The MK 10 has always intrigued me. Here was the logical follow on from the MK 7/8/9 series where Sir William had taken the latest developments in unitary body construction, independent front and rear suspension, power steering, magnificent furnishing and a modern body line to produce a very advanced car in 1961.Yet it must be the most ignored for restoration vehicle that Jaguar ever produced. Mention of a MK10 has produced cries of derision from most enthusiasts. "Wot do yer want a bloody great tank like that for". All too many of them have been wrecked for the independent rear end so beloved by the hot rodders and quite a few of the 3.8 litre engines have found their way into MK1 and 2 cars.

I have bitten the bullet and purchased a MK 10, which is in what I would describe as "fair" condition. It is pretty similar to a number I have previously seen having been off the road for a few years and now being sold by family children who have inherited the previously loved but now unloved car. In this case it was blocking up the shed and was a non-runner but nobody knew why. The price I paid was fair as I realised that this unique car, which is a manual overdrive model, could yield more from being wrecked than my original outlay. It even has a near new set of tyres that are about 3 years old but are of no use to any other Jaguar model as they are uniquely 14-inch wheels.

I had it delivered home on a flatbed truck. It took about an hour of mucking around to remove the distributor and replace the points and condenser. As the fuel pumps refused to work I rigged up a gravity feed to the carbys. Very soon after I had the engine running – a little ragged but steadily improving and not too smoky. I do however suspect that it has a loose cam bucket.

There are definite problems with the submerged fuel pumps and it is suspected that the clutch plate is "gone" but these areas are still being explored as I write. The fixes to these problems are relatively simple and not too expensive if you do it yourself.

The biggest hurdle was telling Honor that we now have another Jaguar and watching her face go through the many contortions/emotions that involved as she thought that I was into a "Jaguar culling programme". I.e. a reduction in herd numbers. Well I am really - it is just taking time to happen, that’s all.