1958 Jaguar XK150 XK-150S Roadster

This XK150S was originally finished in black and was officially manufactured on September 12, 1958, and exported to Jaguar Cars New York just over two weeks later. The car has been repainted Carmen Red and its original 3.4-liter engine was replaced with a 3.8-liter motor which debuted in the D-Type race car and became available in the XK150 towards the end of the model's run.

By the 1980s, the XK was owned by Harvey Blake Jones of Nevada, whose untimely passing prompted his mother, Bonnie Kohler, to restore the car in his honor. In the 1990s, the car was purchased by Mathew Thomas, a principal at Hornburg Jaguar in Los Angeles.

This car was awarded a 2nd place award at the 1999 and 2000 Santa Barbara Concours d'Elegance and Best in Class wins at the 1998 XK150 National Event, the 1998 JOCCA Concours in San Luis Obispo and the 2000 JCNA Concours d'Elegance in San Diego.

In September of 2001 the car was sold to an East Coast collector who treated the car to engine upgrades and some mechanical freshening. Over the course of 2002 and 2003, the owner retained Vantage Motors of Stamford, Connecticut, to conduct almost $50,000 of mechanical work, including a rebuild of the engine with an increase in displacement to 3.8 liters, matching the specifications of the later, more powerful XK150 S examples. To accommodate the upgrade, other performance modifications were made on the camshafts, crankshaft, pistons, cylinder head, and flywheel, as well as the brakes, suspension, radiator and authentically restored the wiring harness.

In 2010, this Jaguar XK150 S was offered for sale at the Gooding & Company Auction held in Amelia Island, Florida. The car was expected to sell for $100,000 - $130,000. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $104,500, inclusive of buyer's premium.

The new owner subsequently installed a new 5-speed gearbox. In 2012, the car was sold to its present owner, a New York based collector. Since that time, the car has been driven sparingly and serviced as needed.

By Daniel Vaughan | May 2013