Every now and again we stumble across a very special car... This is this years discovery...
These are fascinating and rare cars, especially in this condition with a genuine 10,000 miles from new ....
They have enviable racing heritage with class wins in the 1951/2/3 Le Mans 24 hour races being amongst many other competition successes.
The aluminium panels were pressed by Miles aircraft and assembled on a steel frame as per super leggera bodies.
The chassis was a tubular design by Dr Eberhorst, late of pre war Auto Union GP fame, then working for ERA who Jowett had commissioned to design the underpinnings to achieve a competitive sports car.
The engine, a 1486cc water cooled flat four (as per the Javelin) was the only production engine designed by Gerald Palmer, then with Jowett.
XBV 450 is a 1951 (serial no 114)originally supplied rhd (One of the last non LHD export cars) through Hoffman Motors in NYC against an order placed at the NY Motor show by a Mr McBride - owner of Van Order Sand & Gravel - for his daughter Margaret to match his XK120.
She ran the car until late summer 52 (when it broke down due (again) to inherent fuel vaporisation blocking the George Washington bridge ! (This was a common problem with the early cars, later ones having louvred bonnets). Mileage was then 7,600.
The car was in store with the McBrides up until 1987 when it was bought by Rick LePre who planned starting a rebuild but didn't get far as he was way too big for the car (cockpit is approx MGA size).
It was then sold on in 92 to Mark Rheinwald, the curator of Ralph Lauren's car collection, who commissioned a body frame restoration by the collection's restorer. The works then petered out whilst a house was rebuilt & the part restored car was eventually put up for sale to help fund that, mileage remaining unchanged.
It was spotted by Scott Renner an LA based restorer and lifelong second generation Javelin & Jupiter enthusiast, restorer and racer, who saw the potential to re build the ca ( to Pebble Beach standards) as the most original spec, best and almost certainly the lowest mileage Jupiter anywhere.
He was duly commissioned by Ron Bennet , a wealthy property developer, British sports car fan & and friend to do just that, without financial restriction,with work starting in 2009, completing in 2012 (I have many may photos and invoices).
Ron had retired & moved away from LA to northern CA prior to final completion, so things such as the beautiful re trim (superbly done in biscuit leather throughout, no synthetics anywhere) were done by a local experts. However, because of geography the car was never commissioned by Scott thereafter.
The concours restored car was imported into the UK in 2016, (mileage 7,800) and enjoyed over recent years, whilst being sympathetically upgraded by its enthusiast custodian.Some of the major items of which included resolving the cooling issues common to all the early cars (un louvred bonnets) by rerouting the fuel system as per later cars, but only where not visible, having an aluminium rad made to the later spec and fitting it with a thermostatically controlled Comex electric fan, again, not visible.
Adding very discrete flashing indicators separately switched from the vulnerable trafficators.
Fully rebuilding the brake system again (wheel cylinder leaks / seizures due lack of use)
Replacing the recon gearbox due chipped tooth on ,2nd gear.
All the mods are done such that they are totally reversible to wholly original if that were desired.
In addition, whilst the whole car had been painted thoroughly internally during rebuild (chassis powder coated) it was fully Internally wax protected with Dynax S50 to better suit the UK climate.
She's a beautiful example of an iconic car . The asking price is well below the cost of the restoration... a bargain when you consider its heritage and remarkable low miles. The car also comes with a comprehensive history file and detailed documentation and photographic record of the restoration .
We would happily take another classic of any value in part exchange and arrange delivery .
Thank you for reading.
Please call Andrew or email
