The 1950s Jaguar XK120 sports car that cost its owner just £180 is now worth a staggering £100,000
The Jaguar XK120 was bought in 1969 for just £180. After nearly 50 years of ownership and use as his everyday motor Malcolm Brock is finally parting ways with the roadster
A pensioner who paid £180 for his Jaguar is cashing in with the classic 1950s sports car now worth £100,000.
Malcolm Brock, 68, bought the Jaguar 1951 XK120 roadster as a fresh faced 19-year-old in 1969.
But he's now finding it tough to get in and out of the low slung roadster as he approaches his 70th birthday.
He's sad to see the classic motor go having been a loyal servant to Malcolm over the last 50 years - including driving daughter Tracey to her wedding 20 years ago.
It's competed in a number of hillclimb events and also used it as an everyday run-around for several years - racking up 300,000 miles.
And after a 2010 restoration has been returned to its original bronze bodywork after a botched red paintjob blighted it for years.
Shortly after buying the car, and having always dreamed of owning a red Jaguar, he gave it to a friend to spray paint.
But they completed the work outside and the paint dried with several dead insects in it.
It's now tipped to fetch £100,000 at auction as it's one of the finest XK120s still around.
The 3.8-litre roadster comes with a Heritage motoring certificate and modern disc brakes.
Malcolm is set to make a fortune having originally bought it on the cheap - and has his eyes on a new F-Type.
The retired mechanic from Torpoint, Cornwall said: "When I first bought it you could buy old Jags and Aston Martins for next to nothing - it was my rich mates who had Minis and Metros at the time.
"I've taken good care of it but it is amazing to think what it's worth now.
"If I could get myself something more modern, like a Jaguar F-Type and still pocket a bit of cash, that would be great."
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Matthew Whitney, head of the classic car department at Charterhouse Auctioneers, said: "The Jaguar XK120 roadster has always been a sought after car, but what a car it must have been to own as an architecture student in 1969.
"Rarely do you come across cars which have had nearly 50 years of continuous ownership.
"Personally I have owned about 80 cars in my life so for one person to keep a car for so long is a rare find."
The car is being sold by Charterhouse Auctioneers in Sherborne, Dorset on February 11.
