2010-07-01 17:05:16 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 7/10
www.bonhams.com/cgi-bin/public.sh/pubweb/publicSite.r

Auction description:
Sale 18213 - Collectors' Motor Cars and Automobilia, 2 Jul 2010
Goodwood Festival of Speed, Chichester, Sussex
Lot No: 361
c.1958 Jaguar XK150 3.8-Litre Drophead Coupé
Registration no. VAH 334
Chassis no. S827130BW
Engine no. V4483-8
Estimate: £45,000 - 55,000

The car we offer is one of only 662 right-hand drive XK150 drophead coupés made between May 1957 and October 1960. Originally a 3.4-litre, automatic transmission model, it has – we are advised – been fitted with a 3.8-litre, triple-carburettor XK150S engine and a modern automatic gearbox. The car was sold new via Charles Follett Ltd to Radiovisor Parent Ltd, of London SW19, passing in 1960 to Thomas Dawkins, of Rington, Bristol, who kept it for the next 37 years. Its next owner was a Mr Leal-Green, of Benenden, Kent, who had the car sympathetically restored and repainted – leaving the interior original – and is said to have commissioned the aforementioned mechanical upgrades. During Mr Leal-Green's ownership the Jaguar was maintained by Maidstone Sports Cars.
In 2007 'VAH 334' was purchased by the current (fourth) owner and despatched to Jaguar XK specialists, Twyford Moors, who had already done some work on it for Mr Leal-Green, for updating with inertia-reel seatbelts and halogen headlights, the tonneau cover being replaced and the shut lines adjusted at the same time. The car is described by the enthusiast vendor as in generally very good condition, with excellent engine, and is reputedly capable of relaxed 100mph cruising at 3,500 revs. Finished in silver with original red leather upholstery, 'VAH 334' is offered with old-style logbook, lubrication poster, owner's manual, sundry maintenance/restoration invoices, current MoT/tax and Swansea V5.