We've heard many tales of people who discover old classics buried in the back of dusty workshops, but here’s one that stretches that theme a little further.
This dude found an old Jaguar under a bush and returned it to its former glory. That’s right, British model David Gandy discovered the rusted hulk of a 65-year-old XK120 in California, put it through 2 700 hours of restoration, and unveiled the car in Saint Tropez last week.
And what a job they did. Gandy pulled in prominent creatives he knew from his successful career in fashion and worked closely with the Jaguar Classic team back in the UK, to meticulously rebuild every component and fulfil his lifelong ambition to create a “ready to race” classic.
Gandy has fulfilled a life-long ambition by completing the restoration of a 65-year-old original Jaguar XK120.
FOUND UNDER A BUSH: The Jag's restoration began at his stage. Photo: Supplied.
The original car was registered in 1954 as a standard left-hand drive model but was brought to the UK to be restored to Gandy’s specification by the team at Jaguar Classic in Warwickshire, UK.
Taking inspiration from the original XK120 Lightweight model, Gandy’s ambition for the vehicle was to recondition the iconic Jaguar with modern upgrades to make it “ready to race” in popular classic car events.
Gandy said: “Having driven a Jaguar XK120 at Mille Miglia in 2013 and 2014, I knew that I wanted to own one of these incredibly special cars.”