Last Sunday at the Chicago British Car Festival I bought an original Mark V Spare Parts Catalogue, Publication J.7 October 1949. I didn’t have an original before, just photocopies.
Last night I was thumbing through it and found three surprises, documents identifying the first and second owners of 647562.
I have seen this car a couple of times in the Chicago area, and it is restored in white with black top and red interior.
I’m recording this here in case some day the current owner will see it.
The first is a letter on very flimsy paper from Jaguar Cars Parts & Technical Services at 42-50 21st St Long Island City 1 NY dated Nov 24 1959 to Dr. Arthur B. King at 728 S Main St Athens PA. It is in response to Dr. King’s request for spare parts by special COD shipment directly to him. Athens is a very small town and a good distance from any city large enough to have had a dealer in 1959. Presumably Dr. King had a local mechanic servicing the car. The response was that the distributor at 55-02 Broadway in Woodside NY normally sells to the trade, but they might be willing to establish a charge account for him.
The second is a typed description of the car, 647562, dated April 28 1966, by the second owner Gerald Eugene Hendy of R.D.#2 Elmira NY, about 10 or 15 miles from Athens. He says he bought it from the original owner Dr. King, who was a neural surgeon and chief of staff at a northeastern Pennsylvania hospital. While Mrs. King was driving it, she hit a high rock marking the border of a driveway and the crankcase was broken open, allowing the oil to leak out, and the car was driven in this condition until the engine burned up. Insurance paid for a new short block and the original head and accessories were reinstalled. He mentions the original paint is still in good condition and the color is black.
The third is an official notarized Pennsylvania document dated October 21 1965 transferring title from Dr. King to Mr. Hendy in New York.