MODIFIED
50 Originally starting life as a 1959 3.4, thisMk1 has recently been been given a 3.8-litre and was built for fast road use.
THIS IS a car that shouldn’t exist.When Jaguar’s first compact saloon – what we now call the Mk1 – was on sale between 1955 and 1959, it only had the option of a 2.4 and 3.4-litre straight six and not the more powerful 3.8. But that’s exactly what we have here.
Developed in 2015 for fast road use by an established marque expert, not only was the braking and handling improved but the original engine was swapped for an example of the larger unit resulting in a combination Jaguar itself never produced. But after trying this one, perhaps it should have done.
Built on 6 April, 1959, the car (chassis S977102DN) was originally a 3.4 in Cornish Grey with red leather upholstery and distributed via Frank Leurs & Co to R P Powell (Motors) Ltd in Forest Gate, London. The car’s first owner is said to have been the brother of Lady Cheetham, Humphrey, who immediately had the saloon repainted in his favourite colour of British Racing Green.
Since he was in the army, Humphrey used the car only sparingly when he was home on leave. He died not long after leaving the military but Lady Cheetham retained his Jaguar for sentimental reasons. Her then neighbour, the former Le Mans winner and notable car specialist, Duncan Hamilton, looked after the Mk1 for her including taking it for an occasional drive since she rarely did. It’s rumoured Hamilton once used the 3.4 for a hill climb but this can’t be substantiated. The Jaguar was eventually sold to an occasional employee of Hamilton’s,
Shaun Baker, who kept the car until 2015 when it was bought by Michael Wilkinson from established marque experts, M&C Wilkinson, for his personal use.
Although structurally sound and not suffering from rust, the largely original car was still looking tired and so Michael began a sympathetic restoration that started with a bare metal respray, again in BRG rather than the original grey. The leather upholstery was changed from red to Suede Green at the same time.
Wanting to use the Mk1 for touring, Michael rebuilt the car to what he describes as ‘fast road spec’. This included swapping the original 3.4-litre for a 3.8 that had been rebuilt by M&C Wilkinson while an allsynchro four-speed transmission from a Mk2 replaced the often awkward to use Moss box.
The propshaft was replaced and the rear axle rebuilt using a Powr-Lok diff. Following experience restoring the former Tommy Sopwith racing Mk1 – IVA 400 – Michael added extensions to the rear wheel hubs to widen the track and theref
