Ultimate Jaguar Mark II has been given the ‘magic touch’

These days, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are the marques best known for offering souped-up four-door cars off-the-shelf through respective M and AMG tuning houses. But the former racer and Jaguar dealer John Coombs was likely the first to tempt enthusiastic drivers with tweaked saloons back in 1962, when he created a menu of modifications for the already sporty Mark II 3.8.

Born in Chertsey, Surrey, in 1922, Coombs ran the eponymous dealership founded by his coachbuilder father, William, and took up motor sport post-war in both Formula 2 and Formula 3.

He was also a keen club racer during the 1950s, entering a Jaguar Mark I into the Silverstone TT of ’56 (the year in which Jaguar officially retired from competition), subsequently establishing his own team that gave seat–time to a firmament of up-and-coming stars, including Graham Hill, Jackie Stewart, Jack Brabham and Roy Salvadori, who all achieved impressive results on track with Coombs-modified Mark IIs.

The majority of a believed 33 examples built were pure race machines, but a handful of buyers of new road cars asked Coombs to add his magic touch prior to delivery and were able to choose from a range of options from a list divided into ‘Basic’, ‘Specialist’ and ‘Competition’.

Due to their rarity and capability, multiple Mark IIs have been modified to so-called ‘Coombs specification’ later in their lives and examples appear at auction quite regularly. But the car on offer with Trofeo is very much the real deal, because it’s one of the original two Coombs showroom demonstrators.

Manufactured in March 1962 and registered a month later, it was initially supplied to Coombs & Sons in Guildford with a close-ratio gearbox and wire-wheel conversion before being fitted with all available options from the Coombs list (save for a strengthened anti-roll bar) by the firm’s Ken Bell – who came to be regarded as the leading authority on the Coombs Mark IIs and ended up buying this one for his personal use.

That means it ‘got the lot’ in terms of tuning mods, which include everything from a high-compression race engine with lightened flywheel and straight-through exhaust system to a limited-slip differential, long-range fuel tank and upgraded suspension.

The car became the main Coombs demonstrator and was instantly recognisable due to its Carmen Red paint job, unique black vinyl roof and the highly distinctive registration mark BUY 1 (which is no longer with it, although the original physical number plates remain). As well as the multitude of mechanical enhancements, the car also features modified rear wheel arches (without spats), a wooden-rimmed, E-type steering wheel, manually operated choke, reclining seats and hand-made stainless-steel sports exhaust.

With the Coombs engine modifications being claimed to boosting output from the 3.8’s standard 220bhp to as much as 265, the Mark II saloons were said to have been a match for any E-type up to 100mph and handled with far greater aplomb. And if anyone still robbed banks these days, this would surely be the ultimate getaway car.

1962 Jaguar MarK II 3.8 ‘Coombs’
On offer with Trofeo Cars, Norfolk. Asking £235,000. trofeocars.com

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