Year of manufacture 1959 Recorded mileage 20,476 Asking price £76,995 Vendor Blackline Classic Cars, Cullumpton, Devon; 01884 841110; blacklineclassiccars.co.uk WHEN IT WAS NEW Price £1672 Max power 190bhp Max torque 213lb ft 0-60mph 8.4 secs Top speed 120mph Mpg 18
Though the uprated British Racing Green Jaguar is one of motoring’s oldest clichés, it still manages to avoid being tired – particularly if done right, and this 1959 Mk1 is about as convincing as you can get this side of a circuit. It follows the blueprint of Mike Hawthorn’s car, in which the F1 champion tragically lost his life one rainy day on the Guildford bypass. That Jaguar 3.4 benefited from a range of upgrades, boosting its performance towards the specification to which Hawthorn had become accustomed during his time racing Touring Cars.
While Hawthorn’s own was lost, tributes such as this have kept the idea alive – and not just for history’s sake. While the narrow-track rear end was a little sketchy, Jaguar’s sporting saloon always responded keenly to extra oomph and made for the sort of excitement normally reserved for the supercar set. It’s difficult, then, to resist this example’s tantalising spec: its 3.4-litre engine has been lightened and balanced, the head polished and ported, with a high-lift cam, larger valves and twin 2in SUs with Coombs-pattern trumpets. As well as a period-style exhaust and a larger anti-roll bar, there are adjustable dampers, four-pot front brake calipers and electronic ignition. Perhaps most outwardly striking of all its upgrades, though, are the triple-laced competition wheels and modified rear spats that echo the racy attitude of Hawthorn’s car in period.
Some modernity has snuck in, but I think the improvement in the experience won’t be at the expense of perceived authenticity. This has been amplified in the details, too, such as the Derrington steering wheel, 140m
