After nearly 30 years of begging and pleading with my uncle, this '54 Jag is finally mine. Unfortunately, its in pretty bad shape now. I'd like to restore the car to its original roadster configuration, but the custom coupe conversion is pretty unique and deserves consideration. It began life as a '54 xk120 SE roadster and was brought into the US by an airman at Wright Pat AFB in the late 50's. Uncle bought it in Dayton in 1963 and drove it to high school and later to work. Sometime before he purchased it, it was converted to coupe form using a Porsche 356 roof, A-pillars and rear deck. There was a lot of lead used, but little to no plastic. Special drop-in side windows, based on the factory Jaguar side curtains were used to finish off the doors. The style is reminiscent of a Delahaye or Talbot, and is kinda growing on me the more I look at it. I was always under the impression that the car was built in Germany, where the airman purchased it before coming stateside, but recently my uncle said that the work was done in Fairborn, Ohio - near WPAFB. He once tracked down the body shop and asked about the work, but he said they were very secretive about the car. After 50+ years, he has forgotten who it was and where the shop was located in Fairborn. Does anyone recall a body shop or customizer in the area who could turn out a product like this? Who knows, maybe someone remembers the car. Its been off the road since the late 60's or early 70's, so there was a small window of time that it would have been out in public.
I have a friend who lives in Fairborn(Shane Syx)who might know.PM me and i'll give you his contact info.
Lordy... lots of work ahead. The top looks great, though. I can't wait to see a few more pix after it's hosed down a little... Gary
That is a big project, but it sure will piss off the Jag snobs when it is done. Especially if you put some healthy V8 power in it instead of the stock Jag inline 6. The hard roof conversion seems to be quite nice lines.
Wow ... look at that ! Hoping the envy helps the work load ahead. Good luck with the fun roads soon traveled. Be a great save. More pictures at your convenience please.
The reason everyone is so secretive about it is that it was built at WPAFB by Aliens recovered from Roswell who were put into a work release program in the Motor Pool.
What was he saying for those 30 years? "I'll let it rot into the ground before you get your grubby mitts on it!" Anyway, hard top looks pretty neat but I'd like to see a rendition of a complete one. Artists?
Yup, time to "photoshop". When I first saw the title of the thread, I couldn't imagine what someone would do to an old Jag to make it a "custom". Jaguar had a hardtop XK-150 in 1956, but that Porsche roof looks pretty sweet. Too bad it's rested for so long, but at least there's enough to get an idea of what it looked like in it's prime. Unfortunately to get a donor body for that would be mucho dinero. Good luck with it.
I hope to see it done, as a true custom car, cool paint, cool threads, etc. Hope there is a build thread!
Wow that´s nuts. Must have looked pretty good when it was done. Might want to think about straightening out the tops of the doors. Could look nice.
Thats worthy of restoring, it'll be a special car. I'll never forget about 1968 driving down Rt81 in Syracuse NY in a blizzard a Jag XK120 blew past me with no top, the guy drivng was wearing a lambskin vest, bare arms, big enough to be a pro wrestler, mustaches, a viking helmut and going near a 100mph and sawing away on that huge steering wheel. Thats an image I'll carry to the grave.
That was probably Armond Bletcher, a bit of a legend around here...(North of Fresno, Ca.) There are stories about him on the internet...he got around.
That's the best explanation I've heard yet! Here are a couple pics from about 5 years ago. There was a partial roof and side walls on the shed at that time...and a few more parts on the car. Hiding somewhere in there are the cam covers, which walked away later. But thieves completely overlooked the roadster windshield and top bows stacked next to the car, which are worth far more than the covers. Probably hanging on the wall of a mobile home nearby LOL. Also, all the tires held air when I first pumped them up, but not long after the tubes started poking through the sidewalls. One popped and scared a few neighbors.
Love that tube! Looks like out of an old Mickey Mouse cartoon. Need to tie a rag around it. Worked in the cartoons.
Hartin Brothers did a XK150 fastback. http://www.jaguarxk150sfastback.com/ Yours may have looked better. It would be nice to see old photos of it.
Wow, thanks for the link! The approach Hartin Bros. used was much better, starting with a FHC rather than roadster. The roof must be higher in the rear to accommodate the 2 rear seats. On the 120, there's no space for rear seats, just an extra package tray below the window. Love the term "Sebring style" coupe. Pretty neat.
Looks like it was a very pretty car when built, with real nice lines and proportions. A real shame to see it in it's current state, I hope you can fix it.
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