A forgotten 420G - Die Klassiker Werkstatt

Mark X/420G Forum
The Flagship Saloons of the 1960s
incorporating the Daimler DS420 limousines
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A forgotten 420G
Joachim
Lausmann reports
on a rare German
420G find, that
has been saved
from possible
destruction.
T
he car in question was
produced in the autumn of
1967, finshed in Opalescent
Gunmetal with black trim,
under chassis no. G1D 77352 BW. At
the time of delivery to Germany the
list price was 34,970 German marks,
delivered to the agent Brandes in
Munster-Nienberge. The car was
registered on 21st December with
licence plate MS-EM 240 in Munster
and it appears it retained that
number until around 1973/4. The
last entry in the well documentated
maintenance history shows 13th
August 1973 at which point the
car had covered 33,600km.
What happened after this is not clear as
Genuine mileage and definitely a car
worth saving.
86
JAGUAR ENTHUSIAST April 2013
the car may have spend around thirty eight
years standing, as in 2012 it was uncovered
in a garage, still with a mileomter reading
of just 37,809km! The original owner had
died and his son acquired the car in 2012,
asking a specialist to refurbish the 420G.
At the same time a Jaguar specialist
Marcus Kuempel (www.kuempel-jag.de)
was looking for a such a car on behalf of
a Swiss customer. A Bernd Lang had been
commissioned to take a look and check the
car over in early June of 2012. Bernd, also a
Jaguar enthusiast and owner of a dark blue
420G, identified the Gunmetal car as being
sound and healthy, virtually rust free. A
deal was done and the car was transferred
to Marcus’s garage in Rodemark.
Despite the clean bill of health the
car still wanted a lot of work carrying
out. For example the paint was very
bad, rough and dim from the many
years in storage. The leather was dry
and bleached, the wood veneer also
dry and rough to the touch, some
damaged by moisture. The headlining
was dirty and there was a general
unpleasant smell about the interior.
The new Swiss owner wanted a thorough
restoration carrying out so the car was
transferred to the garage of Volkmr von
Wittern in Miltenberg, another specialist
car restorer (www.klassikerwerkstatt.
com) The car would be looked after well
amidst the Maybachs, Horchs, Bentleys
and Bugattis that they have restored.
The work began in December 2012,
with all the trim removed and the decades
of dirt dealt with. The leather trim has
been painstakingly treated daily to bring
back that lovely black lustre to the finish.
The headlning and carpets have been
biologically cleaned several times and all
evidence of the horrible mouldy smell has
disappeared form the inside of the car.
The leather was sound if damp.
Above & Right: Examples of
how well the original black
leather seat panels came up.
The carpets, although still intact, were never of a very good
quailty when new and definitely needed replacing.
It’s amazing what you can do
with a bit of elbow grease, the sill
treadplates came up rather well.
New boot
panels were
required,
an easy
find and fix
these days.
All the wood veneer needed careful refurbishment.
April 2013 JAGUAR ENTHUSIAST
87
Surprisingly with painstaking work on
the multiple layers of dirt, the exterior paint
finish has come back and the same careful
treatment was afforded to the chrome and
other trim. Some trim, like the door cards,
carpets and boot liners have been replaced.
At the time of writing Volkmar is working
on the interior wood veneers. Then it
is down to checking and cleaning up
the engine bay and looking after other
areas like perhaps changing the rubber
seals, etc. It’s great to see another Mark
X/420G saved and we will report back on
the findings when the car is complete.
The engine has now been worked on,
cleaned up, etc., although there are still
things to do at the time of writing.
The interior already back together.
A well sorted car
now, already
back together
and on the road.
Affixing a new headlining.
It’s also amazing how well the chrome had
survived after such long term storage.
88
JAGUAR ENTHUSIAST April 2013
Unusual additional rear
number plate lighting
on this car and the Editor
has some mis-givings
about the suppoed
colour of Gunmetal. This
to him looks far more like
Opalescent Silver Grey!