3,485 CC OHV Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Dual Sidedraft SU Carburetors
126BHP at 4,250 RPM
4-Speed Manual Gearbox
Front and Rear Rigid Axles with Semi-Elliptical Leaf Springs
4-Wheel Mechanical Drum Brakes

*A well-documented example of the model
*Simple ownership history
*Thoroughly restored
*Former Greenwich Concours Award winner

THE MOTORCAR OFFERED

A 1949 Autocar road test stated, "The Mark V will trickle through slow traffic at under 10 mph on top gear and pick up smoothly and swiftly where an opening offers. It is smooth and quiet right up into the eighties. It is a car for long journeys that can put 50 miles and more into the hour, one in which 200 miles leave the driver and passengers unaffected, and in which a 400 or 500-mile day would be a pleasure. Yet it is thoroughly tractable for the short pottering or shopping expedition."

Jaguar was already well on its way to a significant sales campaign in the U.S., with East Coast Importer Max Hoffman being the driving force behind the interest in the newly branded post war cars, previously marketed as SS. A man with a great eye for design, his showroom on Park Avenue and his home, just up the road from us here in Greenwich today, at Rye, were both designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Over the coming years his influence at once on the market, and then in directing manufacturers to build what he knew he could sell was revolutionary and profound.

The car we present here was once such example that Hoffman's New York entity retailed. As verified by Jaguar Cars North American archivist Michael Cook, it was built on June 29, 1950 and left the works 16 days later in mid-July. Then, it was supplied in the understated scheme of Gunmetal Grey, with a French Grey Top and Grey interior. Those same records confirm that the car today retains its original motor, number T9967.

Its original owner isn't recorded, but the current owner has been able to confirm that within 7 years the car had become the property of Bob Ryan of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Mr. Ryan would use the Jaguar for a mere year or so before entering the army, at which point the car was retired to a garage for storage. Incredibly, it would continue to rest there for the next 39 years before being discovered by Don Switter of Westport, Connecticut.

As recounted by the seller, its next chapter involved two periods of restoration, first with mechanical aspects such as the engine being rebuilt in the late 1990s by Nizen Machine, of New Haven, chassis powder coated etc. and then from 2011-2014 the present father and son team oversaw its cosmetics attended to. This included a bare metal respray, chrome refurbishment, new top by Quid Blankly, a new BAS Jaguar interior, new wiring harness, all in all a pretty comprehensive rebuild. Completing it, a set of tools were sourced and are correctly fitted within the trunk lid.

In the course of this, the decision was made to put in into another arguably more handsome, but equally period correct scheme of burgundy body, with black fenders and tan leather trim and top. It is undeniably a great look for the car. Since it was finished 5 years ago, a relatively impressive 5,000 miles have been covered in the car, it being used, toured and shown routinely. Events have included here at Greenwich, where it received an award for Best British Touring Car 1946-1959, at the Jaguar Association of New England in 2015 and a 2nd Place award at the British Motor Car Festival in Bristol, Rhode Island in 2017. This striking Jaguar remains in extremely tidy order and is ready to continue to add to that list.

Offered with the car are various copies of bills for the work and Jaguar Heritage information.