I found this discussion on the Saloons section of this forum.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/372912908132?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&fromMakeTrack=true
Might be of interest or simply irritating? It’s a huge amount of money!
Cheers,
Tim
Front suspension is too low, a common mistake with the XK series as well, but the torsion bars can be easily adjusted if the car is raised up so the weight is taken off the wheels.
Hood envelope is too tall.
Color doesn’t seem to be one of the standard colors. Would you call that Birch Grey? I think it is too light a shade.
Boot floor and sides should be black.
Air cleaner and engine should be black.
I don’t quite see the idea of plating the driveshaft support and all those small parts underneath.
On the other hand they did get a lot of things right, like the landau bars are on the correct way, hubcaps painted right.
“If if don’t go, chrome it!”
It didnt, and they did…
Its a shame really - looks like a lot of time and effort, and a high quality restoration - but clearly a lack of knowledge and/or interest in authentic detail. Just as easy to repaint a car in a correct colour as in an incorrect colour - if you have the knowledge or care. Same comment re everything else.
But I have to say, in the scheme of restored Mark V tool kits I have seen, this one is far better than most, other than comment about lazy matching of green lining of Lid.
Still lots of room to improve tool kit which for want of an indication, as pictured looks about 60% when you consider items missing, existing items wrong, or existing items not refinished authentically.
The PL700 headlamp ‘conversion’ looks odd too.
Art
A beautiful and over-restored MK V with an asking price that doesn’t reflect originality. Evidently, a lot of effort and money spent on way too many wrong details, that will require more money, should one desire to bring this MK V to a “factory like state” on the exterior (aside paint color). Beautiful under carriage.
Still a pleasure to see these sculptures brought back to life.
Daniel
Perhaps some on this forum may not know that Mark Vs for the USA including my own had 7" sealed beam headlights (brand unknown but probably Guide or GE or whatever was available to US distributors and local dealers), with an inner chrome ring of smaller ID, rather than the 7.7" PF770s usually seen on cars in other countries. But the Lucas PL700 tribar came along after the Mark V was out of production.
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About 15yrs ago, I purchased a used 1950 MK V LHD from the original owner, imported by Hoffmann Motors in NYC.
The car was equipped with the original PL700 headlamps. I believe the choice was left up to the customer.
Daniel
The PL700 is not listed in the 1951 Lucas catalogue 400C. We can conclude that it was not yet in production at that time.
The listings in this catalogue for Jaguar Mark V and XK120 show that for USA deliveries, the PF770 outer rim was used, with a 553724 adaptor, but no lens or light unit or reflector is listed at all.
There are photos of Mark Vs and XK120s on their way to the USA with no headlights at all.
The sealed beam headlight was developed in 1940 by the Guide Lamp Co., part of General Motors. The name was more literal than we realize today, in that there was a glass front lens and a metal back shell with a bulb soldered into it, which were then sealed together.
This is one from my brother’s 1946 Chevy truck.
General Electric and Sylvania had their own versions.
It could well be true that the first customer might have had a choice of brand names. Sealed beams were still fairly new, and one brand may have had a better reputation than another.
I suspect that the original Guides or GEs or Sylvanias in your Mark V quit, and the first owner had them replaced at the dealer, which by the mid '50s would have used PL700s, as they were being supplied in new XK140s at the time.