1960 Jaguar MK II 3.8 Sedan

This 1960 Jaguar MK II 3.8 Saloon is a recreation of the 1960 New York Auto Show car. The original had every bit of exposed metal, inside and out, was gold plated. The items included the bumpers, grille, door handles, trim, switches, wheels, tire valve screws, ashtrays, mascot, even the exhaust pipe. The body was 'hand-finished' in white while the interior was trimmed in white 'English glove leather.' Veneers were walnut and two occasional tables were fitted for the rear occupants.

The original 'Golden Jaguar' made its debut at the NY Auto Show and was accompanied by an armed guard from the Burns Detective Agency and Ms. Dorothy McDonough who was dressed to match the car.

After the car was shown, it was sent back to the factory, stripped of its gold, retrimmed, and sold as a standard road car.

Around 1997, the owner of this recreation began researching and gathering information about the Golden Jaguar. He, along with his brother, was able to recreate the long lost Golden Jaguar. They began with a 3.8 MK II and restored the car from the ground-up as the Golden Jaguar using all original or new-old-stock parts. Upon completion, the recreated Golden Jaguar made its concours debut in March of 1999 at the Amelia Island Concours. It was later shown at the Jaguar Association of New England Club Concours, the British Invasion in Stowe, Vermont, the Meadowbrook Hall Concours, and the Greenwich Concours. It won awards wherever it was shown including two at Greenwich: Best European Closed Sedan Post War and Best Debutante.

Since the completion of the restoration, the car has been driven about 100 miles.

By Daniel Vaughan | Jun 2017