Chassis No. P 212850 BW

Beacham Cars of Havelock North, New Zealand, first made their name converting Aston Martins to utilize the best of an original car's styling while completely modernizing the drivetrain to have fully modern performance. They soon expanded into the world of Jaguars. Unsurprisingly, the firm's masterful, high-quality conversion work on two of Jim Taylor's favorite marques soon came to his notice, and in 1999 he arranged to order himself this Beacham-built Jaguar Mark II.

Based on a U.S.-specification, left-hand-drive Mark II, the car was stripped to its bare essentials and utterly transformed. Presented with Beacham's 'menu' of performance options, Mr. Taylor selected the best and hottest of everything. Power would be provided by a Jaguar supercharged V-8, mated to an automatic transmission, cooled by an aluminum radiator with hand-made ducting, and exhaling through stainless steel exhaust, with the drivetrain filled out by the front and rear suspension, power rack-and-pinion steering, power four-wheel disc brakes with ABS, and electrical system from the donor car, and wheels shod in Michelin Pilot Sport tires.

The interior was outfitted with a modern steering wheel and column, shifter, and fascia with instruments to suit, all sourced from the same XKR donor car as the drivetrain, as well as six-way power bucket seats with headrests and rear picnic tables, shoulder belts, air conditioning, electric power sunroof with windbreak, and an excellent modern stereo sound system with CD changer. Throughout the level of fit and finish is superb, with the body finished in Sikkens Dark Green Mica paint, and Wilton wool carpeting even used to line the trunk – justifying a final price of over $170,000.

The car was completed and shipped to Mr. Taylor in 2000. It was then sorted for regular use, after which it accrued, by the time of cataloging, 17,911 miles. It remains in fine order and as thrilling a piece of machinery as it was when delivered – a perfect balance of classic lines with modern handling, performance, and reliability.