Jaguar Mk 2 Scrapheap Challenge 
Fate sealed David French’s love aff air with this concours-winning Mk 2, which in 1999 was saved from the scrapyard as a non-runner. A painstaking restoration followed and a few modern twists added in for good measure, but is it a cut above the original model?
 David French is a car enthusiast through and through. Not only has he owned some of the most elegant sports cars like the Bentley Brooklands and Continental R, but he is also an avid collector of Jaguars. When it comes to picking a real classic gem, David only goes for the cream of the crop with proven trophy winning prowess and service history books to die for.
His current find, a 1965 3.4 Mk 2 Jaguar, is no exception. In fact, he only discovered this stunning car up for sale when he drove by the showroom of Nutley Sports and Prestige Centre, and its gleaming red paintwork caught his eye. David was blown away by what he found. "I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw it," he says. "It was up for £39,995 and I thought, 'crikey, that's a lot of money for a Mk 2' but I still had a good look around it. I then spotted it in an auction house's advert under the prestige cars it had sold recently, and saw how much it went for. Armed with this knowledge I went back to the garage and did a deal." This was a year and a half ago, and David hasn't looked back since. He adds, "It's an absolute pleasure, drives like a modern day car and the more I go out in it, the more confident I am that you could travel long distances in that car - not that I would as it's of concours standard." Attention to detail  The transformation this Mk 2 went through in 1999 is unbelievable. The previous owner, Andrew Chaddock, a textile dyer by trade, rescued this car from the scrapheap for £500 and then spent the next three and a half years lovingly restoring it with mainly second-hand Jaguar parts. When sifting through the photograph album showing the Mk 2's transformation from a bare metal rolling shell, it is hard to believe the stunning concours prize winner sitting outside David’s home is actually the same car.
Although not a professional car restorer, Andrew's attention to detail is first rate; he's clearly a talented man with a good eye for detail, because even the pickiest concours judge would struggle to mark down this Mk 2. And he's thought of everything. Even down to tidying up the engine bay where he banished the wiring, ignition system, horn, windscreen wiper motors and alarm behind false panels in the front wings, and the battery to the boot. This ingenious idea means all that’s on show under the bonnet is the polished cam covers and carburettor dash pots, and anything else made of aluminium. The engine itself is no longer standard either - there's a large K&N air filter for a start, but the cylinder head is from a 4.2 Series 3 XJ6 (and so has larger inlet valves), while elsewhere the engine was also treated to new pistons, shells, timing chains and tensioners. The brakes got the once over as well and, several trips to breakers yards later, Andrew settled on using brake calipers from a Volvo 240 to fit onto the front assemblies with XJS calipers for the rear. Then, the original discs were machined down to fit. Aside from the engine tweaks, parts of the bodyshell are original to the car, but where there were areas full of holes like Swiss cheese, second-hand panels were sought. Unsurprisingly, Andrew spent many a month welding panels to fit - the doors were the trickiest to line up, but a new floorpanel was needed too. 
Polished performer The stunning red letterbox paint job is actually the result of around seven coats of Triumph Signal Red, and a very skillful eye. David says, "Andrew even sprayed and polished the underside of the Mk 2 and never used underseal at all. Hence, I have to get underneath the car each month to repolish it! Strickly speaking, you're not meant to drive it in winter or the wet." He went on to explain how Andrew even made some covers for the insides of the wheel arches and fixed these up with Velcro, in a bid to protect this area from stonechips when driving. No surprises then that this Mk 2 went onto win first place in the Autoglym concours at the NEC Classic Car Show back in 2003.  Perhaps the former owner's fanatical habits have rubbed off on David, who admits he feels proud to own such a special car. When he started to hear a small whine coming from the rear axle, David was adamant he wanted this dealt with, so sent the car off to specialists, and even though he was told the noise was 'normal', he still went ahead and got it overhauled.
He has clocked up just 500 miles in his year-and-a-half of ownership, but has managed to attend a few classic car meets and shows. One of the first he completed was the Greenwood Exhibitions London to Brighton last year, which was a little more eventful than he would have liked!  Unfortunately, when David arrived at Brighton after the rally, steam was coming from the engine bay as the relay to the non-standard electric fan had melted, and his pride and joy ended up being loaded onto the back of an AA truck. A few conversations later with Orchard Restorations, a replacement relay and fuse were sourced and fitted. Happily, this has been the only problem David has had to deal with since owning this special car.
His future plans are to enter it into his first ever Jaguar concours event. He explains, "I've had a trailer made up especially for the car, complete with a covered top. There's always great interest when I unzip it." David's also proud of the fact that his Mk 2 isn't standard and is keen to point out why. "For me, there are two levels of Mk 2 enthusiast: those that want it to be exactly as it was when it rolled out the factory and the others that want to enjoy driving it on modern day roads - the original Mk 2 was a bit of a so and so to drive." David's clearly not a stickler for originality where he believes modern means better! Having a blast My turn soon came to drive and experience David's Mk 2 - and I am not disappointed. After sliding into the comfortable tan leather electric seats taken from an XJ6 Series 3 Vanden Plas, I take in the pristinely polished walnut veneer dash and black dials. Here my eagle eye spots a few subtle modern comforts. Above the ashtray in place of an in-period radio is a modern flip front stereo, and below the gear knob are two switches for electric windows, the motors of which have been cleverly welded onto the original Mk 2 winder mechanism.
Modern comforts have stretched to the gearbox too, as this has been upgraded to a later all-synchromesh unit with overdrive as part of the full nuts and bolts restoration, so mastering the habit of double-de-clutching isn't necessary. As this Mk 2 only comes out to play at weekends, a decent amount of choke is needed to get it ticking over nicely, but once out on the open road it's eager to push on and the modified 3.4 engine is incredibly smooth.  Taking the A21 bypass for a brief short blast is a real pleasure; the Mk 2 gobbles up the asphalt and the ride - courtesy of uprated springs and Koni shocks - is superb. We are turning heads all the way too, in fact, people smile and some wave. This Mk 2 really is as good as it looks. All that David hankers after now to complete his Jaguar line-up is a concours drop-head E-type.
Although purists may frown at a modern styled Mk 2, I think what we have here is a magic combination of old and new, where none of the original Jaguar 'soul' has been lost, and David appreciates this. So is it an altogether better car than the original? That all depends on your point of view but, given that it's certainly more refined, easier to drive and therefore more user-friendly, on the road you definitely notice the difference! Contacts:
Nutley Sports and Prestige Centre,
Nutley, East Sussex. Tel: 01825 713388
Orchard Restorations,
Heathfield, East Sussex. Tel: 01435 812374 
Words and pictures: Sarah Harrington |
