2006-09-05 19:53:27 | pauls writes:

Ebay item 9/5/06
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jaguar-XK-150-convertible-Drop-Head-XK-150-Jaguar-Conver ...
Current bid $25,097 reserve not met, 3 bids, 5 days left in auction. Buy it now price $56K.

Sellers description:
For sale is a fully-restored 1959 Jaguar XK-150 convertible, the DropHead Coupe model. This example is finished traditionally, with a richly creamy Olde English white exterior over red leather interior appointments. The odometer shows just over 56,000 miles, and based on the registration papers over the years that appears correct.

I have reached my 60s and have been able to drive the car only rarely in the past year. It is time to reclaim the prime garage space at our home for my long-suffering wife, whose car sits outside while the Jaguar is comfortable inside.

The car was restored over a several year period in Ohio, and finished about two years ago, when I bought it. It has been in a heated garage since then and accordingly is in excellent shape. It starts easily every time, and it runs and shifts smoothly. There is no smoke in the exhaust. The disk brakes and the car's electrical system are working normally.

The car has a permanent registration in Ohio and, when I bought it, I registered it in Virginia as a classic car; it is titled and has fully-drivable current registration here in Virginia. I have full title with the appropriate papers. The car is located in Charlottesville (central Virginia, 2 hours south of D.C. or 1 hour west of Richmond).

There are no rust problems to deal with on the car. All of the usually suspect locations were replaced with the proper metal panels in the long restoration. The rocker panels below the doors and gas tank shield panel were replaced during the restoration. There is no rust in the trunk, under the spare, in the floorboards, or anyplace else on this car. Several of the pictures were taken under the car, showing the absence of sheet-metal rust and showing that the heavy steel frame is solid and straight, with nothing other than the standard mottled surface appearance you'd expect in a car almost 50 years old. The car is very solid. There is no "bondo" or other filler.

This car is complete. All the appropriate insignias and badges, mirrors, and chrome bits are present. Things like the little hidden doors to the battery compartment, with their cute wing-nuts, are present. The regular Lucas equipment is in the engine compartment. Things you wouldn't see, like the small stand-off rods inside the rear wheel wells that buttress the rear fenders from the frame are all present. I cannot locate the tool kit and jack, so consider those not included. The knock-off hammer is included.

The hood and grill are straight and the bumpers are in good condition. The chrome is attractive, with the weakest being the tail-light fixtures which show their age, but even these small items are not flaking, peeling or bubbling. The chrome wire wheels are gorgeous, and the car has five of those along with five of the appropriate tires, which are in nearly new condition.

The car has a good quality Olde English White paint job that is in good shape all around the car. I went over the car with the head of a 15-person sports car restoration team prior to purchasing it a couple years ago, and his judgment was that it had been restored to regional competition levels but would need some upgrades to compete nationally. I have done no work on the car, and we did not locate any indication that it has any damage history.

All of the gauges work. The windshield wipers operate. Not working: the small electric clock and the vintage 1959 transistor radio mounted under the dash.

The red leather upholstery is in excellent condition. The black canvas convertible top was new two years ago and the car has been garaged constantly since then, so it appears as new (no tears or worn spots, etc.). The top is manually operated (it hinges and folds), and works well. It latches to the lovely curved windshield as it is supposed to do. It's never been driven in rain, so I can't report on how rain-tight it might be, but it latches down and seals properly. The doors have wind-wing opening windows, and regular crank-up, crank-down windows, which are complete with latches and handles, and they work fine.

SPARE PARTS AND ENGINE BLOCK. I have a variety of spare items for this car, including a set of carburetors, an unrestored spare grill, and various latch fittings for the convertible top in case one of them ever broke. These come with purchase of the car. In addition, the car comes with what I believe is the original 3.4 liter engine block and flywheel. The car was upgraded to the "S" specification with the proper 3.8 liter engine during the professional restoration. The chassis No. is S838114BW (the BW was for the Borg Warner automatic transmission fitted at the factory), and the 3.8 liter engine is No. VA1036-8. The 3.4 liter engine is V6443-8, and the 700 lb. 3.4 block is on a castor-dolly in my garage; it would need to be picked up if desired at the time of purchase, and I have no idea of its internal condition. In addition, the car comes with three spare original Jaguar badges (front and rear), and a spare monogrammed Jaguar oil filler cap in case yours goes missing. I also include a complete set of authentic engine compartment decals to give period labels to the components if desired.

COMPLETE LITERATURE COLLECTION. Accompanying this beautiful car there is a copy of the original owner's manual with operating instructions. In addition, the purchaser will receive a full collector's set of literature purchased over a several year period in the US and the UK relating to this car.

This collection includes a number of magazine reviews and articles about this model, in original sports car magazines from the US and Britain published in the late '50s and early '60s. There are five hard-bound books included, dealing standard service (a well-used copy), the complete book on this engine, and the development and care of the XK-150 model Jaguar.

Coming with the car also is the original large-scale showroom brochure that was given out in 1959 to customers considering purchase of an XK-150, and the three other original brochures of this period which constitute A COMPLETE SET of all of the sales literature on this model. Two of these are large-format 11 x 14 inch items, and two are small "pocket" brochures available at the dealerships at the time, and all are multi-page, mostly in color, original literature that is almost impossible to collect today. These have been acquired carefully over time and are in excellent condition. The brochures are original Jaguar-printed pieces, not reprints, and they are in excellent condition. A couple of original print magazine ads from the 1950s for the XK-150 convertible are also included.

Also coming with the car is a complete original shop manual for this model purchased in Great Britain (worth about $250, even in grimy-actually-used-for-decades type condition as this is). Also, the collector's literature package with this car includes original "service charts" for lubrication, published by British Texaco in 1959. Also in the collector's package are a set of the original parts lists for the XK-150 on 3-ring punched blue paper, with detailed cut-away drawings of each part and its location, published by Glenn Mitchell at the time, pages B-1 to B-13. Also included is a 100+ page working photocopy (bound) of Jaguar's parts manual for this car, along with a two-volume ORIGINAL printed parts manual (in the original embossed 3-ring binders of about 500 pages), published in Coventry by Jaguar, with all the updates covering the XK-150 line, which cost $450 on the collectors market a few years ago, and these do not now show up for sale at all today.

This car has the original Dunlop disk brakes. Almost beyond belief, I have located, and am including in the sale, a copy of the original Dunlop book, printed in September of 1958, covering all aspects of the installation and maintenance of the model of Dunlop brakes used by Jaguar on the XK-150 (Dunlop Manual DM 1219). This was purchased from an antique transportation literature specialist in Kent, England last year for about $100, and was the only copy he'd seen in 20 years.

By way of desk ornaments to look at while you are not admiring the car face-to-face or driving it around town or to shows, there are four model XK-150 cars included in the sale, including two collector's "Dinky" cars made in England a number of years ago, presented in Olde English white with red interior, just like the car now for sale, along with two other rare models of this car.

2006-10-16 20:16:57 | pauls writes:

Above auction ended at $30,100 reserve not met after 8 bids.

2006-11-04 07:52:18 | pauls writes:

Car returns to ebay 11/4/06
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jaguar-XK-150-Convertible-Jaguar-XK-150-convertible-Rest ...
Current bid $35,600 reserve not met, 2 bids, 9 days left in auction. Same seller as above auction.