1952 XK120 silver Coupe in Kansas City and 1954 XK120 red Roadster (was told this one had been used in a race) in Phoenix

The two jags have been in family for decades and have not been driven for decades. They have both been in storage (protected from elements). Previous owner recently died. Trying to help new owner figure out next steps to sell. Any and all thoughts and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. We have new titles but also were able to get DMV to give us back originals showing long term history in family.

For example, not sure if we should wash/clean them up or not... not sure best way to not damage finish, etc. Will wait to post photos until we figure out how much cleaning we should do and if that would actually reduce value (like with paintings).

Not sure if anyone knows about Corvettes as well, but we have a 1991 red Tudor, family member was original owner, it has very few miles and has not been driven for quite a while. Thoughts on whether or not to tune it / fix it up before selling would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

 

Hello,
Someone will be along shortly to direct you correctly.
Welcome to the forums from ElinorB.
(';')

 

Welcome to the forums Help2JAGS,

Don't bother to do anything to them - so called 'barn finds' are eagerly sought by collectors around the World. Collect as much history/paperwork as possible to verify provenance and contact one the major specialist vehicle auction houses to value and handle the sale.

Graham

 

Welcome to the Forums.

Graham has nailed that advice 100%, he deserves a drink or 3,

Good luck,

 

Welcome aboard.

 

welcome to the forum - enjoy!!!

 

Thank you so much, Graham!

 

Thank you, Grant!

 

Welcome to Jaguar Forums Help2JAGS,

Good to have you with us.
Enjoy the forum.

If you haven't done so already you should add your car details to your signature to help others to help you.
If you need help with getting around and using the forum follow this link for some help Forum Help

 

Welcome to the forums.

 

Thanks! I think I have added details to signature, at least I hope it worked

 

A follow-up question might be "Which auction house?" I've only been to a Mecum auction in Dallas and familiar with the car auctions commonly televised on TV. Those seem to be geared toward muscle car and hot rods. My uncle took an XK120 to Scottsdale many years ago before they were televised and was disappointed with his sale price. I've only seen a handful of high-end collector car auctions on TV, just little snippets of them on other programs like Chasing Classic Cars, but they appear to be totally different. For one thing the auctioneers don't chant. But I think it would be key that the auction should be able to attract several antique Jaguar collectors who know what they are bidding on and not just a few muscle car collectors bidding for something different on a whim. (Wish I had room, but adding the space would cost more than the car).

 

Thank, Phil!

I added three new posts, one in the XK120 section, one in the Southwest Region and one in the Midwest region asking if anyone could recommend an auction house that would take undrivable cars. The cars used to be driven but for whatever reason were put into storage and have not been driven for so long they probably would not work and/or it would damage the engine to drive without first cleaning it up, etc. Unfortunately I haven't had any response on any of those posts.

We contacted the the auction house in Scottsdale and they said the car has be be able to be driven for them to accept it.

 

UPDATE: as a result of my originals posts here a fellow member who lives in the Phoenix area reached out and has provided so much help it's unbelievable! He spent 3-4 hours going over the car, helping to educate me and letting me know what info I needed to provide the bidders. I won't say his name as he might want to remain anonymous, but we can't thank him enough. What a great site and community you have here that would help a newbie like me find so much help. Thanks so much!

In case you want to see the car that we got so much help with, the Phoenix area XK120 M(SE) Roadster is currently in auction on BaT (Ends Monday, 10/31 at 1:20 pm EST, 10:20am PST/MST: 55-Years-Family-Owned 1954 Jaguar XK120 SE Roadster Project for sale on BaT Auctions - ending October 31 (Lot #89,153) | Bring a Trailer

 

ENGINE update - This ENGINE TURNS AND THE PISTONS MOVE FREELY!!! Watch the video ( ) where Jaguar Forum member RM9700 offered his amazing help to teach me what I needed to know in order to auction the car. AND HE ALSO removed the spark plugs, added some oil, waited for a while and was able to turn the engine and note that the pistons moved freely and there was not water in the plug compartment or in the oil! YAY! How amazing is that considering it was parked, not driven and not started after 1969? That’s 53 years! And, considering that the car was fairly young when my brother bought it in Oct 1962 and it had a replacement engine and he only drove it recreationally, I’m guessing this engine has very few miles on it. And the engine was working perfectly when it was parked. The vandalism was only to the exterior of the car. This engine PURRRRS. My sister-in-law loved the roaring, rumbling, purring sound it made and said “No wonder it’s called a Jaguar! There is no other experience like it.”

Oh, and remember that amazing aluminum body XK120 that sold for 121K last month, well the winner of that beauty is also bidding on this car. YAY!! Here's the link to the auction if you want to watch or even better, bid. It ends in less than 24 hours (Monday 10/31 at 1:20PM EST).