Jaguar XK 150 S 3.8
Discussion
This may have turned up on another thread but I haven't spotted it so here goes. This car was offered for sale by Bonhams last Saturday with an estimate of £10/15,000. The story is that the owner lost control of the car on a wet day in 1996. Looking at the photos, how the steering wheel is bent and the state of the screen where his head hit it makes it surprising that he walked away. The car was transported home, put in the garage and forgotten until it has now emerged for sale.
The estimate of the value was either made by someone with absolutely no idea or more likely a "come and buy me" teaser. I'd like to believe the latter but I've seem quite a few howlers like this lately, including a lynx Eventer estimated at £25,000 that sold for more than double that. Whatever, the car was sold after fierce bidding for £90,000. Why, gasp, you might say? Because this is a very rare car, being the last of the XK range before the E-type, and only 2,672 "S" models were made, mostly in 3.4 form and again mostly in LHD. Only 89 were made in RHD and 3.8, making this highly desirable. Those with a keen eye for detail will notice the throttle rail is the same as an early E-type with triple carbs, (one is hidden on the right) and shows the origin of the E-type motor.
To my untrained eye, the damage looks severe enough but the door shut looks to be fine, so maybe the chassis isn't bent and the damage not as serious as first impression might give you to believe. Whatever, I searched for another to compare value and found not one similar car at all. A RHD 3.4roadster for £192,000, but not one convertible. Once restored, I would expect this car to fetch in the region of £200,000.
The estimate of the value was either made by someone with absolutely no idea or more likely a "come and buy me" teaser. I'd like to believe the latter but I've seem quite a few howlers like this lately, including a lynx Eventer estimated at £25,000 that sold for more than double that. Whatever, the car was sold after fierce bidding for £90,000. Why, gasp, you might say? Because this is a very rare car, being the last of the XK range before the E-type, and only 2,672 "S" models were made, mostly in 3.4 form and again mostly in LHD. Only 89 were made in RHD and 3.8, making this highly desirable. Those with a keen eye for detail will notice the throttle rail is the same as an early E-type with triple carbs, (one is hidden on the right) and shows the origin of the E-type motor.
To my untrained eye, the damage looks severe enough but the door shut looks to be fine, so maybe the chassis isn't bent and the damage not as serious as first impression might give you to believe. Whatever, I searched for another to compare value and found not one similar car at all. A RHD 3.4roadster for £192,000, but not one convertible. Once restored, I would expect this car to fetch in the region of £200,000.
Edited by lowdrag on Monday 24th May 12:56
Edited by lowdrag on Monday 24th May 13:17
threespires said:
Anorak mode warning!That's a OTS not a Drophead
It is most likely a 3.4S, I don't think many of the 3.8s were supplied without over drive. With the 3.8S OTS you could have a mechanical linkage for the overdrive, so you got a second, short stubby gear lever. At least one 3.4S OTS was returned to Jaguar when the 3.8S was released, the owner (boss of Pilkington) wasn't too happy not to have the most powerful version.A 3.8S XK150 DHC is rarer than rocking horse droppings. I don't have my books with me out in the office (and I'm too lazy to walk into the house to check) but IIRC there were only a handful of them. The XK Gazette ran a series telling the histories of all of them. Don't know what's happened to their values of late but I suspect there have been times when you couldn't write off one, they'd have been worth more than the rebuild costs.
Even more anorak mode
Tony, the throttle linkages might be the same but the inlet manifold is different, I think the E-Types duck down a fraction to keep the bonnet line low, but the E-Types inlet manifold fouls the steering column on a RHD XK150... Guess how I know
Shezbo said:
Due to rarity of the 3.8 S (in RHD especially) and the fact that there are now more RHD E-Types than were every made.....in UK
I think repaired and restored that would be a bargain @ £200k?
This one (now sold) was up for £365k. I think repaired and restored that would be a bargain @ £200k?
https://pendine.com/cars-for-sale/1960-jaguar-xk15...
tog said:
Lovely and I am not surprised by that price. Thanks.I suspect that car might be quite badly bent Tony. You can see that the castellated nuts on the front of the lower wishbones are now visible below the number plate which is not where they should be by some distance. Also the point of impact is on the o/s of centre so I wouldn't be surprised if the chassis was a bit lozenged as well. Definitely a case of taking a deep breath and dismantling to see what lurks within!
So what about this XK150 S 3.8. DHC with a guide of £80k - £110k?
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/JAGUAR/XK150-3.8-...
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/JAGUAR/XK150-3.8-...
lukeharding said:
So what about this XK150 S 3.8. DHC with a guide of £80k - £110k?
https://themarket.co.uk/listings/JAGUAR/XK150-3.8-...
It's a chop from a FHC, so not an original DHC. The advert even admits "Today, an original XK 150S 3.8DHC will set you back somewhere in the region of £300,000 - £350,000."https://themarket.co.uk/listings/JAGUAR/XK150-3.8-...
Certainly a bargain if you just want an open 3.8S and aren't bothered by originality.
tog said:
It's a chop from a FHC, so not an original DHC. The advert even admits "Today, an original XK 150S 3.8DHC will set you back somewhere in the region of £300,000 - £350,000."
Certainly a bargain if you just want an open 3.8S and aren't bothered by originality.
Ah, ok. Serves me for not reading it properly! Certainly a bargain if you just want an open 3.8S and aren't bothered by originality.
Mike-tf3n0 said:
I suspect that car might be quite badly bent Tony. You can see that the castellated nuts on the front of the lower wishbones are now visible below the number plate which is not where they should be by some distance. Also the point of impact is on the o/s of centre so I wouldn't be surprised if the chassis was a bit lozenged as well. Definitely a case of taking a deep breath and dismantling to see what lurks within!
Maybe so Mike, but I wonder if the astute purchaser had noticed that on another site an XK150 chassis was fpr sale as a "restoration project" and sold quite cheaply? If so, the ensemble is a bargain.Ah, I hadn't seen that, as you say a good way forward - still an awful lot of work but it will have some value when finished although not as much as a car with all it's original bits. I like 150s, decent, well better, brakes and steering and, to my eyes, prettier than it's predecessors.
lowdrag said:
Maybe so Mike, but I wonder if the astute purchaser had noticed that on another site an XK150 chassis was fpr sale as a "restoration project" and sold quite cheaply? If so, the ensemble is a bargain.
I think there was also a chassis in this auction with a guide of £3k - £5k. lukeharding said:
I think there was also a chassis in this auction with a guide of £3k - £5k.
You are right, but it didn't turn out to the bargain it promised to be. Sold for £15,600 in the end.https://www.bonhams.com/auctions/26808/lot/39/
I'd like to say that this has been quite a voyage of discovery for me, and I thought I knew my Jaguars quite well. It turns out that there are (or were) 1,466 XK 150 S models made, a mix of 3.4 and 3.8 fixedheads, roadsters and convertibles with the roadster taking over 1,000 and the drophead 193, of which only 89 were 3.8S models. and of these only 23 (or 24 depending on the source) were RHD 3.8 S convertibles . So it is an extremely rare car indeed and researching the market £300,000 is about the base mark price. Ken, as regards O/D, it turns out that two cars were ordered without it, so that might account for what you see above, but I thank you for pointing out the difference between the roadster and the convertible. One has quarter lights, the other doesn't. Another scintillating piece of news is that whoever bought the chassis paid way over the odds. You can have a new one delivered from Eastern Europe for under £4,000 it seems. So, if my maths is correct, at £90,000 plus a new chassis if necessary, I reckon that the final cost of this car will be in the region of £200/250,000, leaving plenty of margin for a good profit if that is the motive. Thanks all for your input; it has been a fun few days getting to the bottom of the story.
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