my Eleventh Jaguar - the latest barn find!

[MPoon]

I just picked this restoration project up out of the middle of nowhere in Canada.
I was literally driving by this house, asked for directions and by chance noticed something under the tarp. Lucky for me it was a 1957 Jaguar Mark 1 3.4 still with its original owner who is now 92 years old! He had kept it since the 1980s unused in the barn for sentimental reasons. It's amazing the car originated from central Canada where the roads are heavily salted and the winters are long and cold. I'm surprised it isn't full of rust!
I'm still not sure what to do with it, start a restoration or part it out? Amazingly, I just got it running with a fresh battery, fresh fluids/oil. For a car stored for 30 years half-exposed to the elements, I'd say that is pretty amazing - even the brakes work (barely - but they are not seized).

MP

[MPoon]

check out that gorgeous layer of dirt!

[ATTAK Z]

Lots of work there

What's the other car ?

[williamp]

lovely. As to what to do, well its your car so do with it as you choose. I would say restore, but I always want to see cars restored rather then broken

[MPoon]

williamp said:

lovely. As to what to do, well its your car so do with it as you choose. I would say restore, but I always want to see cars restored rather then broken

It is not quite a tragedy to break them. That way it helps keeps the rest of the Mark1's stay on the road. It is looking like it will be a very costly restoration.

I have an E-type, and I'd rather sink some money into that car.

[Chunkychucky]

3.4 Mark 1, gorgeous... Would love one in BRG with BRG wires and a decent fast road engine..

[twazzock]

Do what is necessary for an MOT then roll as is

[MPoon]

twazzock said:

Do what is necessary for an MOT then roll as is

It doesn't need an MOT. The car is in BC, Canada... and as long as it has previously been registered in the province, there is no such thing as MOT. :-) that's how safe we are :P

[twazzock]

MPoon said:

It doesn't need an MOT. The car is in BC, Canada... and as long as it has previously been registered in the province, there is no such thing as MOT. :-) that's how safe we are :P

Then it's ready for the road

[MPoon]

i don't want to die yet! haha

[Downton Mini]

You can not seriously be considering breaking such an original car???

[MPoon]

Downton Mini said:

You can not seriously be considering breaking such an original car???

why not?
It will make me some money to fund my E-type respray.
the cost to restore this Mk1 is way beyond what is economical.

[paulrussell]

Give it a good clean then sell it. I can't understand why you'd even consider breaking it, as it's in good condition considering how long it's been in the barn.

[Jamirecluse]

Can't beat a barn find.
I consider myself lucky if I see an 80's/90's sitting on someones driveway,so I bet it's pretty cool to come across something like this.

[Xenocide]

Wow how did that go down then? Just ask him if he wanted to sell it? Please tell the story!

[danyeates]

Can't understand buying a brand new car and letting it rot! Madness. If it's a one owner original car, surely it has to be restored.

[Streps]

I'm sure someone would love to restore it.
It's made it this far.. bit of a shame to break it.

[Egg Chaser]

Please don't sell it in parts Sure, it may be worth more in parts, and it may not make financial sense to restore it, but a car as beautiful as that deserves to be restored and live on. Even if you're not willing to restore it, but there will undoubtedly be someone who will be.

Great find, though.

[williamp]

MPoon said:

williamp said:

lovely. As to what to do, well its your car so do with it as you choose. I would say restore, but I always want to see cars restored rather then broken

It is not quite a tragedy to break them. That way it helps keeps the rest of the Mark1's stay on the road. It is looking like it will be a very costly restoration.

I have an E-type, and I'd rather sink some money into that car.

Oh absolutely. Its why I'm a real hypocrite. I dont like seeing any cars broken, yet when I owned the Aston there were parts which were unavailable, and could only come from broken cars- so these cars are broken to keep other on the road. I was happy with this, as it kept my car going...

[MPoon]

danyeates said:

Can't understand buying a brand new car and letting it rot! Madness. If it's a one owner original car, surely it has to be restored.

If you had read my story then you will have known the car was laid up to rot in the 1980's, not 1950's.
The owner was not a car enthusiast at all. He bought a new car every 15-20 years, in fact the rest of his garden contained his 1937 Ford, 1975 Ford Mustang, 1995 Ford Thunderbird, (all left to rot) and his latest car a 2009 Mercedes Benz C350. I guess if he makes it much longer the C350 will be laid up to rot sometime in 2025, but heck he's already 92!

MP