A friend of mine recently brought this XK140 to my attention. The photos and description appeared in his club magazine, the XK Gazette, and he thought I might know the car. Indeed, I do know the car. It’s a LHD 140, chassis #S811555. In 1998, it was sold by European Collectibles in Costa Mesa, California to John Franks, a land developer in San Luis Obispo, California. When Franks purchased the car, the body had nearly been destroyed by rust. It apparently had been originally purchased from Hornberg in 1955 and continued to live its life in the beach cities of Southern California.
Over the next half century, the salt air had taken its toll. There wasn’t a panel that was not missing or a portion of metal that hadn’t been destroyed by corrosion. It had also been hit in the front, and as a result, one of the wings was beyond repair. Franks had little idea of what he had taken on and was dismayed by the estimates he was getting for a restoration. Consequently, for several years he stored the car in a barn on his ranch just outside of San Luis Obispo.
In order to make some progress on the project, he had the motor and transmission removed and taken to British Sports Cars in San Luis Obispo. The owner of British Sports Cars, Peter Jurgens, who seems to always have an XK in his shop, rebuilt the engine and transmission. Peter is an XK engine expert and consequently did a great job, particularly with the C-Type Head. Both the engine and transmission were stored in his shop in anticipation of completion of the body and chassis at some future time.
Over the next several years, a directionless and drawn-out disassembly occurred. Sometime around 2005, Franks turned the car over to an excellent metal man, Gary Tisdale of Nipomo, California. The body was in such poor condition, that whole panels and wings were purchased with the idea of welding them into place with a few small adjustments. Unfortunately, none of these off-the-shelf panels or wings came close to fitting, and Tisdale had to all but re-fabricate them to get proper fits. The last time I saw the body it looked as it does in the photos and as was indicated in the magazine description. It’s clear Tisdale did his work to a high standard.
In the aftermath of the financial crisis of 2007, Franks put the 140 up for sale. He realized this, he turned to Justin Jurgens, Peter’s son, to sell it for him. Justin, who is not only a mechanic, but also handles all sales at British Sports Cars, sold the car to a dealer in the Netherlands, who in turn, apparently, sold it to Edward Schinkel.
Thurlow Weed is a vintage Jaguar enthusiast who resides in California.
Awesome car! My dad…now gone…never owned one…but always lusted for one! I have a soft spot for old Jags too.
Glad you liked the post Karl. Thanks for visiting the blog. This is a great restoration story; so much skill and craftsmanship at work here. We are going to do our best to follow the process as it progresses and keep our visitors posted. I can’t wait to see the final product.
Sorry to hear your dad didn’t realize his dream; it sounds like he was a true Jag lover. Needless to say, we’re wild about vintage Jags and lucky to work on these timeless classics.
Cheers!
-Justin
Hi Justin,
I’m a friend of Edward Schinkel who acquired the Jaguar from a Dutch dealer. He asked me to restore the car to showroom condition. At the time he bought the car, it was still in the same condition as in the photographs on your blog. The Dutch dealer had bought a tremendous pile of new parts, such aschrome wires and new classic tyres, complete interior, new gauges, new steering wheel, new brake parts, etc… He also had most suspension parts powder coated. The car was virtually ready to paint and assemble, only a few items were missing.
Right now, we’re in the first stage, i.e. preparing the body for the paint job. As it had been sandblasted the body revealed every minor fault and though not a single spot of rust has been found, it still requires a lot of job to straighten it out. It needs re-leading, as all the lead has been removed.
Needless to say we’re happy to have found some history of the car on your blog. Do you think there is a chance to get further info on the car? ( invoices, work carried out in the US, details on the engine/gearbox restoration, etc… )
If you’re interested, Ill keep you informed on the progression of the restoration. I can send you pics if you give me your email address.
Due to a very cold winter we had to quit working on the car, but we will start again in February.
I’ll keep in touch,
Frank
Hi Frank,
Thank you very much for getting in contact with us. It is nice to hear that the car is in capable hands. I would love to keep up dated on the car so that we can keep this post going. I do have some information on the car that I will email to you now.
Very good message, and thanks for the reply.
I will right away grab your rss as I can not find your e-mail subscription link or newsletter service. Do you have any? Kindly let me know in order that I could subscribe. Thanks.
Thanks for you interest Clarice.
You can find the e-mail subscription at the top of the right-side column on the blog home page. There a button at the top of the page that reads “JOIN OUR NEWSLETTER”.
Thanks again.
Thank you for your very nice message and reply message from you.
An article This is great information and thanks for the reply.