By Malcolm Reith
To follow up on the excellent article regarding Ian Callum’s Mk 2 Jaguar and the question posed at the end of the article: “If it’s ok for the head of Jaguar Design to modify a perfectly good original does that justify the movement to modify original classic cars or do you think he should just restore it to original spec?”
My response is that If a classic car is not kept as a concours original car, is not historically important, and going to be driven regularly or used competitively, if in keeping with how the car would have been modified in period, then why not?
In Vancouver, the Mk X Jaguar modified by RX Autoworks a few years ago was stunning, as was the Mk2 owned and modified by BAS Auto.
Taste is certainly in the eye of the beholder, and more often becoming a rare commodity as could be seen at the 2013 Vancouver Auto Show with the “bling factor” being applied to what used to be “tasteful” cars such as Bentley. However far be it from me to criticize, as I also have been accused by the “purists” of lacking taste in the modifications in my E-Type Jaguar.
View some of the modifications I’ve carried out, and by all means judge for yourself.