• 1958 Jaguar MkI 2.4 Manual

    Spectacular original survivor

    26,553 miles from new

    Incredible two-owner example

    'Champion of Champions' finalist

    Matching numbers

    Full history and original buff logbook

    Original documentation and tool kit

    Cover and feature star of The Automobile Magazine

  • An exceptionally original MkI with only two owners and 26,553 miles from new.

    While both racing and getaway drivers may have made the MkI and MkII infamous, the protagonists from both the pit lane and Her Majesty’s Pleasure ultimately ensured that many Jaguar saloons led far tougher lives than intended. But the MkI 2.4 you see here is perhaps the best-preserved example to survive.

    With County Motors of Eign Gate Hereford offering a generous part exchange on his Ford Zephyr, as shown by the original sales invoice on file, this Jaguar was bought new by Mr. Rhys-Powell on 24th May 1958. Finished in British Racing Green, and with the elegant disc wheels and rear spats, the MkI would have been quite the gentleman’s express.

With a number of cars at his disposal, Mr. Rhys-Powell used the Jaguar sparingly and hardly at all once he’d bought a new Rover in 1966. Eleven years later local garage owner Fred Lloyd was asked to fit a tow bar to the Rover and spotted the Jaguar in storage. Impressed by the condition of the car, he struck a deal and became just the second owner of RVJ 620.

A trained motor engineer Mr. Lloyd used his evenings and weekends to carefully re-commission the MkI after the years of little use. His efforts were rewarded at the 1978 Weston Park JDC Concours, the judges recognising ‘RVJ 620’ as the best MkI of the show. From that day on the Jaguar led a pampered life and became a concours regular, scooping prize after prize as the years rolled by. This car's importance was acknowledged once more in 1987, when it became a finalist in the Jaguar Drivers Club 'Champion of Champions' award, and again in 2005 being specially invited to Browns Lane for the 50th anniversary of the MkI.

Throughout Mr. Lloyd’s 39­ year ownership RVJ 620 has been cherished and preserved immaculately as you can see today; even the hand-painted door shuts are still perfectly intact.

To complete the full package this important MkI retains its original buff logbook, guarantee card, service voucher book, owner's handbook, concours certificates and full toolkit. The latter even features the brass tyre valve removal tool and flexible brake bleed tube in its original Dunlop tin.

Recognising this MkI's outstanding importance, The Automobile Magazine requested to feature it as the cover and feature car in their August 2020 issue. (A selection of Tony Baker's stunning images from the photoshoot can be seen here.)

One of the finest MkI Jaguars remaining, a reference of originality for the model and a guaranteed showstopper.