Upper-end British automobiles have always been associated with wealth. Rolls-Royce, Range Rover, and Jaguar have always had a certain old-world money mystique to them. A mustard company picked up on this with their famous Grey Poupon commercial in 1981. While the cars depicted in this now hilarious commercial were Rolls-Royces, in today’s economy we will have to improvise to recreate this epic moment in time. If you want a suave British luxury car on a Yugo budget, then take a look at this 1963 Jaguar Mark X sedan for sale on Craigslist in Stewardsville, New Jersey. Offered for a mere $2,000, this portly Jaguar has spent 25 years in a garage and comes with a spare engine. After getting it back on the road, would you have enough left over for a jar of mustard? Thanks to Mitchell G. for the full-sized find!
As a young kid who had just barely achieved double digits in age in 1981, I remember the Grey Poupon commercial made a big impression on my friends and me. We would ride up to each other on our bicycles and, in our best snooty British accents, politely ask if they had any Grey Poupon. “But of course!” was the textbook answer, just like in the commercial. Of course, we had no idea what rich people were really like. For all we knew, rich people routinely rode around in Rolls-Royces eating a five-course meal, slathering their rare roast beef with Dijon mustard. Our mustard experiences were limited to generic or French’s yellow mustard. At the time there didn’t seem to be any real luxury mustard market.
Those commercials must have been successful beyond Grey Poupon’s wildest hopes. All of the adults added this stuff to their shopping lists. It wasn’t long before my grandfather instructed my grandmother to bring some home for us to try. It was definitely different from what we were used to, but it didn’t end up on every hot dog I ate from then on. It must have been more of an hors d’oeuvre thing. That was a big word for poor people, so it wasn’t added to our weekly shopping list. I’ll bet the executives of the Grey Poupon company were riding in Rolls Royces after that commercial took effect on the American populace. Every household bought a jar, even if it was a one-time thing.
So why all the Grey Poupon talk? Partly for nostalgic purposes and partly to draw parallels between upper-end British cars and luxury. In previous decades, American vehicles were known for being big cars with big V-8s under the hood, Japanese cars were seen as slightly strange but hi-tech and reliable, German cars for precision engineering, Italian cars for going fast and breaking down, French cars for being next level weird, and British cars had that old school leather and wood finely crafted air about them. This Jaguar personifies all of that. The styling is at once elegant and dignified. The interior is soaked in fine leather, polished wood, and plush carpeting, and Jaguar’s engines were noted for their smoothness. In deference to our British car-loving readers, I will not discuss Lucas electrical systems.
The ad doesn’t tell us a lot about this 1963 Jaguar. All we know is that it has been stored in a garage for 25 years and it comes with a spare motor. While some spots are rough around the edges, such as the interior, the car seems to be in great physical shape for a British car from New Jersey. The pictures reveal a few dents and scrapes here and there but no rust is evident. As long as there is no engine damage and the automatic transmission is not damaged from sitting so long, one could reasonably suspect that it could be returned to the road with little fuss.
Powered by the same inline six from the famed E-Type sports car, these were fairly sophisticated vehicles for the day. The car marked Jaguar’s shift to unibody construction and four-headlight front-end styling. Jaguar hoped to compete with high-end makers at a lower cost. They were somewhat successful at this, but sales figures never met the company’s lofty expectations.
As a whole, this is an interesting car that is worth a look with the $2,000 asking price. It would be a cool car to fix up and cruise around in asking cars you pull up to if they have any Grey Poupon. If that didn’t work out, then perhaps parting it out would return your investment. Seems like that would be a shame for such a nice car. Hopefully, it finds a good home.
Do you remember the Grey Poupon commercial? Would you take a chance on a $2,000 Jaguar? Please share your memories and opinion in the comments.
Great write-up, Jeff. I quite enjoyed the talk of your swanky mustard-influenced youth and the small piece of Poupon history – I had no idea the Grey Poupon advert did so well.
I just love these old Jags (main reason I started watching Inspector Morse) but with only 4 mediocre pics I can only imagine the horrible sights we’d see underneath. At least it’s cheap.
Gulden’s Spicy Brown was definitely around in 1981 and still gives the Poupon stuff a run for its money.
My mother, a child of the Great Depression, was fully aware that a quality ham sandwich or hot dog required something more than weak yellow mustard, 5 or 10 cents be damned.
The car? At that price, why not? Unless it’s rusted. I’ll never buy rust.
Is this thread going to be about mustard or a Jaguar?
Funny, I’ve been shopping for a Mark X for about two years. No one in America is probably looking to buy one of these, but they are very hard to find. The 420 and 420G’s look very similar and are alot more common to find for sale.
Last fall I found a Mark X for sale in a junkyard. The interior was a wreck and all the exterior pieces were in the trunk. I asked the junk man what the story was. He said an old man was restoring it and just had it painted and then died. The next week the family dumped it in the junkyard.
I have a 1966 mark X for sale,720 218 9372 Denver colo 15k original miles ,runs,$5k call me please,thanks Al ,no rust,blue color,2 owner,was stored inside,
If anyone likes old Mark X’s, there’s a very cool black and white video on youtube about them. It’s a factory Jaguar test video that shows the car going through developnent, refinement, and long distance road testing. It’s very interesting to watch..
I will never ever own another Jaguar – while ol’ Bill Lyons managed to capture some of the appearance and mystique of a Bentley or Rolls, he sure missed the quality mark by quite a bit. Talk to anyone who’s taken apart both a Rolls and a Bentley and ask them about just how cheaply built the Jag is under the surface – it’s a wonder they never run properly for any length of time!
really Brakeservo – I (or my Father) have had a total of 21 Jags over the years. I still have seven. My 85 XJ6 I have 284k on it (daily driver from 1993 till 2016) and my 69 2+2 E Type I have 268k (daily driver from 1975 till 1993). The 95 XJS 4.0 has just shy of 200k. As on the other four, Jaguar components I have never had an issue. Ok, I’ll take that back…the 65 Limo has a brake booster problem. But it only has 53k on it so NOT being driven is what I would blame that issue on. On the early (59 Mk2’s) yes there is rust. But that comes from where both cars came from (one from Maine, the other from Ohio), not the quality of the build. So not real sure what your talking about from a quality standpoint
I was in Dijon recently, with a team racing a 1966 MGB, when I tried to buy some Dijon mustard there was none! the seeds are/were grown in Ukraine………..who knew!
You have to be in the presence of a Mark X/ 420 G to comprehend just how big they are. But there’s a certain lithe grace to its bulk. The triple carb E Type 6 moves it well, the later 4.2 more so, in spite of the inefficient automatic. But it’s still a ponderous beast, meant for an owner who had a driver.
One has an appearance in Seven Days in May as Burt Lancaster’s character’s staff car.
It’s very difficult to find a good example of a Mark X or 420G as most seem to be unloved and have fallen into disrepair. There’s very little market for these big sedans, but they are superb cars when put right. The cost to bring this back probably doesn’t bear thinking about. But if you want it, go for it and have some fun getting it back on the road. Perfect for a do-it-yourself type of person who just wants to get it drivable. But depending on where you live, too much rust may make registration/inspection impossible.
Would make a great dragwar along the lines of roadkills dragwar. A blown small block etc.
huh ???
The Mk X was a big change from the Mk 7-8-9’s that were the larger version of the sporty Mk I and II. It had a more roomy interior and in profile looked a bit like the new Rolls Silver Shadow, and as noted above was very like the 420 and 420G, but for me it was somehow a bit too heavy and bulbous in appearance. However it was a good first step towards the very good looking and successful XJ6’s that followed.
The woodwork of this one looks to be in good shape, the upholstery will be more of a challenge with fossilized foam inside the leather.
In reference to the TV ads. To paraphrase the old Alka-Seltzer commercial: “I can’t believe I bought the whole car!”
While not the most beautiful girl in the room, these drive exceptionally well – surprisingly good handling, smooth and very quiet, decent power. The mk10 and it’s sister the 420G were very well built, much better than the rest of the line – fully rotodipped in primer, sound deadening everywhere, higher quality electrics, and were a true gentleman’s express. Hopefully this one isn’t too rusty.