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Lot 402

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Lot details

Registration No: JC 3948
Chassis No: 20888
MOT: Exempt

First registered in November 1936
In current ownership since April 1989
Fully restored by SS-Jaguar specialist between 2001 and 2008
Still in impeccable condition cosmetically and mechanically
Invoices on file detailing over £70,000 spent in current ownership
Offered with extensive history file

Following an emergency wartime board meeting in March 1945, William Lyons' SS Jaguar concern jettisoned its prefix initials and their unwanted Nazi connotations. When peace came some six months later, the newly renamed Jaguar Cars - like most British motor manufacturers - felt constrained by the government's `export or die' drive to put various of its pre-September 1939 models back into production (albeit with some minor improvements). Luckily for the Coventry firm, this entailed trying to sell a line-up of 1.5 litre four-cylinder and 2.5 / 3.5 litre six-cylinder cars which still enjoyed an enviable reputation for strong performance, good road manners and well-appointed interiors. Retrospectively known as the MkIV range, the Jaguar 1.5 Litre Saloon sat atop a box-section chassis equipped with all-round semi-elliptic leaf-sprung suspension, lever-arm dampers, Burman worm-and-nut steering and Girling mechanical drum brakes. Its 1,608cc OHV straight-four Standard engine was allied to four-speed manual transmission and promised 70mph plus performance. Utilising the same all-steel body construction as its late 1930s SS Jaguar forebear, the newcomer appeared even sleeker thanks to a revised hypoid bevel back axle that allowed the floor to be lowered by two inches. Nicknamed the `Wardour Street Bentley' on account of its popularity with the glamorous if occasionally decadent Soho-set, the MkIV 1.5 Litre Saloon remained in production until February 1949 by which time some 10,980 cars had been completed. Despite its lack of out-and-out performance, a report of the time, comparing the 4-cylinder 1½-litre with its 6-cylinder siblings, opined that the smallest-engined version of the car was "as is often the case ... the sweetest running car" with a "big car cruising gait in the sixties".

According to an accompanying extract from the Jaguar Daimler Archives from 1989, the SS 1½ Litre offered here was signed off at the factory on the 30^th of October 1936 and first registered on the 3^rd of November that same year. Then, as now, the car was registered JC 3948, with chassis number 20888 and engine number 59307 with body number 0889 fitted from new, finished in Suede Green. UK-registered until 1975, the car was then exported to Co. Cork, only to be re-imported into the UK in 1989, where the current vendor acquired it at auction the same year. Between 2001 and 2007 a full nut-and-bolt restoration was undertaken at leading SS-Jaguar specialist Davenport Cars of Tetworth, Bedfordshire with detailed invoices on file showing in excess of £68,000 being spent on bringing the car to as-new condition. Fastidiously maintained thereafter, the present condition of ‘JC 3948’ can only be described as ‘as flawless as possible’ and it is without doubt the best example we have ever seen. Regularly exercised by the current vendor, the car is said to drive and handle very well and at the time of consignment the engine started up from cold without hesitation or smoke from the exhaust and sounded very smooth on tick over. Offered with a current V5, an old-style buff logbook, an extract from the Jaguar Daimler Archives and a massive History File containing a sheaf of detailed invoices together with photographs of the restoration, this SS 1½ Litre Saloon is possibly the finest example extant and would make an exceptional addition to any collection.

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