My wife's uncle has inlisted my help in selling his 1962 Mark II
saloon. I'm a classic Chevy nut and am familiar with the
difficulty in nailing down a value without inspecting the car. I
took dozens of pictures and found some serial numbers, but forgot
to record the VIN from the title (duh!).

I'm hoping some forum members can offer some advice on how to
determine it's value. Ideally, I'd like to sell it on a Jaguar
forum such as this. Here's what I know.

It's an original So. California car, garaged for majority of it's
life. It has the original black CA plates. The uncle believes
there were two previous owners (1962-1988), both doctors. He
purchased the car in 1988 or so with 92K miles. Some time later,
he had the motor rebuilt and the mechanic reset the odometer, which
now reads about 32K. He drove the car until about 1992 or so, then
garaged it for a modern car. It's sat there since, garaged in
Newport Beach, CA. After the engine rebuild, he had it painted
blue (not sure if it's original Jag blue for that year) from the
original white. I have about a ten invoices for minor repairs from
Performance Jaguar in Costa Mesa, CA, from 1989-92.

The car's paint needs some help, but should clean up nice. The
white interior may have been redone (appears to be fake leather),
the black carpet is bare in some areas, the grey headliner is in
good condition, all hub caps are present (with two in the trunk),
steering wheel emblem missing, chrome beauty rings for the tires
are in the trunk, original tool kit in trunk, spare in the trunk,
and some replacement rubber seals in the trunk. The heater box is
missing. The car has the sports/fog lamps up front. Engine
compartment is clean. Has the automatic transmission. The rear
emblems indicate the 3.8 with Automatic.

I took these numbers from the fire wall tag and hope they're
accurate.
Chassis: 417883BW
Body: S014946
Engine: LB5908-8
Auto Trans: JBC10185
Small aluminum tag near larger # plate reads: J-62-0

To get it running, it would certainly need a tune up and fresh
fluids. The interior would need some attention, at least some
carpet. It appears to be rust free (don't know where the usual
rust spots are!). Rockers, quarters, fenders, trunk, etc. all
appear to be rust free. The uncle is kind of particular about his
cars and wouldn't have kept a junker car, so I believe this is a
pretty solid car.

Any recommendations on a value? Website available to decode #s?
Manheim Gold places a "fair" conditioned car with AT, at $8500.
Any other advice? I can email pictures if necessary.

I'd really like to do my homework before posting it on eBay or
other internet sites.

Thanks
Russ in Sacramento, CA
916-419-3962

Submitted by SE98-32482CJ on Wed, 03/17/2004 - 06:21

While I agree with most of what Pascal wrote I will take issue with the serial numbers. They often determine value as much as any one factor other than condition. If the interior is pleather it is wrong. Jaguar did not do that before 1967 I think. The small tag J-62 is important as it confirms that it is a Cali. car. That is not a Jaguar tag rather a Cali. DOT tag. Good luck selling but without pics value is tough to say. Your description suggests $8k is too high.

George Camp

Submitted by crdsgoold@sac… on Mon, 03/15/2004 - 13:53

Thanks Pascal for your reply. I am headed back to So. Cal this Wednesday and will try to perform some of these "systems checks." I know I could spend hours trying to get the engine, brakes, tranny back into shape, but I don't have the time. I want to see if the engine will turn over, but not necessarily start.

Would it be sufficient to see if the engine will crank over, rather manually or with the ignition? If I lubricate the pistons (via lubrication throuhg the sparkplug holes - can I even do this??), can I turn the crankcase (a wrench on the front end of the crank) or turn over the ignition? I assume all fittings are metric.

Can I hook up a temporary gas line/rubber hose directly into the fuel system (just before the carb)? Or does the fuel tank have an electronic fuel pump.

Assuming a stock motor, what type of battery does it need? Hopefully something I can get at Kragens/Checkers/Sears.

My uncle says the engine was rebuilt (by Performance Jag in Costa Mesa, CA)and then he stopped driving it for a newer car with AC.

I've got about 3-4 hours to tinker around with the car so that I can give the potential buyers a little more detail in it's condition. I hope some of the abovementioned remedies aren't considered sacreligious amongst the Jag crowd. I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks
Russ

Submitted by crdsgoold@sac… on Mon, 03/15/2004 - 13:43

Thanks Pascal for your reply. I am headed back to So. Cal this Wednesday and will try to perform some of these "systems checks." I know I could spend hours trying to get the engine, brakes, tranny back into shape, but I don't have the time. I want to see if the engine will turn over, but not necessarily start.

Would it be sufficient to see if the engine will crank over, rather manually or with the ignition? If I lubricate the pistons (via lubrication throuhg the sparkplug holes - can I even do this??), can I turn the crankcase (a wrench on the front end of the crank) or turn over the ignition? I assume all fittings are metric.

Can I hook up a temporary gas line/rubber hose directly into the fuel system (just before the carb)? Or does the fuel tank have an electronic fuel pump.

Assuming a stock motor, what type of battery does it need? Hopefully something I can get at Kragens/Checkers/Sears.

My uncle says the engine was rebuilt (by Performance Jag in Costa Mesa, CA)and then he stopped driving it for a newer car with AC.

I've got about 3-4 hours to tinker around with the car so that I can give the potential buyers a little more detail in it's condition. I hope some of the abovementioned remedies aren't considered sacreligious amongst the Jag crowd. I don't want to screw anything up.

Thanks
Russ

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Mon, 02/23/2004 - 17:41

Russ

matching numbers are not that critical when it comes to Jaguar... it's a plus... but I think at this stage you have more important issues...

since it sat for 12 years, it's going to take some effort to get it running. fluid change yes and more... carbs and fuel pump rebuild, tank clean up, hoses and belts... etc etc... brakes of course. nothing major but it all adds up. as you know, buying a car in non running condition is always iffy as there could always be something seriously wrong with the engine. plus of course tires and battery.

paint is an issue... if it's an original Jaguar color then no problem. if not, it will affect the value as it means a heavy deduct in concours. also, if the respray is incomplete and the original color shows in places... it obvioulsy affects the value.

interior should be leather... not vinyl... Mark 2 experts can corect me but I don't recall white leather on any jaguars...

California cars rarely suffer from rust which can other wise get very expensive...

I'd guess that $6k to $7k assuming no rust is fair... interior kits probably cost about $5k ... another 5k on the revival mentioned in the first paragraph... will bring it to around $20 which is the price of good Mark 2. if there is no rust and if the paint is good...

why don't you post some pictures here... you can inlcude a picture with each message... just repy in this thread and include picture.

you can also check with the local club for advice... click on club link and go down the list to sacramento club

Pascal Gademer
South Florida Jaguar Club
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe
99 XJR