History Hot Rod 1958 Jaguar XK150 Barn(ish) Find

Wow what a great find! My first car was a 1958 xk150 Drophead just like that one. Same color and everything. I sold it in 1969 for $700.00 with low oil preasure and water in the oil. I think I am starting to feel ill now.

 

Words escape me, too cool.
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That is so cool. The only Jag worth owning is one with an American engine. Even if it has a Chevy
Opps that's not right, a C Jag would be awesome, or better yet a D Jag would turn the crank.

 

I didn't baby the one I had, that's for sure! A 19 year old kid in a race car that screamed going straight OR around corners? Oh, yeah! ( Make sure the carb "dashpots" are full)
Biggest problem I ever had was with the "Lucas" electricals ; common to all Brit cars, but weird being from a country where it rains so much.

That is an unbelievable find! Holy Crap!

 

WOW WOW WOW! awesome car and story. I have loved 50s-60s Jags since I was a teenager (70's) looking through the WantAdvertiser!! Always wanted one. Never had the money. Cant wait to see this one done.

 

sweet, In 1961 a dude in out car club had a new one, I rode in it at 130 mph on a rough two lane road, how did we live thru those days.

 

St. Nick needs a red sleigh for sure!

 

That's a WOW! What a beautiful car! I would sell off some early Fords to buy that.
A friend used to have one, and he and I, in my Healey 3000, would road race on two lane country roads south of Jacksonville. That Jag would pull away with ease on long straights. Great cars, great memories.

 

That's pretty awesome --- I'm looking forward to seeing more about it!

Malcolm

 

Glad Santa got a Christmas present. Deal of the day.

 

There are two cars tied for No. 1 on my list...that Jag and a 100/3000 Healey. What a lucky in the right place at the right time find.

 

Holy Crap, indeed; I cannot understand how & why anyone would "store" a car of that caliber outside
for any length of time today! Prices on early Jags and Healeys have gone through the roof in recent years,
even in rough condition, and they certainly are not "a dime a dozen" or prime candidates for American V-8s,
as they were back in the 60's when I had my SBC '56 Healey 100.
If the current SBC is in good shape, you may want to leave it as-is for a while, and drive it gingerly if it has
the stock trans. But I don't have to tell you the car will be worth a bunch more with the legendary DOHC
tucked beneath that "bonnet"!

 

very very cool find

 

Great find! Funny thing though, the stock engine had more HP than that 265, so it's not really hot rodded, but I'd take it any day!

 

Crap, and I thought I was cool.

Nice looking old car, I like '50s jags, and the GM power plant just makes it better for me.

 

I don't know a lot about anything but I know
a little about Jags, I had about 10 of them.
The car looks really good as is to me.
I would get it to run and drive then see
which direction to go. The 265 if stock has
less HP than the Jag came with. With the right
gearing you could get 140 MPH out of that car with about 220 HP
XK engine. If the 265 is mated to the Jag trans already, the trans is
good to about 325 HP. If you bolt in a 62 Corvette 327-300,
you have a hot rod HAMB friendly car that NOBODY
would ever build today. or you could blow it apart, get a Jag engine,
(I could still find one for you in about a week), spend a TON of money
making it stock again, make friends with Jaguar guys, and have a high dollar Jag
that you spent more than high dollars to restore.
BTW, your car is NOT the Roadster, which is worth way more.
And the HAMB friendly sort of goes away!
Good luck with your decision!
KILLER CAR

 

Incredible find! Congrats to a cool car with a great attitude!!

 

Unfortunately, lost them both. Young and dumb.

 

Well...thats just great... now I want one of THOSE too. I need to stop reading about these finds.

 

IIRC, there was a guy in Ca. that did just that, it was an actual business called JTR.
Stands for Jags That Run.

 

http://www.jagsthatrun.com/

 

They won't be much help with a early Jag; most of this is pointed at the Series 1-3 sedans, XJS and newer Jags. The only fly in the ointment is those wire wheels. They were a bit troublesome with stock power, bump it up or add too much weight and they'll go out of round on you. Keep the torque down and lighten it and own a rocket...

For great info, go here: http://jag-lovers.org/ , join, then check the 'lumps' forum (Jags with American power, i.e. lumps of iron LOL). I believe you can even get the OEM service/parts manuals (on CD) here. There was guy on there with a 327-powered early XK, he'd be a great source if he's still there. Don't mention the 'lump' on the XK forum, they'll crawl though your 'puter and try to castrate you.... LOLOL

If you don't change anything else and actually want to drive it, rewire it with modern components; the Lucas stuff is shit. Why do the British drink warm beer? Lucas refrigerators....

 

If Lucas made guns, wars wouldn't start either

 

I don't want to get off on a tangent here but let me ad something
about engine swaps into Jags and traditional.
Back about mid '70's I was a "Jag" guy. Had 3 daily drivers.
One of the biggest "I should have bought that" car stories
in my lifetime was, I had a chance to buy a 1950 Jaguar "Silverstone" roadster.
This was a factory race prepaired all aluminum competition roadster.
I didn't buy the car because it had a 283 Corvette dual quad engine.
It wasn't "stock" so I passed. The engine had been in the car since 1957.

 

How do you sleep at night?

 

I would love it just the way it is! Nice score!

 

Hey cactusl,
Not to hyjack a thread but...
I sleep really good because after doing this for about
50 years I've learned that sometimes what you don't move on
leads you to something even better.
Also, I've learned to leave things together as long as possible to enjoy what is
now instead of what could be later. Seems like I've had tons of fun
leaving what the last guy did alone!
Anyhow a few years later I bought a '61 Aston Martin DB4, (the one
before James Bond), with a 327-Corvette engine and an M-21.
It was a street racer in LI in the early '60's! The original builder was
tired of getting beat on the Long Island Expressway by Corvettes!
Totally HAMB friendly, but I didn't know it then!

 

Tony -- I hope you still have the DB4. It's bitchin'!

 

Whoa!! Well done sir!

 

again not to hyjack.
The Aston is long gone! I never turned a wrench on it
in 4 years. Drove the wheels off it, then found
somebody who wanted it more than I did.
If I had kept it I might never have found the fun
of traditional Hot Rodding!
I never would have had my avatar car!
See what I mean!