Every project has a starting point – this much is true. And while the beauty of projects is that they allow you to put your own stamp on things, it may sometimes be years before you get to enjoy them. I suspect the next owner of this 1959 Jaguar XK150 project will have to set their expectations reasonably low for when they will simply jump in and twist the key. The car is in pieces at the moment, and you can check it out here on eBay with a Buy-It-Now of $20,234.
The reason for the slightly wonky dollar figure is because the Jaguar is in Canada, Toronto to be specific. This is an original 3.4L roadster that shockingly retains its numbers-matching powerplant, but the seller notes the car largely exists in boxes outside of the actual body parts seen here. And speaking of, how daunting does the cosmetic restoration appear to be? For anyone with a project taking up space in the garage, this should make you feel better about your prospects.
The seller doesn’t shy away from this fact, allowing that this is a heavier lift than some other XK projects. However, what he points to is the relative lack of numbers matching projects and the potential value proposition if you can restore it without losing your shirt – but can you? I can see the DIY bodywork expert potentially making the numbers work on this tired XK150, but anyone relying on a bodyshop would be upside down pretty fast.
Curiously, some new parts are evidently included, such as this seat cushion that has obviously been recovered at some point. This is a trap for many project owners, I feel – spending money in areas that won’t be touched for years on the car, but at least being able to mark it down as progress. I do the exact same thing. Anyways, does the fact that the numbers match make this battered XK150 a potential restoration project, or is it destined for being parted out box-by-box?
This “project” may have already seen it’s endpoint…
This might be feasible for someone if you pull decimal point one place to the left in the asking price. It will take deep pockets, ambition and time if it is possible for this project to come to fruition at all.
That’s not a basket case that’s a basket case !
Or perhaps a casket case.
Well said Tom. That first photo says it all…..isn’t that how they take the dead body out, completely covered and hauled away on a wheeled dolly of sorts. Just sayin. Someone needs to call the time of dead on this one!
First time I ever saw a blue body bag.
The only way that photo presentation could be worse is if they took the pics at night. In a storm. Drunker. For a $20k ask that’s a pretty poor pitch in my opinion.
And yes restorable for $ure!
There are a ton of super lazy sellers out there that can not, will not lift a finger to make their junk pile more presentable. They get what they deserve and snickered at when they try for a grand slam home run on their asking price.
Believe it or not, if this were a 150S one could afford to put $100K into it without being upside down. However the same is not true for a plain 150 as is this one. Strangely, the seller asks $20K and doesn’t even clear away the snow from this one. Obviously it was uncared about for years, then all of a sudden it’s a gem.
Speaking as one from the Toronto area if this has seen some of our Canadian winters forget it. The amount of salt they use up here is deadly. The winter roads motto seems to be ” if it doesn’t move salt it, if it does salt it twice!”
“Do it yourself body work”? If you are that good, you have plenty of more rewarding work to do, and have enough money to buy any Jaguar you want. This is an origami project where you fold large checks into any shape you want.
Saying that this is a “matching numbers” car to infer “value” is like looking at a decaying body and saying, look, it has “matching limbs”…
This thing reminds me of a Corvair I looked at. Freshly painted wheels! Cool! Ragtop installed. Neat! Engine… Who knows!? 😳
Why do people spend money on seat cushions while the shell still requires 1000 hours of rust repair?
A good quality restoration will exceed $150,000, what will the value be at that point? Consider that the block is badly cracked, may not be useable so now it’s no longer matching numbers.
RUSToration!
Cherry, these go for 120K+.
Delusional!
When you see a pile of crap being sold for $27k and the seller can’t be bothered to bark up the irrational exuberance to resemble the price with requisite pictures we are assured that the seller is merely a speculator grasping at straw for greater fools.
Speculators with extra irrational exuberance at least talk a good game sometimes but this seller can’t be bothered because he is merely throwing this out as a speculative investment thinking that someone out there will bite hook, line, & sinker.
The seller is a car troll.
Bob
Here’s another guy living under a rock these have been iconic for decades yet this Canuck leaves his sitting out in the elements. Did he not hear at any point over the last 20 years about there collectibility. This is yet another example of a restoration that will test the metal of any restorer be it a pro or a DIY guy. And if your a DIY guy you better have lots of resolve and ambition, and be young enough to enjoy it when your done. What a waste.
Is there a car in any of those pics?
If this is the car I think it is my friend and I went and saw this car in 1979 and the owner wanted $500 for it. The car was (and by the pictures still is) behind a hanger at the London, Ontario airport and looked the same 40 years ago as it does now, including the recovered seats. I’m thinking that the owner when we saw it has passed on and it was left to a family member who has no interest in it and is now trying to sell it. It’s also possible that the family didn’t know about it until the airport tracked down the family to have it removed.
Interesting airport story. Rick T. Certainly more than one person has seen this Jag sitting there over the years then. As far as >>why<< restore small components instead of working/preserving the body — I personally took a car off someone's hands after helping them purchase and delivered it to their house. They had Asperger's syndrome, high on the autistic spectrum. A week in, they had torn any loose parts off along with ripping the interior/carpet/door cards/insulation out, eager to start their "restoration." But farmed the carburetors out for a rebuild. When I took possession of the car only a month later it was in far worse shape, nothing left for patterns of the interior, but guess what!!??? I had newly rebuilt carbs to go with the shell! I'd love me an XK150, but the sight of that rust through above the right rear fender tells me this one will not give anyone any pleasure.