1965 Jaguar MK2 3.4 O/D

This car was delivered new to a Mrs Hughes of Swindon in May 1965, at which time it was powered by the 2.4-litre engine.

She had the car until 1987, since when it has had just 3 more owners including the vendor. By the time Mrs Hughes parted company with the car it had covered 75,000 miles.

The second owner added a further 27,000 miles to the total and enjoyed the car on a number of European tours.

He enjoyed it rather more once he’d replaced the original 2.4-litre engine with the notably beefier 3.4-litre XK unit.

The addition of more power and a higher final drive ratio to the car’s original all-synchromesh gearbox (with overdrive) gave the car the longer legs needed for continental touring.

The car's history file contains photographs dating back to 2012 when the car underwent a significant bare metal restoration and embarked upon a lengthy period of work to overhaul and upgrade the interior, brakes, suspension and steering, along with fitting painted wire wheels with knock-on spinners and Coombs wheel-arch spats at the rear.

During this time the car was resprayed in its original ‘Indigo Blue’.

Adding up the numbers shown in the invoices and bills reveals that this work cost around £25,000.

This is, first and foremost, a driver’s car. It has been sensitively upgraded with a view to enhancing, improving and fine-tuning the driving experience. All of which goes a long way to explaining this car’s character and personality.

Being a driver’s car, it is not in concours condition.

That said, it’s been good enough win the ‘Best In Show’ award 3-years running at the Isle of Wight Jaguar Enthusiasts’ event – and that’s in recent years.

The car has had a complete retrim in its original Grey leather upholstery, with new carpets, headlining, inertia reel belts and most recently the vendor has beautifully refurbished the wood throughout.

It has also had EZ power steering installed, LED lighting for the dashboard and instruments and a Kenlow fan installed.  The original clock has been repaired and upgraded to an electric version running on AA batterys. There is a replacement wood-rimmed steering wheel fitted (the original wheel is in the boot) as well as a near complete set of tools, jack and spinner hammer..

The bumpers and overriders have been re-chromed and the painted wire wheels have been replaced by chromed versions, including the spare.

The vendor also tells us that CWV 59C has a sports exhaust, which explains the pleasantly throaty rasp emanating from the car when we drove it.

The car presents very well from every angle and it would seem to have been well looked-after and curated for the majority of its long life.

The bodywork is very straight and true, and there are no creases, dinks or dents of any real note that we can see anywhere. The only exception to this otherwise universal rule is to be found on the o/s/r spat, which is a little proud of the bodywork at the rear corner.

The Indigo Blue paintwork has plenty of shine and lustre to it.

Get a little closer and peer into the dark blue depths of the paint and one or two minor cosmetic issues will begin to make themselves known.

There’s a spot of bubbling under the paint on the o/s/r door where it meets the ‘B’ pillar and some blistering by the o/s/f door handle.

We also saw a bit of bubbling under the paint at the top of the o/s/f door where it meets the wing, and some more in the n/s/f sill just ahead of the passenger door.

At the rear base of the o/s/f wheel-arch we found a short split and a little more bubbling.

There are one or two very small spots of bubbling around the front grille and there are some cracks to the paint and a little nascent bubbling just below the windscreen.

We noticed that the door shuts escaped the attention of the paint shop when the car was last sprayed, and some of the rubber trim around the windows is a bit rough, here and there, as is the finish inside the roof gutters.

Beyond that, it’s all pretty good really, and even standard scratches and stone chips are rather more notable for their absence than their presence.

The chromed wire wheels are in fine form and the matching Michelin XVS tyres appear to have a reasonable amount of life left in them.

The lights, lenses, badging and other exterior fixtures and fittings are all good, as far as we can see.

The interior is in exceedingly good condition and is a tribute to the curation of the car’s various owners; the arcane arts of the restorer; and the craft skills of the saddler and French polisher.

The light grey leather upholstery has yet to earn any meaningful creases, let alone any sort of ingrained patina.

They are comfortable, supportive and functional, front and back.

The headlining, being fairly new, is untroubled by the passage of time.

So, too, are the carpets and mats, save for a few spots of discolouration on the carpet over the transmission tunnel in the rear.

The door cards are following the same script in terms of quality and condition, although the elastic inside the driver’s door pocket is rather frayed.

The wood steals the show, in our opinion, and the veneers and inserts on the dashboard, door cappings, picnic tables and other inserts, are uniformly rich, glossy and very easy on the eye.

The boot is as good as the rest of it and contains the car’s original steering wheel, a spare wheel, and a few car show awards in their presentation boxes.

The vendor tells us that as far as he knows, everything works. The current exception to that rule is the radio – and that’s only inactive because it hasn’t been connected yet.

The engine bay is a vision of clean, dry and tidy loveliness.

Everything seems to be in its right and proper place.

The cars undersides look very good to us and appear to be possessed of plenty of structural integrity.

Nothing we’ve seen has given us any cause to shake our heads or tut, but you will want to see for yourself, obviously.

That this Jaguar MK2 has been well-cared for throughout its life is evidenced by a very full and comprehensive wad of bills, invoices and receipts.

The history file even includes the car’s original green log book and the original Jaguar service book recording the car`s first ten services, effectively ensuring that it has history from new.

It is accompanied by an August 2021 copy of Jaguar World magazine, in which it is the star of a lengthy feature.

It also comes with a V5, spare keys, and an MoT that’s valid until 22.4.25.

All the signs tell us that this one has been well looked-after and it should have many years of classy, pedigree motoring pleasure yet to offer.

Obviously, you’ll want to see for yourself but, to us, the bodywork looks pretty solid and we know that the car has been looked at and seen to by all the right people.

It is (demonstrably, if you’re lucky enough to drive it) a proper driver’s car and has been set-up, upgraded and fettled to that purpose.

We think this fine car is just a couple of relatively small jobs away from recapturing some, most or all of its considerable former glory and continuing its run of success at whichever regional car shows are nearest to you.

We think you’ll enjoy it.

We are happy to offer this car for auction with an estimate in the range of £20,000 - £30,000.

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am - 12pm or 2pm - 4pm. To make a booking, please use the ‘Enquire About This Vehicle’ button on the listing. Feel free to ask any questions, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.