The latest chapter in the “darnit, another old British car Jamie would love to own but can’t buy right now” book has been written by this 1950 Jaguar Mark V., located less than 100 miles away from me in a shop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It’s listed for sale here on craigslist and is priced at $6,500. Even with the surface rust and dust you can see the beautiful William Lyons-penned lines of this car.
The Mark V was introduced in 1949 as “A Brilliant New Jaguar” and “The Finest Car of it’s Class in the World.” I love the hyperbole in vintage advertising! The seller tells us that there is no major rust in the car and that the floors and frame are “good.” It certainly looks solid and may even be in it’s original paint. It also appears that all major trim components are there.
Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the factory tool kit. If you decide to replace the original tools with original tools, this will get expensive. On the other hand, I’ll bet you could replace them with modern equivalents on a budget and not have to worry about damaging them.
Here’s where restoring a car like this gets very expensive — the interior. Basically, if you aren’t willing to try to restore the wood yourself the cost will quickly put you upside down. Same with the interior. I realize this will curdle the milk of some aficionados but perhaps fabric or vinyl would be possible, fabric especially if you want to drive the car on hot days.
Although there are no pictures of it, the car is still equipped with the 3.5 liter (the “large” engine) that it left the factory with. Trivia time: anyone else know that Jaguar purchased the rights to that engine (and it’s smaller 2.5 liter sibling) from Standard Motor Company, the eventual owners of Triumph? Would you consider it a triumph to return home with this Jaguar in tow like I would? Let us know in the comments below.
Nothing is more expensive than a cheap Jag.
And everything that falls off of it was built by the finest of British craftsmen.
Allegedly, Leno, when asked why British cars answered, “Because I like to feel needed.”
If you’re not willing to do it right with this car, you have no business buying it. Fabric? Vinyl? Just buy a an old XJ6 and have at it.
Sorry, but some enthusiasts would like to have the car but their budgets might not correspond with their tastes. I’d much rather have someone get it back on the road, possibly aspiring to a “proper” interior later than have the car sit 20 more years waiting on someone with your budget.
I understand your point, Jamie. I worry (admititly, not much) that it would prompt someone to put a SBC while waiting to do it right. I’d love it, too, and it would be sitting in my garage for 20 years before I could properly do it – my budget ain’t that big. But I could sit in a lawn chair with a cold one and stare at it all day long!
I never realized how much these look like the 1933 Pierce Arrow silver arrow.
I agree. Headlights, trunk, skirts, suicide doors,and grill shape, to list a few similarities. But then again, all cars resemble each other in some ways.
Have you seen a Pierce Silver Arrow up close? From the back both cars are night and day. The Silver Arrow used a beautiful fluted slit for it’s back window and no bustle-back trunk. Of course, in the tradition of Pierce Arrow the headlights were molded into the fender fairings. Those fenders flowed into the front suicide doors and beyond predating all the other manufacturers by a dozen years. The front fenders also hid a spare tire under panels instead of sidemounts. So, I agree with Wayne, I don’t see the resemblance really at all.
Looks like a Pierce Arrow? Apart from the fact it’s got two headlights, glass windows and steel body and rubber tyres, I think that’s were the similarity ends.
When I was 13 years old (66 years ago) I used to ride my bike 4 to 5 miles away from my home to wash and vacuum an older gentlemans Jag Mk 4 and received the princely sum of 3 shillings for doing so. The cherry on the top was that he would then load my bike into the boot and drive me home. You can imagine the amount of envious looks that I got from my friends and the neighbourhood adults, including my Dad. About a year later he bought a Mk 5 Jag, which was much easier to clean, but the job came to an end as his sister was killed in the last De Havilland Comet air crash off the island of Elba. He told me that he was going over to Italy to arrange her funeral and I never heard from him again. Great times.
To me, Mark V’s are tweeners. The Mark IV looks far more elegant, while its succesors, the Mark VII-IXs, offer the advanced Jag 6 cylinder (similar ro E-type), a more refined body style and a lot nicer features.
IMO this one is close to parts car. It will be$30K materials with your own labor just to get this one decent, not great. For example, that wood looks like toast. Refinshing good wood alone is 3-4K let alone dead wood.
I think the Mark V is one of the prettiest sedans ever!
Looked at buying a Mark 5 in England in 1982. It was a hard top, a pinkish champagne color, beautiful car. I believe he was asking 2500 to 4000 Pounds. I would have loved to have it to resell, but whats it like to get parts compared with a 1967 3.4 S type or a 1967 Daimler Sovereign 4.2,
which is what we bought to ship to the States and resell.
Seats: go new leather on the front anyway, as the rear looks not too bad.
They could distress the red new leather to match the rear.
The ruptured look could be covered by a mat of new leather and held in pace by ties going through the seat join.
Good find someone.
I always wanted to take a Mk5 and drop the body on a 61 Mk9 chassis. 3.8, disk brakes, the ultimate Mk…
Here is yourr golden oportunity Jagman
Peter, if I didn’t have 10 projects in front of it I’d be tempted. As it is, I am thankful it is 3/4 of a country away…
And notice the treatment of the rear door window – same curve carried forward in Jag’s until recently – over 60 years. Copied by Chrysler in the 90’s, in one of Mopar’s best looking sedans of the late 20th Century. Restored to Concours condition it would cost far more than you could ever sell it for, now or in the future, but “fixed up” so you could take it to cars and coffee events, it would be fun.
Enough said ( :