1969 JAGUAR XJ6 4.2 SERIES 1 LHD, INTRIGUING HISTORY, RECOMMISSIONING PROJECT

1969
JAGUAR XJ6 4.2 SERIES 1 LHD

We
are proud to present for sale this 1969 Jaguar XJ6 4.2 LHD finished in Old
English White with Oatmeal interior. The car runs, drives and is very solid but
is in need of some minor recommissioning before hitting the roads again.

The
Car

We
are sure you have already noticed the diplomatic flag positioned on the front
wing of this Series 1 XJ, well this particular Jaguar comes with a bit of a
story.

Jamie
Treadwell, (The grandson of Sir Charles James Treadwell – first UK ambassador to
Abi Dhabi), decided to embark on an ambitious project to find and restore his
grandfathers diplomatic car and take it back to the UAE for the 50^th
anniversary of their formation.

Now,
whether or not this is the actual diplomatic car that belonged to ‘Jim’ is up
for debate, but the story goes that Jamie and his friend, commenced a search
for the original car, that took them as far as Croatia! When this particular
car was discovered, in Spain, their interest was piqued when a hole in the wing was
discovered that could potentially accept a flag pole, suggesting that the car
was once used in a diplomatic role and, of course, it is the correct year,
colour and model, so you can draw your own conclusions, what ever it maybe, it’s
still a great story!!

Sir
Jim was presented with the number plate ‘AD 1’ by Sheikh Zayed during the signing of
the foundation treaty! The original UAE number had actually been handed down to
Jamie by his grandfather. However, a show plate representation is included with
the car for show purposes. Also coming with the car is a documented story of
the car, Jim Treadwell and his Grandsons plan! It now wears a UK registration
plate having been registered here in July 2021 and is MOT and Tax Exempt. When
it was repatriated to the UK, the car underwent some recommissioning work to make
it roadworthy. It appears that Jamie’s grand plan never came to fruition as the
Jaguar has been in storage for a while and now needs a few jobs attending to,
hence its entry into the Restoration section of our website.

 The Mechanicals

Although
a factory 2.8, someone has thankfully fitted this glorious 4.2 straight six
breathing through twin SU carbs, it starts and runs very well and the auto box
goes into gear nicely. There is an oil leak somewhere around the rear of the
engine that would need looking at and the brakes will need attention, they work
but there is very little assistance, so we would suspect an issue with the
servo. Apart from these 2 issues, the XJ appears to be in pretty good
mechanical order. It will of course want a full mechanical assessment before it
is safe to use on the road (although we have done a little bit of road testing
and all feels very good)!

 The Bodywork

The shell
is in remarkably solid condition throughout, with next to no signs of corrosion,
which you would expect of a dry climate car. This is mirrored by the underside which is in very good condition with the sills, floors and rear jacking points all looking very original and rust free, (Please see our website where there is a collection of underside photos) it
certainly appears to have fared far better than a lot of its UK counterparts. The
paintwork is certainly not the worst we have seen on this era of car, the cellulose
paint build-up from various paintjobs is clear, however it is quite presentable
overall. We are fuss pots hence why it hasn’t quite made it out of our
restoration collection. We would prefer the paint to be refinished however most
would be perfectly happy to use it as is.

 The
Interior

Inside,
it is a delight with almost no work to complete, the leather seats are in exceptional
condition as is the dash. The carpets and headlining are the same! A very nice
place to sit! There are a few electrical gremlins to attend to, such as the
fuel gauge and some of the switchgear. There is a modern blind that has been
erected in the rear screen area, which can be easily removed, however it was
believed that the original car had a similar blind, so a replication is believed
to have been installed for aesthetic by Jamie’s restoration team!

 Summary

This
is an extremely solid car with all the fundamentals of a very easy recommissioning!
We must stress this car would be a very good car with a little tinkering and
some not so late nights in the garage! No rust to attend to which is a delight!
It is an original Left Hand Drive car! The possibility of it being the first
car registered in the then founded UAE is very interesting and quite possible, with some more investigation. We do hold a disclaimer to say that this absolutely
may not be Sir Jim’s original diplomatic car and we cannot prove or disprove that fact!

As with all our restoration projects, we have described our XJ6 honestly and with transparency allowing you to make an informed decision. We also highly recommend that you come and view the car which can be done by appointment at our Tewkesbury HQ, Mon -Sat. 

If you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us, either via Ebay messaging, Email sales@cultclassics.uk or give us a call on 01684 210915 or / text / whatsapp on 07920 851312

For loads more photos please visit our website

www.cultclassics.uk