A week after the unveiling of its updated version of the classic Jaguar Mark 2, Classic Motor Cars (CMC) has announced that what was initially a one-off of the 1960s luxury car, will now go into limited production. Redesigned and built for Jaguar designer Ian Callum, the new Mark 2 enjoys new engineering and interior features to make it suitable for modern day-to-day driving.
"The car was only unveiled to the public just over a week ago but has attracted interest from all over the world," says Peter Neumark, Chairman of CMC. "In my remarks at the launch of the car I said that we would love to build more, but little did I think the response would be so great. Within hours we had received calls from people all over the globe asking if they could buy one. We asked Ian Callum if we could produce a limited run and he has said 'yes.'"
The update of the Mark 2 was built for Callum’s personal use and was unveiled by Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis at the official opening of CMC’s new headquarters in Bridgnorth, Shropshire. According to CMC, the Callum Mark 2 is meant to combine the main features of the original car with updated interior features and tweaks to style and performance suitable to everyday driving.
"I redesigned the car and CMC rebuilt it and reengineered it for my personal use,” says Callum. “I wasn't sure how it would be received but I have been both astounded and delighted with the response. I am pleased that a few more cars are going to be built.”
According to CMC, the replicas are priced at a sobering £350,000 to £375,000 ((US$590,000 to $632,000) with optional body and interior colors.
The video below introduces the Callum Jaguar Mark 2.
Source: CMC
Now, i'm wishing Citroen would bring the DS shape back too ... sigh!
On my list for when I win the lottery.
The internals were chosen by Ian Callum to suit his individual taste- should you be in the market for one of these, I'm sure they would build you the interior you wanted (within reason).
And the price does not seem that excessive when you consider that the modifications are hand-made- in what would be a very small batch- so there would be no 'economies of scale' involved. Compare and contrast with the prices for enhanced Aston-Martins of this era http://www.rswilliams.co.uk/aston-martin-sales/ - and they don't usually modify the bodywork.
Of course, I hear you argue, Jags were always volume cars to begin with, and classic 'James Bond' era Astons were always hand-built (actually in the books Bond drove a Bentley, not an Aston).
My view, however, is that companies like CMC, working to adapt an old Jag design to a standard to please Ian Callum, can pretty much name their price. And it is good to see traditional British coachbuilding skills in use.
Absolutely must win the Powerball now!
Love those MK II's, ever since I first saw the one on Inspector Morse.
This tells me that they don't have the gonads to invest in what they believe in, and build a real assembly line for this (essentially) $100K vehicle - which could easily take the worldwide market by storm.