1967 Jaguar 420

If this looks like a nice, original old Jag, there’s a reason for that…this is a one-owner car which has covered just 72,000 miles. At least, there’s one owner on the V5C: the gentleman who bought it new and cared for it since 1967 passed it to the South Wales Jaguar specialist he’d been using to look after the car.

That was a couple of years ago, since when the car has only done a few miles to keep things moving while John Root, the specialist in question, did various bits of work to bring it up to standard. Because it has this remarkable history and because he never pressed it into use, he didn’t make the change in ownership and kept it ‘in the trade’.

‘We got to know the original owner, Mr Verey, back around 2011 when he began bringing the car to us for its MoT and servicing,’ says John. ‘In more recent times, he began to suffer some health problems that made it difficult for him to enjoy the cars as he used to. So he passed his two Jaguars, an XJ40 and this car, on to me.’

It’s a 1967 car equipped with seatbelts, an automatic gearbox and unassisted steering (a rare and not altogether sought-after feature!) and with just 72,000 miles on the clock. It’s been resprayed recently but never restored – a new front jacking point is the sole extent of the welding work ever required on the car. (A bold statement that is made in confidence as John has serviced this car for years and knows his way round them after decades of specialist knowledge)

This pale metallic blue suits the 420 beautifully, and from a few feet away it looks magnificent, with an excellent shine. On closer inspection it’s not the finest re-paint you’ll ever see, but neither is it a rush job – the glass was removed and the windscreen went back in with a new seal. The weakest point is the door shuts, which are still in the old faded paint that makes a noticeable mis-match. It’s something John Root now regrets not addressing at the time, but as he says, we’ve all got budgets and we try to stick to them.

The car wears smart hubcaps and matching new Pirelli tyres. The chrome elsewhere is very good, but lightly patinated as you’d expect from a dry-garaged, original car. The panel fit and lines are genuinely lovely and the doors open and close just as nicely as they must have done in the showroom in 1967. And those door shuts mentioned above are free of corrosion, bubbles, rot or bodgery, this really is a special example.

John states that whilst the odd bit of filler might have been needed at respray on the cosmetics (this is a ‘60s Jag after all), it was nowhere significant nor near anything structural.

Here is the car’s most seductive aspect – a classic leather-and-walnut interior in exactly the condition we hope for, but rarely see. It’s smart but mellow and worn in, like a pair of favourite shoes, and apart from a repair to the driver’s door arm rest, there are no splits or tears. Indeed, the back seat looks barely five years old, never mind more than 50.

The condition of the wood is also gently patinated but in no need of refinishing. Living in a garage, out of the sun, has preserved it all including the padded dash top and door tops. The original steering wheel hasn’t cracked or crazed and the view across that row of handsome dials and switches is superb. There’s a cigar lighter, and to further aid some 1960s-style luxury smoking, you can flick the little chrome catches and open the quarterlights just far enough to keep your Gran Corona alight.

The only false note is a 1990s radio cassette, but guess what? The original radio and its surrounding section of dashboard comes with the car.

The car’s long-term owner protected the underside himself with either anti-corrosion wax or underseal, or both. The only place the tinworm took hold was in one front jacking point, and that was replaced by John Root when he took the car on. The door bottoms, sills, floors and particularly the hinge panels in the A-pillars and B-pillars are in great shape.

A stainless steel twin exhaust was fitted in 2010. The boot, which is remarkably neat and free of any scruffy bits - even in the spare wheel well - sports an original tool kit with its grease gun, box spanners and spare spark plug.

The engine bay is equally presentable, bar a bit of black tape round the hose up to the air filter box. The car starts on the button (literally…the starter button is next to the cigar lighter) and purrs like a big cat should. The Borg-Warner automatic also behaves just as it should. Mechanically, John has been through the car and it was in exactly the condition you would hope and expect on our brief test drive.

Most of the bills with car are from the period during which Mr Verey had it serviced by John’s company, Mistermatic. John has summed up the work he’s done since on two sheets, but these are lists of tasks rather than invoices. The car has clearly been well serviced in recent years, but as for the more distant past, John didn’t receive anything more from Mr Verey.

‘There’s more to find, but sadly I don’t think it’ll be available,’ says John. ‘I did anything it needed when it came to me – brakes, bushes, a wheel bearing, a driveshaft joint. Now it just wants to be enjoyed.’

Also in the folder is an old and authentically stained Jaguar 420 handbook and one of the Autobook workshop manuals for the model.

Nice Mk 2 Jaguars start at £25,000, and that would not buy you a one-owner, unrestored survivor like this 420. Indeed, people ask twice that sum for the very best Mk 2s. Even the S-type seems to sit between £20,000 and £40,000. So any way you slice it, this car is a hell of a lot of quality classic Jaguar for the money. Our estimate is £9,500 to £14,000.

 The next question is whether you want a restored car or an original one. They are different ownership experiences; maintaining and preserving an original car can be more involved than simply putting petrol in a freshly restored one. But it’s more rewarding too – you’ll be looking after a car that shows what a 420 should be like. And you won’t be paying a price that reflects someone trying to claw back the cost of a rebuild.

We would budget to have the paint match corrected in the doors and door shuts, and possibly also to convert the car to power steering, but it’s an extremely seductive machine as it is. If you can garage it and look after it in the manner it deserves, it should be massively rewarding.

We always encourage viewings. This Jaguar is located at our premises in Abingdon and we warmly invite interested parties to contact us to arrange a viewing.

Ahead of that, or at any time during the process, you’re more than welcome to ask any questions or jot down observations in the comments section below. You won’t be shocked to hear that our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section will answer general questions that are frequently asked about how The Market works.

Also please note that we have a network of trusted suppliers with whom we work regularly and successfully: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.