Europe is famous for many things, but they stand apart from their peers for the car community’s love of shooting brakes. You might call it a wagon, but in the case of a one-of-two Jaguar XK150 converted to an estate-style body, it’s referred to as the “Foxbat.” This may be one of my favorite names for a car model of all time, made even better by being one of the more sought after vintage Jaguar models converted into a wagon-style body complete with wood framing. In general, one-off conversions of popular sports cars into wagon configurations seemingly remains unique to European countries and the Middle East, and this Jaguar spent much of its life in France before ending up here on Classic & Sports Car and listed by a dealer in Kent.
Some of the more well-documented custom wagons ended up in the collections of sultans and kings, and other individuals with so much excess capital they’re able to convince major automotive manufacturers to build them their own car. We’ve seen Aston Martins and Porsche 944s, along with the BMW E23-chassis 7-Series, given the wagon treatment by the factory and major styling houses, but the Foxbat is purportedly the brainchild of one Geoffrey Stevens who desired to have a more convenient way to travel with his wife and their two dogs, using a rusty XK150 and Morris Minor Traveler for the conversion. You can see how they lifted the wagon body right out of the donor Morris and dropped it into the space where the trunk used to reside.
The interior remains in good shape, with black leather bucket seats wearing their age proudly. The seller doesn’t mention any rust or major bodywork issues, and the inner door jambs look sound. The dashboard doesn’t have wood trim, which is usually a staple of a Jaguar of this vintage, but what is there looks to be in good shape. Photos show plaques from various motorsports events around the UK mounted somewhere near the ceiling, which indicates one of the three previous owners was either a loyal competitor or spectator at amateur racing excursions. There’s a full backseat and nicely carpeted storage area behind it, but the backseat actually looks to have upholstery in worse shape than the front buckets – we’ll blame the dogs for that.
The 190 b.h.p. 3.4 liter six-cylinder remains in place and looks fairly tidy, and is paired to a manual gearbox. No details are offered on specific mechanical improvements or recent maintenance, but the seller does indicate it still runs well despite recently exiting from a French collection of other classic shooting brakes. I daily drive a wagon and have to say it is one of my all-time favorite vehicles for the convenience factor alone, but I would love to add a vintage wagon to my fleet. I’ve had my eye on a Peugeot 505 estate for a while, but if I stumbled across something like this, I’d grab it and never let go. What’s your favorite wagon-bodied classic?
The perfect car for the chaps to take part in an old English Fox hunt. The only other thing it needs is a compartment in the back to store brandy and some glasses.
I agree in your line of thinking, however there is one additional thing needed: A traditional English Foxhunt! A few years ago the entire UK made foxhunting illegal!
Rare?
To be sure.
Awkward looking?
Undeniably. From pretty much every angle of view.
I really like this conversion…leave it to the Brits
Call it a ute, wagon, foxbutt or whatever. Not to be negative but it looks like a really nice Jag crashed into a shed back first. I’m waiting for a lawnmower to roll out like the old spy hunter video game.
Reminds me of a Jag from the front and a Morris Minor ‘woody’ van from the rear, perhaps that’s what they used, who knows?
Still bloody ugly though.
Exactly
Just think of it as a British Nomad…
Sorta like Lawrence of Arabia.
You will need all the room to house the spare parts and mechanic when this atrocity breaks down, which will be often and expensive. I think this would be the perfect gift for my ex-mother-in-law. A useless, ugly, money draining parasite that should be avoided. Cheers.
Reminds me of the Jag E-type hearse featured in the 1971 film “Harold and Maude”.
https://petrolicious.com/articles/building-this-jaguar-e-type-hearse-was-quite-the-undertaking
I wouldrather have the E Type hearse than this XK 150 junk any day.
Interesting concept gone terribly wrong. Sacrificed two great cars for one misshapen monster…
I say old chap, your Jag appears knackered and should go to hospital.😮
I’m reminded of a Car and Driver description of the early BMW M Coupe – “Looks like the unholy union of a sausage and a shoebox.”
Apparently, the French don’t have the lock on stupid-looking automobiles.
See?
We really are all the same throughout the world. There are people on every continent that will take a nice classic car and convert it into a bastardized nightmare.
We Americans do not have a monopoly on this practice.
Put an LS, driveline then go have fun screwing with purists feeble minds
Just read that the Jaguar XK 150 (Foxbat) convertible that was crashed about 25 years ago, and was expected to sell on auction for about £15,000, actually sold today for £90,000.
Was Lady Di in the trunk ?
No, no, no!
luv most wagons and all i6 so got me on both fronts. Bein a late 50s or early 60s european almost puts it on top. The wood and RHD back that all down the list though. Pretty interesting. Like the one In “Harold’n Maud” movie a bit more tho (hearse).
My 1960 XK 150 S had the padded dash and no wood either. It was the most exciting car I ever owned, for the time, tremendous acceleration, got stopped once, had not exceeded the speed limit, but had far out accelerated the plain clothes State Trooper on coming onto an Interstate. He stopped me, no ticket, just to see what it was that would out accelerate his Ford Police Special.
It was 7 years old, and beat when I got it, and when it ran, it RAN, and the rest of the time it sat waiting for parts. Had a ’56 Chevy for reliability.
OK, I’m going to show my ignorance (nothing new there). What constitutes a “shooting brake”?
British for station wagon.
Nope, that would be “estate car”, when derived from a sedan/saloon platform.
“Shooting brake” refers to when a a sports car or coupe is modified to add a long, enclosed cargo area, similar to how a a sedan/saloon is modified into a wagon/estate variant.
The term derives from the horse-drawn carriage era, when a “brake” was a heavy-duty carriage frame used for transport of large/heavy cargo, and also to “break” horses and other livestock for drafting duty. This also led to the term “brake” for devices that slow down a vehicle or the act of slowing down (cf. also the usage “break a fall”), and the French term “break” for any wagon/estate car.
Those sturdy brake carriages were also used to transport hunting parties into rugged terrain, so when wealthy gentlemen later started having their sporting coupes modified to carry their dogs, long guns, and other provisions to a hunt, they came to be called a “shooting brake” by extension from the hunting-party brake carriages of yore.
They could’ve made a bit more of an effort with the roof…
Might’ve saved the looks a bit.
wow–that definitely puts the “U” in Ugly.
Like !
This srarted out as an OTS, open two seater, which did not have a wood dash. It appears that the rear fenders have not bern mangled. Given the asking price and assuming the sell price is even lower, I think there is the room to get a replacement boot lid, convertible hood frame, and restore this back to the 150 OTS as it started life. It will be much more dsireable and command a much higher price.
It is probably worth a lot, but I can’t say I like it. The two just don’t belong together.
Ralph