FODENWAY wrote:
What wonderful news and photographs - is it possible that this beautiful replica was built on the chassis of my uncle's old car?
Thanks for the update,
Kevin.
As far as I know most of the model cars which Oxford Diecast has produced are replicas of real existing cars with the proper reg.#. They have done this with all Rolls Royce and Bentley models which I have collected, with the exception of the latest yellow and black Phantom III, which is just a different color variant.
I also have a lot of O.D. Jags MK VII/VIII and IX; all I have to do is search for the real car it was based upon. I am pretty sure they will be existing.
That cream MK VIIM with reg.# PBT55 was launched by O.D. about 3 years ago. I would say they must have had knowledge of the real car, otherwise they could not have copied it. Which brings me to the idea that the car still exists. It is hard to image that they went through all the trouble reproducing a car which ended up in a scrapyard many years ago, that does not make sense to me.
As to the reg. # that is a question mark which needs further investigation.
The XJ13 is a mid engine chassis configuration whereas a MK VII has a conventional front engine lay out. So I do not think the chassis has been swapped.
Although I am not 100% sure I have a feeling the MKVIIM (still existing) has been sold to France (in the past three years) and has been re-registered with a French reg. #, probably the car in the back of the second picture is that very car. The pictures were made at a race in France. It has the split windscreen which is typical MK VII. So maybe the reg.# PBT55 was retained and transferred to the replica XJ13 (speculation).
This is the description O.D. gave to the cream Jag., does it sound familiar to you, presuming you knew how your uncle's car looked like:
Our replica of the VIIM is finished in a pale ivory cream with cream wheel trim ring and a black chassis. The interior has red seating, cream 'carpet' with the remaining features finished in brown with a black steering wheel. Registered PBT 55, notable additions to the model include a manual transmission steering wheel, the gear stick fitted to the central transmission tunnel and shorter 3-rib bumpers. Fine details include chrome window frames and radiator grille, in addition to the bumpers.