Lot 192 - 1962 Jaguar Mk. X

The Jaguar Mk. X was the top of the range saloon car built by the British manufacturer primarily aimed at the United States market. The unitary construction bodyshell was codenamed 'Zenith' during development and this floor pan continued in production long after Mk. X production ended, as the DS420 Limousine. The interior was the last Jaguar with abundant standard woodwork, including the dashboard, escutcheons, window trim, a pair of large book-matched fold-out rear picnic tables and a front seat pull-out picnic table stowed beneath the instrument cluster. Later, air conditioning and a sound-proof glass division between the front and rear seats were available as options. The Mk. X was the first Jaguar saloon to feature independent rear suspension and differed from earlier large Jaguar saloons in having 14" wheels instead of the more common 15". The front suspension used double wishbones with coil springs and telescopic dampers. The car initially featured a 3,781cc version of Jaguar's XK in-line, six-cylinder engine. For the London Motor Show in October 1964, the enlarged 4,235cc unit took over although the 3.8 litre unit could still be specified until October 1965. Many domestic market cars and almost all cars destined for the important North American markets left the factory with a Borg Warner automatic gearbox. Stopping power for this heavy car came from servo assisted disc brakes on all four wheels; power assisted steering was standard.

The current owner purchased this fabulous Jaguar on 2nd November 2003 with a recorded mileage of 43,194 miles; the car at the time was not on the road and needed a bit of attention to get through an MoT. Once MoT’d he used the car for just over a year and then decided to either to sell it or restore it. The latter decision was made and the stripping of the Jaguar commenced which he has captured on the two CD discs that are in the history file for the new owner to have as a record. Once the car was stripped, it was sent to the bodyshop to be prepared and painted, while this process was being achieved the woodwork was sent to be restored and all the seats, door cards, rear parcel shelf and front under shelf were sent to be retrimmed. To complete this work, six hides of red leather were used to completely retrim the car which, as can be seen, has turned out to be absolutely stunning. Once the car was returned from painting, the rebuild began with the headlining being completed first and then the refurbished woodwork being pieced back together, firstly around the headlining and then down the pillars, the dashboard was next which took quite a while with regards to the refitting of the clocks and gauges and after this, the rear picnic tables were fitted, therefore, completing this stage. Brand new carpets were fitted which were supplied by BAS of Newport again this was quite fiddly especially around the sills and the centre console but was eventually achieved. All chromework was then refitted to the car which included door handles, bumpers, front and rear lights, roof chrome, new rear boot chrome, new front grille and then bonnet chrome. Once completed the seats were fitted and then all door cards, centre console with a brand-new period radio which has Bluetooth etc, rear parcel shelf and any other areas were finished off with the leather trim. Finally, the boot was retrimmed to match the red interior of the car which gives a much nicer look than the usual Jaguar biscuit colour. After completion of the rebuild, the carburettors were completely restored and a brand-new stainless-steel exhaust system was fitted and the radiator then received a re-core, all new water hoses, water pump, thermostat and a brand-new set of ignition leads and plugs followed by an electronic ignition set to finish off. The present vendor has had the pleasure of owning the vehicle for nearly 20 years of which 14 were restoring this magnificent vehicle and as you can see the car now has a recorded mileage of 45,823 miles, this means the car has only covered 2,629 miles in his ownership. This is a simply stunning example of this British classic and surely must be one of the finest available.