So i'm on the lookout for a project to build up as a club racer, and I come across this wreck of an XK120 for sale in QLD

Jaguars for Sale see halfway down the page "Three Unfinished Projects"

The bloke says in his ad "I hope to sell all the cars as a job lot. All are unregistered, and are sold as is, everything would be included in the sale, however I would consider breaking up the lots if the right offer is received."

So I write him a nice polite email, asking for more pictures/details on the car & how much he wants for the XK120 on it's own.

I get a four word reply; "Not for sale singularly"

Lesson 1 in how not to sell a car.

 

So no indication of what he considers to be "the right offer".......

Graham

 

Maybe he thinks the XK is bait for the others?

 

Hey, greetings Cambo351.

Have enjoyed so many of your posts as I trolled through many forums, but this raised more than a frustrated chuckle - with both myself and my brother.

Sydney in the mid 60s saw him buy an XK120 under similar (and eventually successful) circumstances. Even with careful disassembly, the ash frames started falling apart in his hands. A month or two later and terrified, he pushed it all into tea chests, advertised and sold it for over a hundred pounds more than he paid for it.

Very philosophical ever since at "what might have been" but even as a first class toolmaker/engineer, he tells me he still has occasional nights when he wakes drenched in a cold sweat!

Have you thought of basing your project on one of the tired or even bent XJS models about at present? I always had a soft spot for the US Tullius / Group 44 cars. Cut and shut with roll cage and the V12HE in 6 litre race trim ....

Stop it ... I'm going blind! Now I have to go and lay down ...

 

In 2000 when I returned to OZ from California, where I was able to indulge my passion for all things Jaguar to the max, (you could buy any Jag part for any model just about in the local Post Office delivered in 24 hrs.) I owned a 1970 E Type 4.2 convertible, an XK150 FHC, a 1997 last of sale XJS convertible, and an XJ40.
I kept them in storage maintenance for 3 years while the market went sadly south. (All in Pristine and show condition except the XJ40)
The objective was to bring them to OZ as a future retirement package!
At that period, the Aust $ was well North of the $US.
Eventually the thought of transporting and converting to RHD, maintenance and expectations in a very depressing market, I decided to sell them and take the losses.
I had 2 private sales in the US, ( This was despite putting them all on consignment lots and extensive advertising in prestigious car magazines)and one international sale (XK150 to Belgium.) all at big loss.
Today, as a masochistic penance, I continue to follow the classic market, and just wish I had trusted and believed in my original dreams.
This sad story is the same as the XK120. "If only, and I wish"?

 

So Mike . . . the passion runs deeper than I inferred from your intros. With such severe infection of Jaguaritis, you need sympathetic friends urgently ... I know ... I have owned or sampled most of them from Mk5 onwards; including 35+years with our S1 4.2L E-Type; and 4 years with the Unlimited Hydro class "Jagged" which was fast but wicked!).

And yet ... the old XKs could be real heartbreakers. The XK140/150/150S developed the theme brilliantly; and in their day, were astonishing both in price and performance. My intro to the XK140 was via my mate's Dad - a farmer who found the extra cabin room of his new 2+2 was perfect for rescuing ewes during cold nights in the lambing season! Alas, not so the original XK120 in my opinion. Unlike most Jaguars that have lasted to be useful resto projects, those wooden body frames were not long lived in normal use.

I'll be interested in your experiences with the XK150. Was it an 'S'? Apparently, quite a few which made it into Australia, were ... but I never had the pleasure. I commiserate with your losses, but assure you of what your heart now knows. As we watch the prices for S1 E-Types reach the stratosphere ... I am staggered that we are surrounded by future classics that are currently "relatively unloved" but almost guaranteed to follow suit (XJR; XKR; S-Type, and STR ... the more luxurious, unusual, and original the better).

When I bought my E-Type, I had a choice of 6 ... and all were less than 1/10 what they bring today. Some of today's "future classics" are destined to do the same ... but I still don't get motivated by the profit prospect ... it just makes it more affordable to step into some real luxury and performance ... now; while the cars are new enough to be ignored by most; and enjoyed by us!
Best wishes,
Ken