There’s simply nothing as exciting as digging up a long-abandoned car, and the story for this Jaguar is a perfect example of a car that’s been long forgotten. The ad for this four-door, which can be found here on craigslist, contains a statement from the seller claiming that he found it on a piece of property that he had recently acquired, located in Woodland, Mississippi. Barn find stories rarely get better than this!
If I had to guess, I would say that this car is one of many that was subject to a halted restoration many years ago, as indicated by the half-finished body work and other removed pieces like the front grill and headlights. There are no underbody shots, but the body panels that we can see present decently, with minimal areas of major rust to speak of. According to car-nection.com, the wire wheels and rear fender spats (shown in a separate image) were options for the Jaguar, indicating that this car could possibly be a higher end model. Unfortunately, the front bumper, grill, headlights, and fog lights are missing with no indication from the seller that they will be included with the car. As a bonus, all glass appears to be present and unbroken.
Jaguar MKII’s came equipped with either a 2.4-liter, 3.4-liter or 3.8-liter inline six with power outputs of 120 bhp, 210 bhp, and 220 bhp respectively (thanks again to car-nection.com for those numbers). Of the three, the 3.4-liter and 3.8-liter displacements were by far the most common in the states. There’s a claim on Wikipedia that the 3.4-liter and 3.8-liter models were equipped with twin SU HD6 carburetors while the 2.4-liter models came with twin Solex carburetors. If this is true and my eyes don’t deceive me, I believe we’re seeing two SU HD6 carburetors confirming the likelihood of higher displacements. While there are certainly some pieces missing under the hood like the air cleaner and plug wires, if the motor turns over (the seller makes no mention on if the engine is seized), it looks far from unsalvageable.
Unfortunately, the interior is a bit worse for wear. The door card on the passenger side is falling off, the center console is missing, and the dash is cracked, just to name a few issues. Despite this, I think that these cars have a very cool dash layout and the rocker switches are timeless. This car appears to be a four-speed manual, far more common in these cars than the optional automatic transmission.
As you can imagine, there is no title included and the seller says that he would be willing to sell parts off the car. The seller also says that they will consider “any fair offer” for this Jaguar. According to Hagerty, this values for the MKII range from $15k for a fair condition car, $24k for one in good condition, and $38k in excellent condition. Despite the many unknowns, what do you think this MK2 is worth? Would you restore it or part it out?
apparently sold…
I think someone might have just bought themselves a rustbucket.
Tyler, if I recall correctly, the US market Mk IIs came with the 3.8 as standard equipment.
Craigslist has removed the ad and the writer of this vehicle didn’t state how much the seller was asking for the Jag. This is frustrating to the the reader and could be easily fixed IF the writer would include the asking price somewhere in the last paragraph.
I would call Jaguar Heaven in Stockton,Ca and tell them you have a 1963 Jaguar MKII you want to sell. Go on take the money and run.
I have messed with these since the 1960,s This car and $24,000 would be an uncompleted project. Not much of a parts car; no nice body panels, no interior, and no good chrome trim.
Known to be rust prone, I’d have had a really good look at the undersides of this car before purchasing. Minimal salvageable parts. Plus, you gotta move it. Maybe a $1000.00 car. Pass.
there is an offering here locally for a pair of Mk2’s for $3k. You might could build one out of the two with some effort. With no title, this is a $500 car…maybe $1000 as waynard suggests at best.
Best thing to do would be restomod it and drop in a 350 Chevy V-8 and Turbo
350 tranny. Did that in ’72, but I ‘m too
old to do it now. Since this one is located
in the deep South, I’m sure that it was parked for good after something simple
broke or stopped working. Mechanics
there are ill-equipped and have no training when it comes to fixing a foreign
car. If it didn’t say Ford, Chevy, or Mopar,
they wouldn’t touch a car like this. Add
the fact that replacement parts were non
existant when this car was parked, and
this is what you’re left with. Hopefully,
some guy will come along with deep
pockets to save and restore it.
What’s it worth? What is scrap metal going for today? There is your answer.
Parts car. As for those who would say “drop in a Chevy”, bear in mind that the Jag engine being the only part worth much here.
The switches on this car may be “timeless” but they sure aren’t “rocker switches”, they’re toggle switches.
They’re nice cars. I think that a scruffy Mk 2 is a cool thing; saw one a while ago that was painted flat dark green, no bumpers, body-coloured wire wheels – and being driven spiritedly. I’d do that sort of thing to it.
Even if the engine’s seized, there’s fairly good parts availability I think.
These were ENTHUSIASTICALL and SUCCESSFULLY raced until the Cortinas, then the 427 Galaxies turned up The world is covered with cheap XJ6’s for parts to make a fun vintage racer, as for it’s parts, the mechanicals are desired for those restoring them and aren’t cheap! A fellow in Calif just parted a MK-1 and sold everything but the tyres for a good profit! he asked $250 for the hood!
Looking at the carbs and the modified dash equipment; plus the V12 engine I would put money on this being a race tuned kit. If ‘bored and stroked could give a healthy 400BHP. All MkII’s had hand built bodies so mods were not uncommon. I suggest a call to ‘VICARAGE MOTORS (UK)’. They are probably the world’s leading Jag restorers. If they don’t wish aquire it to fix they may have interesting info on its history [give the vin and engine no’s] Its a true ‘Diamond’ find.