Okay, so this one’s a half-finished car and several boxes of accompanying bits, but put all the pieces together and this is one classic that definitely deserves to be saved – the prototype Jaguar XJC), and the very car that Browns Lane displayed on its stand at the 1973 Earls Court Motor Show.
OHP 21M was also used by Jaguar as a press demonstrator, and comes with letters in its history file confirming that it’d been loaned to road testers in period. It needs its restoration finishing off – no mean feat, of course, but the sizeable stash of spares, including two complete interiors, should make reviving this prototype a little easier.
Bonhams, which is selling it at its MPH sale in Oxfordshire on 20 March says: ‘It’s a very significant car as it heralds the teething troubles of this model - window sealing and roof problems were resolved with much development work and by covering the roofs of the production cars with vinyl.’
We reckon at £8-12k it deserves to be snapped up by a Jaguar enthusiast, and take pride of place at one of the massive rallies planned by either the Jaguar Drivers Club or Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club.
