It was announced this week that Jaguar has produced its last F-Type, thus ending the company’s run of sports cars. Today’s Nice Price of No Dice XK150 goes back almost to the beginning of that run. Let’s see if it’s priced to keep on running.
The seller of yesterday’s 2003 BMW 540i M Sport claimed it to be the “Bimmer to buy,” a sentiment with which many of you agreed. Less accord was found in the E39’s $16,500 asking price, however. High miles and a certain sense of curmudgeonly duty made that untenable for most of you, the result being a 63 percent No Dice loss.
As twilight fell on the cold evening of February 12, 1957, a fire broke out at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in Coventry, England. The conflagration consumed a third of the assembly area before being completely extinguished, destroying hundreds of production models and a clutch of company cars being prepped for the track. It was thought at the time that such a setback would take Jaguar months to overcome, but per a newsreel of the time, production was back in business at the Allesey plant just a short two weeks after the smoke had cleared.
Out of the ashes came a new model, the 3.4-litre, which the company touted as the “fastest four-seater saloon in the world. That was followed just three months later by the XK150, the third and last in the series of sports cars kicked off by the XK120 just shy of a decade earlier.
The family resemblance between the 150 and its 140 and 120 predecessors is undeniable; however, of the three, the numerically advantaged car is the most different. It sports a one-piece windscreen in place of the split design on the earlier cars, a wider, higher-waisted body that allows more elbow room in the cabin, and a four-inch push forward of the A-pillars to make the car easier to get in and out of. The bumpers are also notably bigger than on the prior models.
This 1959 Jaguar XK150 embodies all of those features and is one of 4,445 Fixed Head Coupes (FHC) built during the model’s 1957 to 1960 run. This was the last in the series, with the almost all-new XKE debuting as its replacement in 1961.
Being a U.S. market car means our car is spec’d with Dunlop discs at the front and the more powerful (210 horse) 3.4 DOHC straight six. This one comes with the optional Borg-Warner three-speed automatic, which at the time was offered exclusively in export markets.
The seller lays out the car’s bona fides, stating in the ad:
This 1959 XK-150 fixed-head coupe was restored in 2015, with over $25,000 invested by previous owner. It drives as new, with complete engine rebuild with extensive receipts, upgraded mechanicals with period correct retro-alternator, rapid spin starter and Diehard for dependable ignition. The metallic silver paint and sumptuous red leather interior and carpet are as new. All chrome has been re-chromed, no pitting or dull finish—just sparkles.
A Heritage Certificate from Jaguar is provided in the ad, and that, if accurate, proves the metallic silver paint is a respray over the car’s factory cream. The original color is evident under the bonnet. The red interior is the factory color, although not the material.
Everything on the car is claimed to work, with the exception of the horn. It’s also boasted to wear brand new Vredestein Sprint classic tires and to be “OEM correct.” Aesthetically, it looks fantastic although not concours quality. It also has a newish stainless steel exhaust that would get dinged by the judges should the car be shown competitively.
On the plus side, it’s described as a solid, dependable driver and an attention-getter. The reason given for the sale is a back issue suffered by the present owner. It comes with a clean title and modern license plates for easy title transfer. The price tag for this classic cat is $60,000.
What do you think about this cruiser and that price tag? Does that seem like a fair deal for a turn-key classic? Or, for that much, should it be cleaner and have three pedals?
You decide!
Denver, Colorado, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to Don R. for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOND. Hit me up at [email protected] and send me a fixed-price tip. Remember to include your Kinja handle.