It’s hard to understand sellers who skimp on the details, especially when those facts are critical to buying decisions. For instance, take this all-original 1956 Jaguar MK VII for sale here on Craigslist in Fort Worth, Texas with an asking price of $3,400. These cars are gorgeous when done, but this one—to put it mildly—is very far from being done.
Restorations on Jags of this vintage are witheringly expensive, so the prospective purchaser is going to want to know as much as possible about the condition. And yet we get only a very skimpy description and although the photos are very good, there simply aren’t enough of them. Could we see if the veneer is peeling off the wood dash? The back seat? And, critically, the underside?
The first impression is dreadful since the surface of this once-white Mark VII is a roadmap of cracks and rust. But look closer and the car, despite sitting on flat tires, looks complete, and no rust-through is visually evident. The yellowish upholstery is separating on the passenger seat, but the driver’s bucket and the door cards (or, at least, the one you can see) are intact. There’s no carpet.
The famous Jaguar twin-cam motor is present and looks like it hasn’t been messed with, but with 88,000 miles it’s a big question mark. The owner says it’s a matching-numbers unit, as is the four-speed manual transmission—rare on these cars in the U.S. The Mark VII is a big, luxurious boat, produced by the Coventry-based company from 1951 to 1956. The ’54 to ’56 models are known as the Mark VII M and added some cosmetic improvements, such as modified bumpers and seats, larger taillights and new headlights.
The MK VII looks old as the hills now, and people often mistake it for a Rolls-Royce, but it was excitingly modern when it first appeared. It sat on the chassis of its even-more antiquated predecessor, the Mark V, but featured the new XK engine that—almost as an afterthought—was also used in the line of sports cars that began with the XK120. From the beginning, the Mk VII could reach 100 mph (not 120, the calling card of that XK car).
We can see enough of this Mk VII to know it’s a left-hand-drive version, as were most of them. This was the period of “export or die” for British auto manufacturers. Sales were 20,908 for the first series, and 10,061 for the improved M model. The owner says the car “will need complete restoration.” He adds “or restomod,” which is an option, I guess. In the period, people stuffed GM V-8s into them. My neighbor had an E-Type that had been desecrated in that manner. But Jaguars are lovely cars in their original form. There are “very nice original pieces on this car,” the owner says. Well, a picture of them would have been worth 1,000 words. “I just have too many other projects at the time,” he/she added. Too busy to take more pictures, I guess! So, would you take a chance with this English aristocrat, now down on its luck?
Select pictures means the rest is damaged.
The body is sweet with rear skirts💃🏼
I guess left or right hand drive ? Its a shame a lazy flipper skimps on pictures..
Pass
You can see the steering wheel on the left hand side in the third photo.
Dreadful rust buckets these were!
The fourth picture clearly show left hand drive.
We grew up on these. Although my father purchased a Hudson Hornet for his first car when he came here from Europe in 1950, being the car nut that he was, he had to get one of these. I believe it was a 56, with a 4 speed and sunroof. Gorgeous shade of blue with white inserts. The seats were done the same way. In 64, he reluctantly traded it in on a new Chevelle wagon. I believe sometime in 74, he acquired another one. We spent hours removing all of the paint and getting it down to bare metal. Dad could rebuild anything, to him, these cars were dependable as all get out. He sold the second one after the paint job started to peel. Really broke his heart. He was a Jag guy through and through. This one? Get it running, get it safe and drive it as it is.
I’m wondering if this is one of the cars that was in that huge Greenhouse find up. He possibly picked it up and then realized it’s too much of a project, and is trying to just move it on.
Wow! Tube chassis and a late model domestic V8 would be a much cheaper way to go. I like the front end on these and the distressed appearance works in some strange way.
I owned a mark V in the early 70’s. I was very impressed by the power of that 6 even in so large a car. The instrument lights were activated by an ultraviolet bulb under the dash lip. It was too expensive for me to maintain, let alone restore.
Wow. Great Patina.
Clear coat and go……😨
Or….just buff out the bigger rest spots and pump up the tires :-) :-)
sweet…bucket seats means its a 4 speed…
A ton of potential, but also a ton of work! Not to mention $. The price is right, although pics would be nice.
Unrelated, my kids tournament team practiced at a field all last year litterally 2 minutes from where this car is. Would’ve gone for a look if this was for sale 3 months ago…
I own a pristine Mark IX, the culmination of this design. This VII has been subject to unfathomable moisture as evidenced by engine pic. One can only imagine how bad other areas are.
You can buy a superb example for $40K – $50K, half of what it would cost to bring this one up to the same standard. “Me thinks this is now a parts car”.
Exactly.
This one is a parts car
Ayep- a purely mechanical restoration, replace the door and window seals and channels, and drive it as is, with a helpful coat or two of linseed oil.
This old gal earned her beautifully wabi-sabied tea set.
“…but this one—to put it mildly—is very far from being done.” I beg to differ. The only thing not “done” about this one is the completion of the final stages of its recycling process.
My in-laws had a Jaguar MK IX Saloon, do not recall the year.
The interior was absolutely demolished by their dog from the back of the front seats to the back shelf. Everything (wood, leather, everything)
was ripped, chewed and clawed to death. Maybe this is why there are no photos of the back seat on this one.
Rapple, I agree with you.
I knew someone back in the 70s who had one of these mounted on a Pontiac frame with the Pontiac running gear. It was functional and the interior was all Jag. That might be the way to go with this one. Mount the body on a Crown Vic or small pickup frame/running gear, give it a decent paint job and tidy up the interior. It’s not worth the huge cost to restore it as an original car.
A rust bucket and a Lucas refer case=stay away…MONEYPIT!
I WANT IT! but there wouldn’t be enough of my estate left after the divorce to even get it running. My sometimes understanding spouse of almost 54 years, who has put up with a 27 year TR3A restoration and four current British projects in various stages of completion, would have my head, and anything else of value, if this showed up in my driveway. I have always loved these and hope someone with equal love (and a LOT of money) saves this one. We do have a Jaguar saloon in the club that is beautifully resto-modded, the only giveaway is the gear selector inside and, of course, what now resides under the bonnet. Beautiful, reliable tourer and all the original bits have been retained for the next purist owner.
You can´t complain about price, entirely realistic. If the vendor is a “Flipper” – not a greedy one!
Whether restoring the car makes economic sense, is down to the buyer. Probably not, though if a person wanted to do a ground up concours rebuild on MkVII, there couldn´t be a better place to start (straight, complete. good spec, original and cheap). This could even be a race build, these cars have history in Carrera Panamericana for example, and race well at Goodwood.).
If not, helluva lot of parts for less than $3500.
Nah. Rat – Rod.
I first thought it was a Rolls. I saw a really nice Rolls on liveauction .com go for $4,000. I couldn,t believe it. If you checked it out. This would be lot of work and money tied up in this car and the saler should have taken more pictures and cleaned it up some.