Rutherford finished in cream with a green suede interior. It was fitted with engine number E1014-8 and body number K-1014, and retains its matching-numbers status – although the current cylinder head is thought to be from a late XK 120.
Rutherford competed in the car extensively between 1952 and 1960, achieving a timed run of 134.07mph at the 1953 NASCAR Speed Week at Daytona Beach. With its second owner, David S Burtner the car competed in several SCCA races in 1961 and 1962 and achieved several class victories, as well participating in the 1962 Road America 500 Miles.
The third US-based owner retained XKC014 for 24 years and eventually sold the Jaguar in 1988 to a German collector, who commissioned a restoration by Peter Jaye Engineering. During that work, the car was repainted British Racing Green. Later owners have included Skip Barber, Joel Loeb and Bill Jacobs. See rmsothebys.com
XK289 – October 2021
A short-nose D-type sold for £799,000 at Bonham’s Goodwood Revival sale on 18 September. Chassis number XKD 570 was assembled in 1956 but then dismantled for parts by Jaguar. Beyond that brief initial period as a completely assembled and finished car, it has no further 1950s history.
Andrew Whyte, in his book Jaguar – Sports-Racing & Competition Cars from 1954, records that XKD 570 went into the Jaguar Service Department ‘in bare metal state, 18 July 1956, with instructions to remove engine and gearbox and pass them to Bob Smart, the man in charge of Service Dept engine and gearbox administration.’
Whyte noted that the timing of work on XKD 570 coincided with repairs on the badly damaged XKD 403, which led him to suggest that XKD 570 (or XKD 548) may have been used for part of that work.
The D-type now known as XKD 570 was rebuilt in the 1980s from assorted Jaguar and reproduction parts and was acquired by Italian artist Francesco Scianna, who asked Lynx Engineering to fit a more period-correct D-type rear subframe and live rear axle.
In 2009, XKD 570 (by then FIA accredited) was acquired by Valentine Lindsay, who competed in events such as the Mille Miglia, Goodwood Revival and the Silverstone Classic. Cared for by the likes of Pearson Engineering and CKL Developments over the years, the car sold for £799,000.
