Jaguar MKII 1961
This Jaguar MKII has almost all extras available and is very well-equipped with a 3.8 litre engine and with an original factory air-condition. An additional highlight is the very rare colour -- opalescent bronze.
According to the Jaguar Daimler heritage-certificate this MKII car has two previous owners and spent most of its life in California.
I bought his MKII from in California, USA who is a British Car Collector.
This car had been equipped with almost all extras available in the early sixties.
3.8 litre 9:1 High compression engine, automatic gearbox, leather upholstery chrome in interior, Power steering, recycling seats, air conditioner with original Jaguar serial number, wire wheel, power steering, high ampere dynamo.
In general these cars were fitted with 42 ampere dynamos, but this one has a 48 ampere dynamo. Those days especially MKII`s like police cars had these dynamo’s fitted for the extra load. This car had a high voltage dynamo due to the air condition.
Bodywork
The body shell was given to Strahlfix in Ansbach, Germany, a specialized company for sandblasting of classic cars. First, they cleaned the car with ice pellets and then with glass powder. After complete cleaning, the body, an epoxy under coating was given.
Painting
The car was painted in original colour Opalescent Bronze. This colour was available only from 1959 – 1962. And it was very hard to find cars with this original colour as this colour was very unusual at that time. But today metallic brown became popular again and you find metallic brown on modern luxury cars.
Engine
The engine was given to a specialist, who had worked for Jaguar Germany and specialized in racing engines. The complete engine was rebuilt with high-quality performance parts and most of the aluminium items were buffed and polished.
Transmission
The original automatic transmission was sent to Whitehouse in UK for a complete overhaul. This company is specialised in rebuilding classic automatic transmissions.
Rear Axle
The rear axle was stripped and fitted with all new bearings, oil seals and refitted. This job was done by a specialist.
Suspension
The suspension was stripped, sandblasted and repainted. All rubbers were replaced with poly-bushes and fitted with Koni shock absorbers to the rear and front.
Upholstery- Trimming
The seats were removed and the frames were cleaned by sandblasting and given an undercoating and repainted. All the interior has been renewed and the complete trim set came from “The Trim Center” in the UK. The original black colour remained as per the Jaguar Daimler heritage certificate. The door panels, side panels etc. where trimmed with leader.
Steering
We upgraded the steering with a later type Adwords type power steering box and fitted a 1000 psi pump instead of the 750 psi original pump.
Wood work
The dashboard wood was first given to the carpentry shop to remove all the parts and to re-glue the items after removing the veneer. The complete set was sent to the company “Puhane” in Strehle in Germany. This company is specialized in reconditioning car wooden parts.
Air Conditioner
The original Jaguar air conditioner with the serial no. 1006 was given to THERMOKING COOLING SYSTEMS in Wuerzburg for reconditioning. The compressor was replaced with a rotary unit for the smooth running of the engine.
Chrome
All the chrome parts were sent to ACF HOWELL in the UK for re-chroming.
Wheels
The original wire wheels were cleaned and fitted with a set of new Vredelstein tires in the original size to go with the original spats.
A new set of chrome wire wheels in 6.5 J, with genuine coomb spats, was purchased to go with a broader tyre size of 205 x 60 x 15” to give a better appearance.
Upgrades
The car is fitted with a 420 front suspension and the original suspension is kept in its original condition. Also, the brakes have been upgraded!
Other than this no other upgrades have been done. The car has been built up completely in original condition with original parts only.
This car has been restored to a very high standard by using original parts.
After 3 ½ years of restoration time, the car was ready to take for TÜV inspection in Germany.
As the car has been imported to Germany from the USA a complete survey had to be done by German TÜV to issue the new German registration papers. The inspector was thoroughly satisfied with the car and he was impressed with the work we have done.
Many photos are available to show the restoration steps.
Along with the car a set of manuals, MKII books and a Jaguar green cotton car cover will be delivered.
