Sep
23
This is a big, luxurious Jaguar and we have always appreciated its classic styling and elegant interior. It is rare to find an unrestored example in driveable condition but we found this one early Monday morning on eBay. It was the summer driver on an estate on Long Island. Read More
Sep
6
This is a mellow yellow Jaguar XKE Fixed Head Coupe. When Enzo Ferrari said he thought the Jaguar E-Type was the most beautiful car in the world we are sure he was referring to the Coupe. The current owner of 20 years had this Jag re-sprayed in the original color and then refitted the interior with new leather seats. The rest of the car looks as it should or as best as we can ascertain from the photos. This is the last of the Series that has the beautiful and small rear tailights positioned above the rear bumper. Read More
Aug
17
Every year, those who are truly passionate about the collector car hobby either descend on the Monterey Peninsula or are glued to the computer monitor or TV to watch the action at the auctions live. All of the best auction houses are represented and the competition for top offerings in keen. You’ll see great cars at Goodings, RM Auctions, Mecum, and Christies. I am sure I left out a few. 
There are plenty of cars in all price brackets so don’t think this is just for the Gulfstream IV set. We decided to take a break at offering you new featured cars with so many available in California. What we will do is try as best we can to report on sales. We’ll be a bit specific, and show you auction results on cars that we would typically feature on Mint. So there will be that eclectic mix that our readers like so much.
Let’s start with a look at the RM Auction Catalog (click on the cover). There is an enormous amount of information on the 500+ offerings at RM. Each description has an auction estimate and hopefully we can fill in with the final hammer price as the week progresses. Now on to some auction results from Mecum…
Mecum always has a good mix of affordable and outragious cars at any of their auctions. But at Monterey, we think they do search out a fair amount of imported and sports cars. So their tagline “Muscle Cars and More…” is true here. Click on each image for a larger size.
1969 Jaguar SOLD at $39,000
Aug
15
Do you recall what OTS means? If not, it means Open Two Seater. Some folks refer to E-Type Jaguar roadsters as dropheads. They are wrong. Well they are right and they are wrong. Anyway, this is a really nice, honest looking early car with flat floors, welded louvers and a non-synchro 1st gear. You would think a car that provided you with less space and a cranky gearbox would be worth less than one improved but you too would be wrong. Really early E-types are like gold. Read More
Aug
7
A vintage Jaguar Saloon, or Sedan on this side of the pond, is a thing of beauty.. They adhered to Sir William Lyon’s philosophy of “grace, pace and space”, when they conceived this elegant 4-door. Like many old luxury cars, they were not respected by collectors as much as sporty coupes and convertibles. We get that. However with the increasing popularity of historic rallies and enjoyable classic car tours, they are gaining some serious respect. Why not be comfortable while you’re having fun. We are not suggesting taking Grandpa’s Buick Electra 225 on the New England 1000 mind you. Read More
Jul
22
We absolutely love it when we stumble across a really nice, honest car particularly one that isn’t marketed on eBay currently. That’s not a poke at eBay for they are to be applauded for becoming the popular site to find good stuff. And of course, how can you not get excited by finding a Silver Blue Metallic, E-Type Fixed Head Coupe. God, do we love Fixed Head Coupes. On any given day, you can find a bunch of decent or extraordinary E-Type OTSs but not so many Fixed Head Coupes. Read More
Jul
18
No, the headline isn’t some perverse trick to get you to read the story of today’s featured Jaguar. The XK140 is the second iteration of road going post-war Jaguar sports cars. The first being the fabulous XK120, the darling of the Hollywood set and yes, the rest of the world too. XKs came in 3 body configurations: a Fixed Head Coupe (FHC), a Roadster or Open Two Seat (OTS) and the Drophead Coupe (DHC). That continued in 1955 when the XK140 was introduced. The XK140 made things a little more livable for driver and passenger by moving the firewall and engine forward 3 inches. The bumpers were redesigned to afford more protection for those gorgeous flanks. Read More
Jul
6
We’ve been following this seller for years and he always manages to come up with something special. In fact, we’ve never seen ordinary being offered by Ivan. We guess he prefers to wait until the right car comes along. We agree with Ivan – there are many white, red, silver, BRG E-Types out there. So it really is refreshing to see something different. This is color is called Greensand and we like it very much. Perhaps this was a special order car because it is fitted with green leather interior. We can’t get enough of green – the right green – so we think this is truly wonderful. Read More
Jun
16
I can vaguely remember my father admiring a Jaguar XK150. We had one of grandpa’s Cadillac cast-offs – a ’53 Coupe de Ville I think. Gramps only bought grey Caddys with white tops for some reason. I’m sure he didn’t mind driving a ’53 Caddy in ’58 after all it was only 5 years old. But just look at a Jaguar XK150. How could you not admire it? Read More
Jun
6
The MK IX is between the MK VIII and the MK X (that’s a family joke). But the real truth (no joke), you want the last of the MK IXs if you want a big Jaguar sedan. And who doesn’t. Not to hurt anyone’s feelings but the MK X that follows looks like a giant cigar. And as the MK X ages, it doesn’t get any better. The MK IX is a beautiful Saloon befitting the Jaguar name. The interior is as good as it gets – almost Bentley-esque. You have yards of supple leather and acres of polished wood. Best of all, you have rear seat tables. No Grey Poupon jokes today. Read More
May
30
The XJS is no XKE. Now you might think that is a shot but it isn’t entirely. The XJS is the last of the Lyon’s Era Jaguars. Introduced at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1975, the XJS received a tepid response. Subsequently, sales of the new Jaguar during its lifespan were erratic. But that was not totally the fault of the XJS and more so fuel shortages and an erratic economy. Sound familiar?
We think the sweet spot for the XJS is the mid to late ‘80s. Mostly because of an engineer by the name of Michael May. He designed a new, high-compression head with a fireball combustion chamber that increased power and fuel economy. Read More
May
19
Any XKE is a beautiful thing to behold and to drive. There are loads of them on the market at any given time and some are really nicely restored cars, well-kept cars with a cosmetic refresh or nice drivers. Then there are the fright pigs that we need to avoid at all costs because they will destroy your bank account and make you hate automobiles forever. Read More
May
6
We will be upfront with you. Collectors and Jaguar purists prefer the earlier Series 1 and Series 1.5 Jaguar XKEs. They were the purest expression of the design and is clearly recognized has one of the most beautiful cars ever built. The Series 2 cars were burdened by changes that were necessary and Jaguar would have preferred to leave things alone. Read More
May
1
The XK140 replaced the spectacular XK120 in 1954. Thankfully, the new car followed the previous model with just enough modifications to be worth the effort yet maintain the voluptuous lines that has made this car such a classic. Exterior changes that distinguished it from the XK120 included more substantial front and rear bumpers with overriders, and flashing turn signals located above the front bumper. The interior was made more comfortable for taller drivers by moving the engine, firewall and dash forward to give 3 inches more leg room. Read More
Apr
30
The XK120 was originally intended as a limited-production model, we call them halo cars today, for the new series of sedans powered by the same XK six-cylinder engine. Sales skyrocketed and the XK120 immediately exceeded production capacity. Jaguar replaced the alloy over ash body with an all-steel body, a change that was implemented after the first 240 cars left Jaguar’s factory. Hollywood legends fell for this starlet and Clark Gable was one of the first XK120 owners. Read More
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