Jaguar Mk1 3.4 MoD

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Launched in 1955, the MkI saloon was a great step forward for Jaguar as it was the first car they had made using the unitary method of construction.

Initially only available as a 2.4-litre, it was soon obvious that the car was crying out for more power so the race-bred 3.4-litre XK engine was also available from 1957 onwards. With 210bhp on tap, this could propel the car to 60mph in just nine seconds on its way to a top speed of over 120mph. Four-wheel disc brakes were also added and overdrive proved a popular option.

A natural track car, the MkI came to dominate saloon car racing of the era, racking up numerous wins in the hands of drivers such as Tommy Sopwith, Roy Salvadori and Stirling Moss. The MkI also gained enduring notoriety when, on 22nd January 1959, world champion racer Mike Hawthorn was killed in his own highly-tuned 3.4-litre (VDU 881) in an accident on the Guildford bypass.

Only 17,405 MkI 3.4s were made before production ended in 1959 and it is thought that fewer than 100 RHD examples survive today, only a handful of which are manual overdrive models. A couple of these have been turned into formidable racing machines and a couple more have been made into fabulous Mike Hawthorn replicas.

First registered in London in May 1958, VGW 242 was acquired by our vendor’s great aunt when it was around five years old. When the family grocery shop on the Old Kent Road closed down in 1966, aunty retired to Cardiganshire, driving the Jaguar west on the old A40 to its new home in Wales.

She then gave up driving and the Jag was parked up in a nice dry barn behind the house where it was to remain for the next 53 years, proving very useful as a place to store books - how are the mighty fallen! The old 1966 tax disc is still in the windscreen and notes on file from the family confirm that the 28,794 miles on the clock is almost certainly correct.

There is no V5 with the car and at the time of cataloguing the original buff logbook could not readily be located but the number VGW 242 has not been assigned to another vehicle so it will stay on the car when the new owner applies for a V5C using the requisite DVLA form.

Retaining its original Cornish Grey paintwork and matching leather interior, this extremely rare, original and low-mileage Jaguar needs an enthusiastic new owner who can put in the graft now required to restore it to its former glory.