The most original XK140 we have ever seen

"They thought I was mad when I first saw the car," exclaimed Ian Mills (Twyford Moors manager) as we unloaded this very special car. "They just couldn't understand why anyone would get excited about a rusty old car in a barn." As it turns out the car in question is no ordinary car.

Three days earlier Ian had set off for Scotland to collect an XK140 DHC for a customer who had acquired the car. All we knew was that it had been in a barn for some time and hadn't seen an MOT or tax disc for many years. On the Friday I received a rather excited phone call from Ian asking if I could come in on Saturday morning to help unload the car and that it was worth getting some photos of.

None of us had anticipated just how amazing and exciting this 'barn find' would be. On arriving at the location of the car Ian discovered a nice dry garage where the car had been stored since the early 1970s and had remained largely untouched since. The car was complete and apparently, the engine would even turn over. The owner then produced the most fantastic array of historic documents for the car including the original compliment slip from Jaguar, the original Jaguar guarantee, a few tax discs and some lovely period photographs. He even had the old registration documents showing that the car has had one owner from new. The speedometer currently reads 11,206 miles, which is believed to be the correct mileage for the car however we are trying to find firm documentary evidence for this. The condition of the car certainly suggests that the mileage is correct.

Once we had unloaded the car we set about accessing the condition of the car. It turns out to be complete in every way including the original toolkit and a valve radio under the bonnet. After a good look around the car, we accessed the claims that the engine turned over. We checked and topped up the fluid levels, popped some oil down the bores and the engine did indeed turn very freely by hand. We then tested the battery, which remarkably was still holding its charge. On turning on the ignition we discovered the fuel pump was in a dangerous condition with a loose live wire sparking against its terminal and fuel pouring out. After a quick fuel pump swap, we once again turned the ignition on, pressed the starter button and the engine turned. After only thirty seconds of cranking the engine burst into life and quickly settled down to a very respectable tick-over, although a lack of exhaust on one side does make it sound a bit like a lawnmower.

You couldn't have wiped the smiles off of our faces. Such a remarkable car and it just kept getting better. All the lights worked, except for one side light, the wipers worked and even parked and the brakes even work and pull the car up straight.

After removing a few dead rats and some rather fetching leopard print seat covers the interior showed itself to be in incredible condition. Indeed after a wash and polish, the body and the chrome are rather respectable too. The grille and bonnet badge are almost mint and the door gaps are among the best we have ever seen. This car could almost have a service and MOT and then be used as it is.

News travels quickly in the XK world and after a couple of days, Philip Porter of the XK Club came to view the car. Mr Porter is currently compiling photos and information for the new edition of his book Original XK and a rare, untouched XK such as this proved to be a valuable source of information for him. Mr Porter says, "I was delighted to see this 140 DHC when I visited Twyford Moors yesterday in connection with the new edition of Original Jaguar XK I am currently working on. It is quite remarkable how XKs such as this are still emerging."

The future of this car is still to be decided and it will be very hard to decide how much work should be done on the car. One thing we know is that the owner has no intention of selling the car and it is nice to know that it will be staying in the same family. We will leave the final word on this car to Philip Porter who said, "This car appears very original in many ways and just reeks of period atmosphere! I like cars in this condition and there are now so few left. A great find."