Retroviseur, May 2010.

Jaguar built just a dozen of the famous all aluminium Lightweight E-Types for racing. Of these, just one was modified by the Jaguar factory for owner Peter Lindner, the German Jaguar importer, to Malcolm Sayer’s Low Drag body design. It was raced by Lindner and Peter Nocker at Le Mans in 1964 before being involved, a few weeks later, in a massive accident. The car was then impounded and locked away for many years. Subsequently, the car was recreated using all the mechanical components in a spare Lightweight tub because the mangled original body was thought to be unrepairable.

CMC’s reputation for world-class Jaguar restoration work has yet again been enhanced by one of the most challenging projects ever undertaken on any car.

Over five and a half thousand skilled man hours have gone into the restoration of what is regarded by most aficionados as the most beautiful E-Type ever produced, the Lindner/Nocker Lightweight.

Our craftsmen have been able to save over 90% of the original body from the tangled shell that entered our workshop over three years ago. This truly amazing restoration is a wonderful testament to the highly skilled team in our body shop.

If you have a special body project like the one in the attached article, or an accident repair, we would be pleased to help.

‘Lofty’ England was the legendary Jaguar Team Manager who masterminded Jaguar’s five Le Mans wins in the ’50s, before becoming Managing Director of Jaguar Cars. He hand-picked the first owners of the very early E-Types and allocated himself the fourth right hand drive roadster.

Classic Motor Cars are carrying out a total renovation of this famous car, including rebuilding the XK engine, restoring the bodywork, painting, assembling and retrimming the car.

This is another historic Jaguar which is currently going through the CMC restoration process.

Used by Jaguar as a works demonstrator for some two years appearing in Autosport magazine in October 1952. In 1954 Jaguar sold the car to a very successful club racer called Berwyn Baxter who we believe raced the car for some years, not sure what happened to the car after Mr Baxter but we know that David Cottingham and then Tony Hilderbrand were racing the car in the late 1960s. Later in the 1970s the car made its way to Holland where it was raced in Europe, eventually landing up as a museum exhibit. Now going through a total nut and bolt restoration in order to bring the car back to its original Jaguar specification as it appeared in the Autosport article of 1952.

Media articles:

Jaguar XK120 / XK140 / XK150 Forum JEC, August 2010.

Mille Miglia 2010 by XK120 JEC, 2010.

The original Coombs MK2 Saloon is nearly ready to go on to its wheels. Most of the mechanics have now been completed. We are just fitting the rear bumper before we build the doors and then it is down to trimming. We should be road testing the car by mid November.

This car has been in the same ownership since the mid 1970s and stored in a barn. The owner’s intention was to one day restore and use the car as everyday transport. Unfortunately, with the passing years, the inclination to spend hundreds of hours underneath a classic Jaguar lost its appeal and the car was recently put on the market. Fortunately for us one of our clients purchased the car and has given us the task of carrying out a complete restoration to bring the vehicle back to as-new condition.

Quite simply the oldest and most famous E-type in existence, 9600 HP was one of Jaguar’s prototypes, was used for development, as the launch car at Geneva and then as the press car. The subject of a book by Philip Porter, The Most famous Car in the World (published by Orion), 9600 HP underwent a fantastic conservation Jaguar restoration by CMC in 2000.

9600HP was a beautifully original car never having been restored. However, it was very corroded in some areas. Due to its historical significance, we repaired each panel rather than replacing whole sections to retain as much of the original vehicle as possible. The mechanical restoration covered every aspect to bring the car back to as-new condition. Some of the interior had to be replaced due to the effects of damp and vermin attack. We were, however, to use the original non-matching seats!

Media articles:

Classic cat is back on the road Shropshire Star, March 2000.

Coolest Cat Roars Back to Life Auto Express, March 2000.

The Jag of Hearts Daily Star, March 2000.

Geneva Run – a bit of nostalgia Birmingham Post, March 2000.

E-type 9600HP Jaguar World, February 2000.

A piece of history in the making Daily Telegraph, February 2000.

News and Views by Philip Porter Jaguar Driver, October 1999.

Interviewer Interviewed Jaguar Driver, August 1999.

Porters Pottering’s Jaguar Driver, July 1999.

9600HP – A start at last Jaguar Driver, June 1999.

Jaguar the Future Jaguar Driver, May 1999.

The Mother of all rebuilds The Daily Telegraph, April 1999.

The very first right hand drive production Jaguar E-Type Fixed Head Coupe. Supplied by Jaguar Cars in August 1961, 1 VHP was Henly’s London E-Type demonstrator. In 2001, this very important E-Type underwent a total CMC Jaguar restoration, including rebuilding the XK engine, restoring the bodywork, retrimming and painting in its original Opalescent Dark Blue.

On 1 VHP, we carried out a similar conservation restoration as we had with 9600HP, although we had to replace more of the bodywork as the car had had previous repairs. A full mechanical restoration followed the body renovation together with a complete retrim.

This was another conservation restoration of a very historic Jaguar. We went through the body, mechanics and interior. However, on this occasion, we did manage to save the original seats. Every aspect of this car was kept as it was when Jaguar raced the car at Le Mans.

Media articles:

Number 1 Jaguar World Monthly, May 2004.

Daddy Long Legged Classic & Sports Car, Sept 2007.

The second D-type to be built by the Jaguar Competitions Dept. OKV 1 was the first of the famous trio of D-types that debuted at Le Mans in 1954. It was driven into second place by Hamilton and Rolt, missing victory by 135 seconds after 24 hours racing in foul conditions. The D-type then finished second at the Reims 12-Hours and retired in the classic Tourist Trophy, before being sold to Duncan Hamilton who raced it extensively and successfully.

This was another conservation restoration of a very historic Jaguar, going through the body, mechanics and interior, however on this occasion we did manage to save the original seats. Every aspect of this car was kept as Jaguar designed and built the car to race at Le Mans.

The Rixon Bucknall Special was built in the late ’50s by Col Rixon Bucknall. Based on a Jaguar XK140 chassis, the Red Car as it was known, blended vintage styling and characteristics with the then latest high performance Jaguar engineering. Later the Col. updated the car with an XK150 ‘S’ engine. The car is unique and is riddled with fascinating details. CMC have carried out one of their sympathetic Jaguar restorations, retaining and recreating every single detail.

Media articles about Rixon Bucknell:

The Colonel’s Special Recipe Classic & Sports Car, Sept 2006.

Carrying on the Breed Jaguar World, May 2008.

Driven by Sir Stirling Moss, Jack Fairman, Leslie Johnson and Bert Hadley, this relatively standard XK120 Fixed Head Coupe was taken out to the banked Montlhery track near Paris in 1952, and succeeded in averaging over 100mph for seven days and seven nights, covering over 16,851 miles. The car is in lovely period condition and CMC were asked by the Jaguar Heritage Trust to carry out a sympathetic Jaguar restoration, retaining all the unique features and lovely patina.

On LWK 707 we rebuilt the right side of the car after it had been involved in an accident at Goodwood. Due to the extensive damage, we were unable to save the front wing and driver’s door although we did manage to obtain an original factory wing as a replacement. The damage extended into the bulkhead and we had to mount the body on our jig in order to pull the body straight.

Media articles:

Saving History – Part 1 Jaguar World, January 2010.

Saving History – Part 2 Jaguar World, February 2010.

Duncan Hamilton was a legend in the Jaguar world. He drove many examples of C-type and D-type for the Jaguar factory team in the ’50s. When his son, Adrian, was 17 in 1965, Duncan gave him an Jaguar XK150 ‘S’ Roadster for his birthday. Adrian sold the car to purchase his first house and the XK150 disappeared. However, through the XK Club, Adrian traced the car in Switzerland and purchased it. One of the top international dealers, who has owned some amazing cars, he had no hesitation in entrusting the XK150 to Classic Motor Cars for a complete CMC Jaguar restoration.

An easy restoration if there is such a thing! The basic car was very sound with not too much corrosion to work through. Mechanical condition was also fairly good as the engine had been rebuilt in the not-too-distant past. The suspension, brakes and rear axle had the full works and we carried out a full interior retrim including the hood.

Lukas Huni XK150 3.4S Roadster. This car underwent a total restoration from the chassis up. The car was supplied to us from the USA and was complete and very original having been been restored previously.

However, it had suffered from the ravages of time and the structure was quite corroded. Every nut and bolt was replaced to bring this car back to as-new condition. Lukas Huni went to great lengths to supply us with the correct trim materials, such as the Rexine (somehow he managed to find original old stock), and the finished result was spectacular.

We were approached in the summer of 2004 by a Jaguar enthusiast to build a car in the idiom of the golden age of sports racing cars of the 1950s/ early 1960s. This client was not interested in a high-priced replica or a pastiche of previous models but commissioned a one-off in the spirit of cars available in period to a gentleman racer and produced by small companies such as HWM, Cooper, Alta, etc.

The car was to be based on period Jaguar running gear – engine, transmission, suspension, non-servo disc brakes, period instruments and so on. It was designed for road use and track days.

CMC’s experience in the restoration and repair of many significant cars from this period (C-type, D-type, Cooper-Jaguar and HWM) meant we were uniquely qualified to undertake this project.

The project started with the purchase of a Reynard-designed tubular chassis which could take the required Jaguar mechanics. The rest was down to CMC.

Media articles:

Homage Frais Classic & Sports Car, August 2010.

Realising A Dream Jaguar Enthusiast, December 2009.

Jomfrutur Bil, September 2006.

These These early windscreen cappings were only fitted up to chassis number 850087 right hand drive roadster, and 875309 left hand drive roadster.

Cast in stainless steel to give additional strength and longevity, polished copper plated, nickel plated and chromed they look identical to the original part and are a direct fit to the vehicle, no need to modify and or alter.

Only offered as a pair at £190.00 plus VAT.

Please click here to view other Classic Motor Cars E Type upgrades.

Classic Motor Cars started off the E-Type 50th Anniversary celebrations at London’s Design Museum on February 8th.

Norman Dewis, who this year celebrates his 91st birthday and John Surtees, only man to win World Championships on two wheels and four, unveiled a stunning 1961 E-Type which has recently been restored.

“We thought that it would be fitting if the first event to celebrate the anniversary could be held at London’s Design Museum,” said Peter Neumark, the Chairman of CMC. “The car has become a design classic that has endured over the years and we were delighted when the museum agreed.” He added: “It would have been impossible to celebrate this famous car without having Norman Dewis, its legendary test driver on hand to talk about the car and F1 legend John Surtees who was one of the E-Type’s first customers.

The latest seminar for the Jaguar E-Type club and XK club was held at CMC Ltd on Saturday 26th February.

Members spent the day learning various tricks of the trade from classic car restorers, Classic Motor Cars.

CMC had individual expert technicians on hand to cover aspects such as body work, trim, electrics, general servicing and maintenance.

2011 will be a very busy year, we are being bombarded with offers to attend events to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the E-Type.

We are just going to start road testing the Coombs 3.8 MK2 Saloon as long as the snow stays away and the Lindner Nocker low drag is coming together and should be back on the road come April.

One of our clients has just completed this Rallye Med in a Jaguar MK2 Saloon supplied and prepared by us here at CMC.

The Rallye Med covered some 18,000 kilometres and took nine weeks to complete starting in England travelling to Spain, down through Morocco and then back up through Spain, France and Italy. Across the Mediterranean Sea and into Tunisia, through Libya, Egypt, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Back into Europe through Greece, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia, Austria, Germany and finally back through France and onto England. Please click here for the Rallye Med map.

Apart from servicing along the way the only problems encountered were a broken return spring on the handbrake, a Dunlop brake cylinder exploded and one head light main beam failed. Photograph showing the car as it returned to us here in Bridgnorth on Friday 12th November.

The underside of the car has stood up to some very rough roads extremely well, the exhaust has taken some pounding from grounding and or hitting rocks, but has remained in place as we had fitted peg mounts instead of the normal rubber block mounts. The aluminium skid pan had done its job in protecting the engine sump. The engine bay is extremely dusty having retained a lot of desert, apparently getting caught in a sand storm is to be avoided at all costs.

Travelling through some very hot climates where the temperatures were up at 47 degrees there was no sign of overheating and the overall fuel consumption was 23/24mpg. The car is fitted with our high torque engine at 4.3 litres with the HIF SU carburettors and coupled to a five speed transmission. Oil consumption over the 18,000 KM was just 4.5 litres which equates to a pint of oil every 1500 miles.

The fuel economy is particularly pleasing as the car was fully loaded with two occupants a boot full of luggage including two additional fuel cans and the rear seat had been removed in order to take a special aluminium trunk load of spares (see photograph).

Some of the participants of this rally had also been on the London to Sydney and Panama to Alaska and they reckon that the Rallye Med was by far the most arduous. Please go to www.globalrally.org.uk for full details of the rally.

The whole team here at CMC are very pleased that the MK2 performed well but most of all that our client really enjoyed the rally and driving a great classic Jaguar, after all all we want from our classic cars is fun and enjoyment.

Having got the body back from the paint shop we are now building the car, slowly it is starting to take shape.

CMCs reputation for world-class Jaguar restoration work has yet again been enhanced by one of the most challenging projects ever undertaken on any car. Over five and a half thousand skilled man hours have gone into the restoration of what is regarded by most aficionados as the most beautiful E-Type ever produced, the Lindner/Nocker Lightweight

We are aiming to have the car completed for March/April 2011. Please click here for more information.

When the E-type was only a couple of months old and it was absolutely impossible to get one in the UK, the Daily Mail newspaper ran a competition to win one. In fact, they had two as prizes. One of those cars is currently in our workshops undergoing a full restoration. Please click here to view the restoration progress on this car.

‘Lofty’ England was the legendary Jaguar Team Manager who masterminded Jaguar’s five Le Mans wins in the ’50s, before becoming Managing Director of Jaguar Cars. He hand-picked the first owners of the very early E-types and allocated himself the fourth right hand drive roadster. Classic Motor Cars are carrying out a total renovation of this famous car, including rebuilding the XK engine, restoring the bodywork, painting, assembling and re-trimming the car.

The original Coombs MK2 Saloon is nearly ready to go on to its wheels. Most of the mechnics have been completed. We are just fitting the rear bumper before we build the doors and then it is down to trimming. We should be road testing it by mid November.

The Coombs MK2 been in the same ownership since the mid 1970s and stored in a barn. The owner’s intention was to one day restore and use the car as everyday transport. Unfortunately, with the passing years, the inclination to spend hundreds of hours underneath a classic Jaguar lost its appeal and the car was recently put on the market. Fortunately for us one of our clients purchased the car and has given us the task of carrying out a complete restoration to bring the vehicle back to as-new condition. This car is now nearly complete. Please click here for more information.

We have four new E-type bonnets which have just arrived from Jaguar all destined for E-type rebuilds and these are all going to be going through the CMC process.

We now have original Triplex/Pilkington windscreens for all E-type Roadsters (Series 1,2 and 3).

The Series 1 and 2 screens are made to a new pattern taken from a very early windscreen and the fit is excellent no need to space up the chrome end caps when fitting. Only available in clear at £249.00 plus VAT.

Series 3 screens are available in both clear and sundym, clear at £306.00 plus VAT, Sundym (tinted) at £333.00 plus VAT.

Please click here for further information and prices plus other upgrades information.

Classic Motor Cars are now able to supply stylish, leather-upholstered reclining sport seats. This is a brand new product which is currently only available for Jaguar E-type Series 1, 2 and 3. The seat can be trimmed with the owner’s choice of colour and, once complete, can be fitted in the car by CMC, if required.

Please click here for further information and prices plus other upgrades.

The already impressive Classic Motor Cars set-up is now even more so. By taking on two more adjacent units, CMC have doubled their floor space, which has allowed considerable reorganisation. The new area is being used for building up cars after paint.

So, when a restoration commences, the bodywork (the ‘dirty’ work) continues to be done in one dedicated shop, while all the other parts are now stored in racking on a mezzanine floor above the new shop. After painting, the shell is taken into the new area, the parts are moved to racking alongside the shell and the fitting up takes place in a clean, spacious, ideal environment. Partitioned off from this area is a new, larger trim shop (see details below).

Additional to this new unit is the existing shop for all servicing and mechanical work (where fitting-up used to take place), the machine shop, engine shop and another new unit for car storage.

To view a video of the new facilties click here.

CMC recently expanded their facilities and now have a larger trim facility doubling the manufacturing area to include a new sewing station and an additional member of the trimming staff.

The storage area for trim has been increased, allowing the company to stock and store hides for easier and quicker turnaround of vehicles.

With this increased capacity, CMC can now offer trim facilities to all makes of classic cars. As an example, a new hood is being made and fitted to a Bentley Series 2 Continental by H J Mulliner.

All trimming is undertaken in-house using leather supplied by the leading UK manufacturers, such as UK Hide Company, Bridge of Weir and Andrew Muirhead.

Everything is made to the car to ensure exact fit.

To view the new trim workshop facilities click here.

CMCs reputation for world-class Jaguar restoration work has yet again been enhanced by one of the most challenging projects ever undertaken on any car.

Over five and a half thousand skilled man hours have gone into the restoration of what is regarded by aficionados as the most beautiful E-Type ever produced, the Lindner/Nocker Lightweight.

Our craftsmen have been able to save over 90% of the original body from the tangled shell that entered our workshop over three years ago. This truly amazing restoration is a wonderful testament to the highly skilled team in our body shop.

If you have a special body project like the one in the attached article, or an accident repair, we would be pleased to help.

To view more details on this amazing restoration click here.

CMC are trialing this new quick release steering wheel for E-types. The benefits of this product we believe are fantastic:

The steering wheel can be released in a matter of seconds.
It is a great anti-theft feature.

As the cockpit in the Series 1 and 2 is quite small this removable steering wheel enables the driver to enter the car without having to squeeze in.

To see a video on this product, simply click on this link. Video of removable steering wheel

This is a great racing application.

For more information on this product or to order please contact us. We are very excited about the product but we would love to hear your thoughts too, so please feel free to contact us with any ideas, views or feedback.

This product typically retails out at £295.00 + VAT.

Media article: Phil’s E-type Causes Mirth In France (Classic Cars, October 2010).

To many people, the E-type Roadster with a hard-top fitted is just stunningly beautiful. They are pure sculpture.

With the original E-types available as just two models, the Roadster and the Fixed Head Coupe, we now tend to forget that owners fitted a hardtop to the open versions in the winter. Jaguar thought the variation important enough to devote a full page of the original brochure to a roadster with the hard-top fitted.

We have now remanufactured these hard-tops for the Series 1 and Series 2 cars (3.8 and 4.2 litre-engined E-types). They are an exact reproduction of the original ones produced by Jaguar, including double skin fibre glass, Perspex rear window, chrome-plated brass mouldings, cantrail and body seals. Click on this link for more information on the CMC remanufactured E-type hard-tops.

With very little time to spare, we completed the substantial repairs to the famous 7 Days and 7 Nights XK 120, which is part of the Jaguar Heritage collection, in time for the 2009 Goodwood Revival meeting, where it was displayed outside the Earls Court re-creation in the paddock.

Originally the XK was used by Jaguar’s legendary Engineering Director, Bill Heynes, as his road car. However, when Jaguar decided to take a 120 to the banked Montlhéry track, just outside Paris, for a spot of record breaking, they used this car, the second right hand drive example built. Pye provided a radio so the drivers could keep in touch with the rudimentary pits.

Among the four drivers was a young Stirling Moss who remembers it well and thinks the feat of covering over 16,000 miles non-stop for seven days was quite something for a road car. He recalls that the track was very bumpy, just to add to the challenge.

To alleviate the boredom, Moss and his fellow drivers Jack Fairman, Leslie Johnson and Bert Hadley, played all sorts of tricks on each other. One got on top of another’s shoulders and they wrapped an enormous tarpaulin round them like a very large cape, added a cone to his head and appeared in the darkness on the edge of the banking!