2021-06-07 14:40:12 | pauls writes:

Car to be at auction 7/21

www.silverstoneauctions.com/sa076-lot-16580-1959-jaguar-xk150-3-4-litre-s-roadst ...&pn=1&pp=100

Auction description:

JAGUAR XK 150 S

Registration Number JK 150

Chassis Number T820043DN

Body Colour Carnival Red

According to its ‘Green’ Logbook, TS820043DN was first registered on 16/06/1959 finished in Signal Red but not much else is known about its early years. It certainly hadn’t been looked after as, when our vendor and the Jag’s long-term owner Chris Blackmore went to see it in response to an advert in ‘Exchange & Mart’, it was in a very poor state. It didn’t have any carpets, seats or a bonnet, the spare wheel well was rusted through, the interior was filthy and the engine didn’t run, however, a deal was done at £230 and JK 150 was subsequently registered to a young Chris Blackmore. Some 51 years later, he still owns the car and it is undoubtedly one of the best we have ever seen.

However, the transformation from Ugly Duckling to Graceful Swan was not a linear one as the 150’s initial restoration was not altogether successful. The majority of the mechanical work was carried out by Chris himself (a trained mechanical engineer) and the bodywork was entrusted to legendary Cobra specialist, Rod Leach. At our vendor’s request, it was painted two-tone Turquoise Blue and Emerald Green, both Chrysler colours, which, we imagine sounded quite good on paper but ended up really clashing, resulting in the car being a bit of a head-turner, for the wrong reasons. (pictures in the History File). Nevertheless, Chris enjoyed the XK throughout the Seventies even venturing as far as Paris. Other aspects of ‘life’ took priority in the early Eighties and JK 150 was to spend the next 30-odd years in a succession of dry garages and lock-ups before the decision was taken in 2009 to return the car to a Concours standard.

This time the restoration was to be comprehensive and, after a suggestion from Mick Duffy at the JDC, Alan Holdaway from Surrey was given the project. According to our vendor “Mick was, and still is, an XK aficionado and has had two XKs previously restored by Alan, both Concours winners”. Alan totally dismantled and then carefully rebuilt the car from the bottom up. All the nuts and bolts were plated, the chassis treated and then protectively painted, the engine rebuilt, the wiring replaced and the standard Moss gearbox was updated with a modern Toyota five-speed transmission. The body panels were repaired and prepared and the car was painted in an exquisite dark metallic red (details in the file). Finally, leading interior specialists, MCT in Nuneaton fitted a new hood and retrimmed the seats and dashboard to a fabulous standard as you can see from the images. Other financial commitments meant that the restoration was put on hold from time to time and this glorious XK150 eventually returned to the road in 2019.

The car’s History File contains the original Green Logbook, V5s, older MOTs, photographs of the car in red and two-tone, the ownership story by the vendor and a very recent (April 2021) copy of Jaguar World with a six-page article and road test of JK 150. We understand that all the restoration invoices are available.

With its flawless interior, tight shut-lines, immaculate paint, sparkling chrome and powerful, torquey straight-six, this a special example of a quintessential sporting Jaguar and as one of only 92, RHD, 3.4-litre ‘S’ cars, it’s also rather rare.

2021-06-08 06:52:31 | mbarnett writes:

820043 was first RH car reportedly to have an electric tachometer.