This One-Of-A-Kind Jaguar Mark 2 Combines Classic Elegance With Modern Reliability

Perhaps the only downside to owning a classic car is that it’ll almost certainly go wrong at some point, and that’s a shame, because there are some simply stunning classics we’d love to daily drive. Older cars weren’t designed with safety and efficiency in mind, which led to some beautiful, imaginative shapes you simply wouldn’t see today.

Fortunately, if you’ve got the cash, there are people who can take those gorgeous designs and make them reliable. Classic Motor Cars Limited is a renovation workshop that fixes up classic cars, often replacing the internals with modern components. When Jaguar designer Ian Callum decided he wanted his own updated Jag Mark 2, he commissioned CMC to carry out the work - and the result is this simply fantastic car.

Aesthetically, Callum simplified some of the car’s oversized features, as well as adding four louvres behind the front wheels to aid heat extraction from the engine. It sits 30mm lower on completely reengineered suspension, including uprated coil springs, roll bars and adjustable dampers. The 17-inch split-rim multi-spoke wheels finish the look off nicely.

Under the hood is an uprated 4.3-litre XK engine, mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The front brakes have been upgraded, however the rears still only have drum brakes, so stopping might be a little nerve-wracking at high speeds.

Ian Callum’s Mark 2 will make its public debut on 3rd September at Salon Prive, Brentford.