2026-02-18 15:51:02 | pauls writes:

Quoted from owner's post in Jag-lovers 2/18/26

I purchased a 1959 XK150 FHC that was listed on Facebook pretty close to where I live (Northern California). The FB listing said the car was a 3.8L engine 4 speed that had been stored for 50 years. The listing included some pics showing the outside and interior of the car and a vid of the tailpipes while the car was running. First thought - nice car - no obvious rust. The listing at the end also included a singe shot of the engine compartment. OMG!!! 3 large carbs and a pumpkin colored head! In a matter of seconds I confirmed the significance of the pumpkin colored head and shot off an email to the seller of the car asking for pics of the data plate and head/engine stamped codes.

The response was a true WTF moment. The car is S836011BW - a January 1959 build with a 3.4L engine an automatic transmission. The engine, head, carbs and transmission are from a 1963 xke however. Hmmm.

Here’s the story….

The long time California owner of the car purchased the car in mid-1966 for $300. At the time of purchase the car had roughly 16k miles on the clock. The engine had suffered a catastrophic failure, which is why the car was so cheap. British Motors in San Francisco wanted a fortune to fix the car, so the owner immediately went to Plan B - he found a complete 1963 xke drivetrain in a local auto wrecker place for $500 and installed that instead. The owner did a great deal of the work himself as he was a high school math teacher who had been a machinist in the Service.

The owner drove and enjoyed the car until 1975, and then stored the car for the next 50 years. The car now shows 41k miles, but the odometer stopped working more than a year before he stored the car. Fortunately, the owner had a pretty good idea about how to store a car. The car has almost no rust on it. Even the empty gas tank only has a bit of surface rust on the inside (based on a borescope view of the tank).

The rubber on the car is in bad shape, as you would expect. The brake and clutch master cylinder don’t work for example.

The car has a good deal of original parts (like the Dunlop brake master cylinder). The owner also saved every receipt related to the car and even quite a few of the parts he swapped out over the years. I have the original head and 2 HD6 carb setup. Not quite sure what I’m going to do with those lightly used items - maybe sell them.

My goal is to turn the car into a super fun driver. I own a restored xk140 OTS that I drive a fair amount, but I can BARELY wear shoes when I drive the car. I suspect the xk150 will be a much more useable car.