2013-02-11 10:53:05 | pauls writes:

Ebay item 2/11/13
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1957-Jaguar-Mk-VIII-Mark-8-sedan-saloon-RARE-manual-tran ...
Opening bid $2,000 reserve not met, no bids 6 days left in auction.

Sellers description:
I found this car in a wrecking yard, for sale as a whole with a frozen engine (it was not being parted - title is clear, no salvage title). I'm pretty sure that it was built from between February and May 1957. After buying it in 1982, I tried to unstick the engine, to no avail. I decided to overhaul the engine.

After pulling it out of the car, with the transmission I took the engine to John Bianchi's Rainier Machine in Seattle. My engine was worked over by the guys who worked on the big Rolls-Royce hydroplane racing engines. My engine got a lot of individual attention that the average overhaul wouldn't. For instance, the pistons and rods are balanced to within 1/100th of a gram, and the individual crankshaft throws were evened to within a thousandth of an inch. This has resulted in an amazingly smooth-running engine.

After I got the engine back and installed in the car in 1984, life intervened. Graduate school and my first job moved me 1,000 miles away. After returning home in 1989, I got married. My wife's job took us to New York City in 1993. We returned in 1997, and I started my career over. Another sojurn in New York in 2007 and 2008. Bought a '58 MGA a year after I bought the Jaguar and have restored it over the last 20 years. And so on and so on until I now realize it's time to sell this car.

THE GOOD AND THE BAD

THE GOOD: This is a very rare model. What makes this car rare is that it has a 4-speed manual transmission and non-power steering. The transmission has one of the nicest shifting actions I've ever felt on a Moss gearbox. You can't rush the shifts, of course, but within its limits it is a sweet-shifting and nearly silent unit (no ball-bearings-in-a-blender sound like so many Moss boxes make).

With the manual steering, there's a great feel of the road totally unlike typical 1950's big car steering. The front suspension has been totally rebuilt with the exception of the tie rod ends, which are in good shape except for needing new gaiters.

The car comes complete with all trim and parts. The interior is all there. At some point before my acquisition, the seats had been reupholstered in dark gray vinyl, but in a pattern identical to the original, and they're in good shape. The nylon over-rug for the rear was removed and stored indoors and is still in good condition, but the main carpets are gone. The door panels are okay, except the passenger's side front which was removed to allow for work on the window regulator. The body is in decent shape with some surface rust but no major rust-through (see pictures). The chassis is solid.

THE BAD: The car is going to need a cosmetic restoration. Carpets, headliner, interior trim, and some wood renovation will be necessary. The body has some minor rust, but none of that skanky rust-through that you see in cars from salty regions. The left fuel tank will need some repair on the bottom, but it's easy to pull out. The trunk floor will need some holes repaired, and all the window rubber will need to be done. The rear window is out of the car because the rubber seal disintegrated, but the window glass is in good condition, boxed and with bubble-wrap. The trunk lid is bent on the right side, because someone tried to close the trunk without releasing the prop. The kink in the trunk lid frame could be welded up.

The brake system doesn't work, although I've had the brake shoes re-lined with heavy-duty linings and the wheel cylinders and master cylinder sleeved with stainless steel. I think it needs a power brake booster.

That's all the bad stuff I can think of.

OTHER GOOD STUFF

The car comes with an original copy of the factory service manual with appropriate supplements, a original copy of the factory parts manual, and an original copy of the driver's handbook (owner's manual). In addition, there are boxes of spares that I have collected over the years that go with it.

When finished this car will be an amazing example of the best combination of British luxury and performance of the 1950's. These are robustly-built, gloriously-appointed, amazing-handling vehicles.

I just wish I had the time to devote to this car.

ABOUT THE PHOTOS

The bare engine on the stand and being installed in the car was photographed after it came back from the machine shop. I know it's red. I was young and didn't know any better. Plus I had seen an XK140 at a Jag club show with a red block and thought that was how they should be. Those photos were scanned from the original prints which have faded, which is why the red has a kind of pink cast.