About 10 years ago I had an idea to design a proper two door coupe version of the MK2 Jaguar. With all due respect, the welded up rear doors (even if they are lengthened) is a two door saloon (sedan in American). To make a proper coupe, you need to change the roofline. So the rear window is moved forward about 3 inches at the base, then leaned forward. The roof is cut behind the front windshield and angled back to meet the rear window. This gives the roof a slightly lower appearance even though the front screen is unaltered. The doors are lengthened 8 inches and the B pillar is angled forward at the top of the door to match the newly positioned rear quarter-light (vent window). The rear windshield is from a MK1.
It is a full on Pro Touring car under the skin, hence the wheels and the lowered stance. Eliminate the rear seat, and move the driving position back 4 or 5 inches. This in turn makes more room to cut the firewall out and modify for a nice 6.0 V12. I shaved a bit off of the underside as it would be sitting on a custom chassis, plus the wheel arches have been raised an inch or so to get the car right down there.

 

I think you will find Sir William Lyons beat you to the design by about 50 years. It was in 1957 and he called it an XK150 FHC.
No disrespect to your art work but Sir william got the proportions right first time around and then made 4445 of them. It was from the XK150 design shape that he took a lot of the styling designs and went on to make a four door version which he called the Mk2. Which takes us neatly back to your starting point.

 

A Coupe version of the Mk1 Compact was proposed but did not progress. ~ Courtesy James Taylor.

 

Very interesting Glyn. Not seen that drawing before but it definitely has the lines of the S Type in the rear end. The scuttle in this drawing and in the first drawing from Alphatrev is a lot larger than on the Mk2/S Type so the proportions just do not look right.
Alphatrev states he would "move the driving position back 4 or 5 inches" but the problem with this is that you would not be able to reach any of the switches on the dash from the driver's seat. To compensate for this the dash would also have to move back 4 or 5 inches along with the steering wheel so when you open the door the dash and steering wheel would be sticking out way beyond the A pillar line which would look ridiculous. Designing and making a car from scratch is an awful lot easier than trying to modify an existing design to fit especially if you are trying to be as radical as Alphatrev.
If you look at the design of the XK150 compared to the Mk2 you can clearly see that the A pillar is some 5 to 6 inches further back giving the effect that Alphatrev is trying to achieve, getting the driving position further towards the rear of the car, but to do this to a Mk2 would require some extensive and major structural alterations to achieve which might make the car unroadworthy.

 

Good comments guys, thanks.

I agree that the XK150 is a beautiful coupe, and I have always wanted one, but for a Jaguar Hot Rod project starter the $50K plus price of entry (if you want a rust free car) is prohibitive. A good MK2 shell in this country is readily available, plenty of rust free cars still out there. They are so complex and expensive to restore (compared to a Mustang or a Camaro), that I think most people are still shying away from taking them on. Quite frankly, you can't give them away right now!

Moving the dash back a few inches was part of the plan. Looking at most modern cars, the dash is way back in the cab compared to a MK2 and it would not hinder ingress/egress as no part of your body needs to get in right next to the door hinge. Given that the doors will be 8 inches longer helps a lot too. The other benefit of moving the dash back is that it would make room to install modern aftermarket A/C system and keep it nicely hidden out of the way. There just isn't enough room to do that with the stock car. Move the battery to the trunk, delete the heater box and you have a much cleaner and more spacious underhood area.

It is interesting to look at the proportions of my MK2 drawing next to the XK150. The MK2 has a much more bulbous rear end which in my opinion gives the car better 'Coupe' proportions. The XK150 looks a bit truncated (pun intended) at the rear which I think makes it a bit cab heavy. The 150 of course is definitely a sports car, whereas the MK2 Coupe would fit the GT category better.

 

Of course the XK 150 is body on chassis whereas the Mk2 family are monocoque.

 

I'm not that good at Photoshop, but maybe if Ian Callum had done one?

 

I think that is a pretty good effort. All that disturbs my eye is the B pillar angle above the waist & I would cut the rear NDV (quarterlight) further into the C pillar & thus slim down the C pillar.

 

Custom S Type Coupe.

 

To me one of the most successful mods ever done to the compact Jags was the one-off Radford Convertible 420 (recently restored I understand)

 

I agree Glyn and if you look at the profile of the XK150 they have achieved this.
The modified S Type coupe though I think makes a hansom car in to a pig. If they had put a little more work in to the rear windows ie made it one piece, not the hashed it up into two pieces I think it might have been good.
The next Coupe in line that I think Jaguar got spot on was the XJC and on this one they had the one piece rear window which wound down to give it the pillarless coupe look which I love. Avon-Stevens also made 11 convertibles (not Jaguar factory models) but I do not think they thought through the hood storage correctly as when the top is down you have this great big lump sat on the rear parcel shelf.

 

I agree on the S-Type. The rear side window treatment just destroys the car. I am not a convertible fan, but the Radford looks good with the top up, a hint of what a good coupe would look like. I do love the XJC, but cutting the top of of that is just sacrilege. There are very few cars that in my opinion look better without a roof. The E-Type is definitely one of them, although I have grown to like the fixed head coupe, I still don't care for the 2+2. The XJS is nice as a convertible, but still better with a roof. I also have fantasized about making a Jensen Interceptor Coupe. I love the idea of the car, but always struggled with the bulbous rear windows. Jensen made a handful of coupes later in the model range, but it was hideous. To make a successful coupe, you really have to abandon the idea of rear passenger headroom.

 

I agree with both. The S Type rear window treatment is a disaster. Could have been so much better as a single element.

The XJC being pillarless is gorgeous. My daily driver is a pillarless Merc Coupe. Love 'em.

The Aston DB6 achieved reasonable rear headroom but that required a Kamm tail & rear seats are really for kids.

The Radford 420 with a tin top would have worked well.

 

Here is the Coupe. I would say 'So far' but I don't think I am going to continue.

 

That looks ok, it might be worth looking at possibly straighening the top of the B pillar as suggested above, I wouldn't give up with it after all this work, it will certainly be a unique one of a kind when finished. Of course if you have had enought you could always ship it over to me in the UK, I wouldn't mind at all!

 

Here's my one

 

I'll be heading out to the shop with the sawsall and the plasma tomorrow. None of the scrap guys will take it because it has no wheels and can't be rolled. Shame, because it is a rust free car, but I am done with it.

 

Looks great & the colour just works! Congrats.

 

its called on XK 150

 

Already been there but at least it will look better than an Aristocat kit. From the side they look OK but from the front they are all out of proportion which is the difference I suppose to trying to convert a Mk2 to a Coupe. From the front it will look good but from the side it will be a Mk2 but all out of proportion.

I appreciate everyone has their own opinion which is why we have a discussion forum where we can all express our views. Some will say that the cost of the XK150 is too high for their pocket. On carandclassic some are for sale at £150k to £195k but note these are for sale not sold. Others are for as little as £23,289 but need some work. My view is if you want a Jaguar coupe buy an XK150 for £30k spend £20k on a restoration doing the work yourself. In the end have a car worth £100k and save yourself money because the amount you are ploughing in to the Mk2 coupe project is being wasted. After the initial purchase cost of the Mk2, all the hours put in to it which are likely to be double that you would in to an XK150 restoration, all the money being spent on the parts which are not standard and therefore cost more and you will find you will have spent as much on this project as you would on an XK150 restoration. Problem is the resale cost of the Mk2 Coupe will be a fraction of the original XK150 restored.
Yes the Mk2 Coupe will turn heads but a lot of enthusiast will be turning their heads away from it saying "WTF" especially if it is not done properly whereas everyone, petrol head or not, will turn to see an XK150 in awe.
Just my opinion.