Over 30 classic Jaguars come to light in a British greenhouse
We’ve seen barn finds aplenty, broken out the shovel for a sinking ’50s Chevy truck, and heard of cars in hedges and buried on beaches. Someone even discovered a Bond submarine car in a storage unit. A greenhouse find, though? That’s a new one.
The folks at Beaulieu Garage, a British classic car restoration shop and dealership, got a call to evaluate a private local collection of roughly 30 Jaguars found in an old greenhouse. Most are E-Types, says the garage in a Facebook post, and of those, many are earlier ’60s models.
“We have spent this week recovering these cars and they are now at our storage facility,” Beaulieu Garage says in a Facebook post dated November 28. “Condition-wise, there’s a few you could probably get running in a couple of days, but most are more long-term projects. All definitely need some work before they are put back on the road.”
Abandoned cars are, almost always, in need of some significant TLC, but some storage conditions offer unexpected protection. This old steel and aluminum race car was buried on the beach by the sea, and while the salt-water-soaked sand ate through the aluminum, the steel components of the engine and gearbox were preserved. Barns, while likely to house upholstery—and wire-nibbling rodents, shield cars from paint-damaging UV rays.
A greenhouse is not a Jaguar’s best friend, even a British Racing Green E-Type. This greenhouse has the advantage of a concrete floor, so none of the Jaguars needed to be unearthed, but the glass panels let in UV rays and lock in moisture. Hello rust, my old friend…you’ve come to oxidize again…
However, Beaulieu Garage sounds optimistic. “All will see the road again I’m sure,” the garage’s Facebook moderator wrote. Some of the Jaguars Beaulieu Garage found did hunker under tarps, flung by some anonymous, caring hand. Not all the cars need full restorations to run again, but each will need work before merrily chuffing down British lanes.
“We are still cataloging exactly what we have and will be posting the cars up for sale with lots of pictures soon,” the Beaulieu Garage post reads, “so please follow us for updates.” As of November 29, the garage advertised a 1960 XK150 as “the first of our barn finds available.” We’ve reached out to the garage to help determine whether this left-hand-drive, 3.8-liter drophead coupe is one of the greenhouse Jaguars.
Got an E-Type fan on your Christmas list? Might be worth keeping an eye on the garage’s Facebook page.
