1957 Jaguar XK150 DHC Project

The story behind this sorry looking Jag goes as follows:

The current owner purchased the project from a deceased estate in 2021 when purchasing some parts for another project.

This XK150 was sat in a lean to outside the previous owner’s house and caught the current owner’s eye as they hatched a plan to restore the car to original condition. However, with two other projects on the go and the current company entrusted with their care taking a different direction, the decision was made to pass the XK150 on.

Unfortunately for the current owner many of the parts were not easily accessible in the estate so they grabbed what they could fit in cardboard boxes to take with them whilst they were there.

This leaves us in a ‘what you see is what you get’ type scenario with the chassis, running gear, present body panels and a non-original 3.8 litre engine from a Mk2 saloon. As far as the history behind the car goes, that’s about as much as we can say, as all the knowledge and history of this car went with the previous owner when he sadly passed.

The body panels present have been stripped and prepared for a full restoration, however that was some time ago. Whilst this does mean you won’t have to strip the car of paint; it does mean the panels have been left to the elements and as you can see from some of the door panels the corrosion has been winning. But this is a project after all and if it were easy then we’d all be doing it and there would be far less satisfaction in the end result.

On the plus side it does come with four wire wheels in a resplendent red including spinners, which really does help to envisage the final product.

Not much of an inside to speak of here but what is there looks to be a good base to work with. The bulkhead for instance appears to have largely remained intact with the auction also including the roof panel, boot panel, both doors and some other miscellaneous panels too.

There’s no need to hurt your knees squatting down to look underneath this Jag, the frame is visible from standing (and we’ve also got some good photos in the gallery below for you). The current owner reports the chassis to be pretty straight and from the photos, the underseal looks to have done a stand-up job for all these years. Now we’re not mechanics and the frame might need some work in places but overall, it looks to be in good shape. A great base then from which to start breathing some life back into this beautiful car.

The Jag comes with a V5C and a heritage certificate which gives some clue as to what this car would have looked like 65 years ago back in 1957. Now sadly there is no VIN plate or chassis stamp that we could see on the car to match the shell up to the certificate, so we have no way of connecting the two. This then truly is a blank canvas on which to either make your own mark or, with your purist hat on, return to original condition.

Who doesn’t love a barn find like this (or should we say lean-to find) - the sense of mystery and history lost to time, or the challenge to find records and piece together the puzzle to reveal the muddled picture. In fact, this Jag could be seen as a big jigsaw but instead of a finishing with a picture you have to break up again to put back in the box, you get a stunning car that you enjoy endlessly knowing the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into creating it. After all is there any better pursuit in life than creating something beautiful? We think this enticing project will sell for between £10,000-£20,000, but is being offered at no reserve, so the highest bid takes it.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located with the vendor in Bicester. To arrange an appointment please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.