Coombs Jaguar Mk. II 3.8

This Jaguar Mk. II 3.8 is one of only twenty-five original cars modified by Coombs of

Guildford.

Having been a successful driver John Coombs turned entrant for some of the best

British drivers of the fifties and sixties, including World Champions Jackie Stewart,

Jack Brabham and Graham Hill. The family business, Coombs of Guildford was one

of the foremost Jaguar dealerships so it was no surprise that Coombs successfully

entered the British Saloon (Touring) Car Championship with Jaguars.

Initially racing the 3.4 litre MKI, then the MKII and finally the MKII 3.8 litre, the battles

between the dark blue Sopwith and white Coombs cars driven by Jack Sears, Mike

Parkes, Roy Salvadori and Stirling Moss were the highlight of any race meeting of the

time.

Unlike their opposition, Coombs received bare shells from Jaguar and built them into

race winning cars utilising their own modifications. Some of these engine and chassis

tweaks were made available to clients for their road cars. In the early sixties these

made an enormous difference to the performance but at similar increase in price,

probably the reason only 25 cars were so modified.

Chassis no. 206418DN was initially sold to Ruffler & Walker Ltd of Battersea in 1961

and in 1966 the car passed to a Mr Arthur Pullinger of Chessington, Surrey. Contained

within the history file are the original Coombs invoices which confirm that ‘H02909’

benefited from the following Coombs upgrades whilst in his ownership during 1967.

• Engine conversion: £310-4-8

• Fitment of high rate front springs, anti-roll bar, Koni shock absorbers, rear axle

tie bars, high ratio steering box, luggage grid, new top and bottom ball joints,

new steering idler, tuning carburettors and road testing: £133-17-6

• Rear wheel arch modification: £35-0-0

• Fitting Coombs modified exhaust: £30-0-0

• First service on modified engine: £4 17 6

After enjoying the car for several years Mr Pullinger sold ‘206418DN’ to

Mr Leslie Bates of High Wycombe in 1970 and in 1976 he put the car into

storage where it remained unused for some thirty five years.

Following the cars discovery in 2011 the car was acquired by well-

known historic racer and Jaguar enthusiast Shaun Lynn (also the owner

of the Coombs original E-Type Lightweight '4 WPD') who entrusted

marque expert CKL Developments with the re-commissioning. The brief

was concise, completely restore the car whilst retaining as many of the

original panels and parts as possible. Metal work and paint was

undertaken onsite by Neil Dawes of Kingswell Coachworks, the original

interior was refurbished by CA Upton & Son, whilst the engine was

rebuilt in house by CKL itself. During the restoration, Ken Bell

(modification engineer for Coombs of Guildford in period)

authenticated the car including its engine which was found in its

original blueprinted format. The restoration process has been

thoroughly documented and was a feature in the November 2013

edition of Classic Cars Magazine.

Finished in the cars original colour scheme of Carmen red with black

leather interior and period Coombs E-Type steering wheel, this

represents an extremely rare opportunity to purchase an original

Coombs MKII 3.8