1955 Jaguar XK140 MC OTS For Sale

S 810424, an original number-matching 1955 XK140MC OTS with 15,569 actual miles and an interesting history, is available for purchase. It is deserving of the title of one of the rarest Jaguars ever produced.

Before I explain why I feel obligated to explain how this remarkable bit of Jaguar history was discovered some 25 years ago, in the summer of 1998, near the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia,

In a conversation with my father-in-law, he told me about what he thought was a Morgan sticking out of an old barn near where the school was that he was helping to build. I went there the very next day in the late afternoon, and as I gazed across the fields on that summer day, I saw a grill glinting in the sun. I still remember my heart skipping a beat with excitement as I realized, “That’s not a Morgan, that’s a Jaguar,” I said to myself. I immediately set out to find out how I could get there, as there were no visible roads. I went down one back road after another until I finally found the right barn. I knocked on the door of the white farmhouse, and an older gentleman came to the door. I explained why I was there, and after a few minutes, he agreed to show me the car. It was up on jack stands, facing a large, open doorway.

I noticed that the license plates were from 1967. Curious, I asked him why. He paused for a long time and then said, “I bought the car just before I was drafted into the Vietnam War. When I got back, I just never drove it again.” By the expression on his face and his tone, I could tell the subject was not open for further discussion. Then he turned to me and said, “What is it worth?” At the time, I was a relatively young man of 35 years old, but even at that age, I had owned my own Restoration shop for 11 years and had been working in the field professionally since I was 19. Based on my experience, I told him, “The current market value of a typically restored 1955 XK140 MC OTS was at that time $80,000.” He then smiled and said, “Many people have come to my door trying to buy his Jaguar, but I was the first to tell him the truth.” He then added that he had taken the car to a well-known restoration shop in the area called White Post Restorations, and they had told him the same thing, but he did not have the funds to restore it.” Because of my honesty and my promise to restore the car one day, he sold it to me at a very reasonable price.

When I got the car home, I began to research it because the car made no sense. Chassis number S 810424 begins with the prefix S, which according to all the Jaguar books I owned, including Original Jaguar by Philip Porter and Jaguar XK 140/150 in Detail by Anders Lilley Clausager, to mention just a few, this 1955 XK140MC OTS came with a red cylinder head along with a Type-C badge on the rocker covers. But it did not, and yet the photos show the engine number G 2615-8 (G 2615-8S on the production certificate), along with the identical number G 2615-8 on the front of the cylinder head, which matches the ID plate. How could this be, I wondered? The G suffix denotes a standard engine. So, I was very confused, and I wondered how a number-matching 1955 XK140MC OTS could come equipped from the factory with a standard engine. How could Chassis number S 8140424 be real?

After years of digging, I discovered this little-known bit of Jaguar history that makes S 810424 so rare and unique. It was manufactured on December 7, 1954, at the very end of the first year of production for the XK140 model. On March 9, 1955, it was delivered to Major Howard W. Densford by RM Overseas in Frankfurt, Germany. Here is the bit of Jaguar history I discovered that makes S 810424 so unique: The Jaguar factory had made a mistake. It had produced 5 or possibly 6 XK140MC bodies but lacked the traditional red Type-C cylinder-headed engines for the SE (special equipment), or MC as they are known in the US market, so the decision was made to install standard engines into these final few SE (aka MC) cars and stamp their ID plates accordingly. Why do I say 5 or 6 cars? Just a few years after S 810424 rolled off the factory floor, the Jaguar factory suffered a devastating fire. Some records were lost, and others were damaged, so we cannot dogmatically say if there were 5 cars or if there were 6. But what we can say definitely is that according to all known sources, including the Jaguar Heritage Trust, the official keeper of the records from this period, who also verified the authenticity of S 810424, it is the only known example of this rare bit of Jaguar history known to have survived.

Originally, I planned to restore S 810424 and keep it for myself. But life changes. So, at this time, S 810424 is being offered to the public in two formats: First, with a price of  (CALL FOR PRICE) in as-is condition, which can be restored at a shop of your choice. Secondly, it is being offered for (CALL FOR PRICE) with the stipulation that S810424 be restored at Smitties Classy Chassies Inc., which is my shop in Bluemont, VA. A Restoration Agreement will apply, and the discount will become null and void if, for any reason, S 810424 is not restored at Smitties Classy Chassies, Inc. in Bluemont, VA, if this option is chosen. I’ve kept S 810424 safe for 25 years; and plus, he is now running. Now it's your turn. Give me a call or send me an email.

All the best,

Glenn Smith

(Call for Price)