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Ian Callum’s superb Mark 2 gets limited production run

13 February, 2015

Late last year, Jaguar’s Design Director, Ian Callum, unveiled his own, completed, project car — a stunning resto-modded Mark 2 Jag. Callum designed the car, which was built by Classic Motor Cars (CMC) in Shropshire, England, over an 18-month time period.

The Mark 2 is powered by Jaguar XK’s modified and uprated 4.3-litre engine mated to a five-speed manual gearbox. The car sits on unique, independent rear-suspension, modernized front suspension, power-assisted rack and pinion steering, and uprated front brakes — the whole design was for a practical, reliable, and extremely exciting daily driver.

Functional louvres adorn the Mark 2’s front guards, the bumpers have been redesigned, and the car sits 30mm lower than factory upon beautiful 17-inch split-rim multi-spoke wheels. Inside, the car boasts a modern entertainment system and red-leather interior resembling the very British smoking jacket.

Mere hours after the car’s unveiling, CMC were already fielding enquiries from people across the globe, asking if they too could buy one. Well, the build of the second of these special Mark 2s is underway as part of a limited run of 12 cars.

Nick Goldthorp, managing director of CMC, said, “It is going to be a left-hand-drive car, and the body is nearing completion. We should finish the vehicle by the end of this year.”

Each car will be specifically tailored to the individual buyer, who will finalize the specification with Ian Callum.

“No two cars will be the same, which makes them more unique. It’s all in the small details that can be tailored, including the gearbox, exterior and interior colours,” said Goldthorp.

With the car currently under construction expected to visit the USA next year, we’ll be keeping a close eye out on its progress and bring you more as it happens.

 

Design accord

28 March, 2025

You can’t get much more of an art deco car than a Cord — so much so that new owners, Paul McCarthy and his wife, Sarah Selwood, went ahead and took their Beverly 812 to Napier’s Art Deco Festival this year, even though the festival itself had been cancelled.
“We took delivery of the vehicle 12 days before heading off to Napier. We still drove it all around at the festival,” says Paul.
The utterly distinctive chrome grille wrapping around the Cord’s famous coffin-shaped nose, and the pure, clean lines of the front wing wheel arches, thanks to its retractable headlamps, are the essence of deco. This model, the Beverly, has the finishing touch of the bustle boot that is missing from the Westchester saloon.

Motorman: When New Zealand built the Model T Ford

21 March, 2025

History has a way of surrounding us, hidden in plain sight. I was one of a group who had been working for years in an editorial office in Augustus Terrace in the Auckland city fringe suburb of Parnell who had no idea that motoring history had been made right around the corner. Our premises actually backed onto a century-old brick building in adjacent Fox Street that had seen the wonder of the age, brand-new Model T Fords, rolling out the front door seven decades earlier.
Today, the building is an award-winning two-level office building, comprehensively refurbished in 2012. Happily, 6 Fox Street honours its one time claim to motoring fame. Next door are eight upmarket loft apartments, also on the site where the Fords were completed. Elsewhere, at 89 Courtenay Place, Wellington, and Sophia Street, Timaru, semi-knocked-down Model Ts were also being put together, completing a motor vehicle that would later become known as the Car of the Century.