Description
By: Jaguar World Monthly .
It was, like them all, going to be the proverbial `easy restoration'. A substantially rust-free XK 150 from sunny California, with just minimal bodywork, a repaint, retrim and a new engine needed. Then we'd be there, within a year at the outside.
Of course, it didn't work out like that, and you will read in these pages that what transpired over some four years was an absolutely total, last-nut-andbolt restoration. Every single component on the car was replaced or refurbished, and numerous upgrades to improve the car for today's conditions were built in too - though with due care not to spoil either the period looks of the car or its essential character.
As I write this as the book goes to press in 2003, I've been driving our XK 150 for a couple of years, and I can safely say that my vision of a `practical' XK has been achieved. The car handles, goes and stops like a machine 20 years younger. The project certainly reaffirmed my faith in the Jaguar XK as a remarkable sports car of supreme elegance and great competence. I hope the project might serve as an inspiration to other would-be XK restorers or owners who can now benefit from our experiences - good and bad!
In closing, I would like to thank Jim Patten for tirelessly progressing much of the work, Paul Roach for picking up a half completed car and successfully finishing the project, and all the suppliers and specialists whose help with parts and services was vital.
The restoration road may be a long and arduous one, but if you like XKs, it's all worth it in the end.
Paul Skilleter
January 2003
Jaguar World Monthly
