Jaguar MkVII M

The car for which the famous Jaguar marketing slogan 'Grace, Space and Pace' was originally coined, the 1951 Jaguar MkVII was William Lyons at his most inspired. Designed entirely by eye, the car was a beautifully proportioned sequence of curves that turned a large machine into a lithe and muscular animal. Despite its considerable bulk it quickly gained a name for itself in competition, clocking up many famous wins in rallies and production car races. 

Powered by the same 3.4-litre XK engine as used in the MkV and the XK sports car range, it was one of the few cars that could live with the 100mph pace of the Bentley Continental – yet it cost just a fifth of the price. The car was improved still further with the launch of the Mark VIIM in 1954, which had a revised cylinder head to boost power to 190bhp and a closer-ratio manual gearbox. So successful was the shape of the car that it remained largely unaltered through the MkVIII and MkIX versions right up until 1961.

According to the Heritage Certificate which accompanies it, this particular MkVIIM was manufactured on 2nd November 1954 and was supplied new to distributor Sanderson & Holmes of Derby. The car still retains its original engine, manual gearbox and registration number, GCH 268. Originally Suede Green with a matching interior, the car has recently been resprayed in British Racing Green.

During the current vendor's 13 year ownership of the car, it has had a full engine rebuild including new big end shells, new piston rings, reground crankshaft and new top and bottom timing chains and tensioners. The brakes have been overhauled with new pipes and hoses throughout. A new exhaust has been fabricated and new shock absorbers fitted to the rear. All the chromework has been replated and a new set of original-style cross-ply tyres fitted. The bodywork has been repaired as necessary with new sills and a new off-side front wing. The front seats have also been re-covered in suede green hide.

The car has been in regular light use during the current ownership and is said to drive well although the vendor states that the brake servo is not operating as efficiently as it should and will need to be replaced. The heater matrix is also missing and the left side fuel tank is not connected. It comes with a fair amount of history for the work carried out and has a Green continuation log book from 1967 plus a modern V5C. Altogether a huge amount of car for a very modest sum of money.