By: IOL Motoring Staff
Silverstone, Northamptonshire - Collectors will tell you provenance is even more important than condition when it comes to the value of a classic car. In other words, where it's been and who's owned it.
And provenance doesn't come much better than this: A Jaguar Mk X specially built for the founder of the company, Sir William Lyons. More than that, this was one of the very first special-order 'Zenith' cars to be made, by what would now be termed the bespoke division.
This car was built in December 1961 to Lyons' exact specifications and registered at his home address, Wappenbury Hall in Warwickshire, during January 1962.
It has the top-of-the-range 3.8-litre XK straight six, giving it a top speed of close to 200km/h, and the new-for-1962 four headlights over distinctive new chromed bumpers and vaned grille.
The interior is trimmed in selected leather, with carpeted footwells and walnut woodwork (note: woodwork, not veneer), including extras such as rear picnic tables with built-in angled make-up mirrors and electric rear windows - very unusual at that time.
Lyons used the car as his daily transport for three and a half years, after which it was sold to Jaguar dealership in Cheltenham; they sold it to a local customer in 1968, who kept it until his death in 2012.
Jaguar Heritage
The next owner kept it for only two years before selling to its current custodian, who had it restored to near-concours condition and then took it back to the Jaguar Heritage division, successors to the original 'Zenith' department, more than 50 years after it was built there, for final checks and some small trim parts unobtainable anywhere else.
It's finished in the original dark green with beige leather trim, and still has its original registration number. After 55 years and five owners, its odometer shows a little more than 71 300 miles (114 000km) and, of course, its provenance is beyond question.
It will be sold by auction at Silverstone Auctions' Salon Privé sale, to be held at Blenheim Palace on 2 and 3 September, and it's expected to fetch between £75 000 and £100 000 (R1 400 000 - R1 875 000).
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