Former Jaguar deputy chairman’s classic 1948 sports saloon sold at auction… to his GRANDDAUGHTERS
This classic 1948 Jaguar sports saloon has returned home after nearly 70 years.
ARTHUR Whittaker's granddaughters never thought they would see his classic 1948 Jaguar MkIV sport saloon again.
At least, that is, until they stumbled across it at auction in Surrey earlier this month.
The former Deputy of Jaguar Cars had parted with the magnificent vehicle almost 70 years ago, selling it on in 1950.
Passing through a number of hands since, Whittaker's Jag had undergone a complete restoration before its owner decided to put it under the hammer at Brooklands classic car auction on March 4.
Just by chance, Whittaker's four granddaughters had stumbled across an advert for the impending sale just a fortnight earlier, and decided they had to see it before it was sold.
Initially with no intention of purchasing the car, the group ended up fighting off rival bidders to land their grandfather's jet black classic for a tidy £70,000.
“Once we discovered granddad's Jaguar was for sale, we just had to go and see it”, said Sally Whittaker.
“We had no intention of buying it, but sitting in it before the sale brought back so many fond memories of family outings in his cars that we decided we just had to bid for it."
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“We’d never bought a thing at auction before, but were determined to take it home if we could afford to,” added eldest sister, Lucy.
“It was all a bit of a whirlwind and suddenly, the hammer came down and it was ours.”
One of the last of its kind to be produced, the supreme tourer is fitted with a smooth 3.5 litre, six-cylinder engine, and boasts pigskin hide interior trimmings, burr walnut dashboard and fittings, and a rare sunroof.
The car will find residence at Lucy Whittaker's family home in Kenilworth, ironically just a few miles from the former Jaguar factory in Brown’s Lane, Coventry where it was originally manufactured 69 years ago.