Jaguar Land Rover has purchased the largest privately owned collection of Jaguars in the world, buying 543 cars (130 Jaguars) from British collector James Hull.
IN A MOVE THAT’S sure to warm the cockles of the heart’s of Jaguar lovers everywhere, Jaguar Land Rover has announced it has purchased the largest privately owned collection of British cars (543), more than 130 of them are Jaguars.
The collection was assembled by British collector, James Hull, and included significant Jaguar models, including XK SS, C, D and E-types.It also includes, early Swallow Sidecars and Swallow coachbuilt Austin Sevens, a full and diverse range of pre-war SS models, seven XK 120s – including a rare alloy-bodied example, C- and D-types, an XKSS, eight E-types, 30 classic Jaguar ‘Mark’ model saloons plus 19 XJS models and over 20 XJ saloons with interesting and famous previous owners.
James Hull commented, “Travelling all over the world to build the collection over the years has been a labour of love and a life’s work, so my primary motivation was not to get the maximum price (the advertised price was £170 million, but that’s not what JLR paid, or so the rumours go) but rather to secure the future of the collection in this country with the right custodian. I have got to know Jaguar Land Rover well in recent years and … They are the perfect custodians to take the collection forward and I know it is in safe hands.”
According to Jaguar, “the cars in the collection will be actively used to support experiential marketing with customers and for global brand events. A good example of this will be the global launch of the Jaguar XE in early September together with many other events and activities in new and emerging markets. It is in these newly developing markets that heritage can play a key role in establishing and developing the brand”.
John Edwards, Managing Director of Special Vehicle Operations commented: “We are delighted that Jaguar Land Rover has come to an agreement with James Hull to secure the future of this very significant collection of Jaguar and British cars. We share the same objective as James to keep this unique collection in British hands and we are delighted this agreement secures their custody for the future. We look forward to continuing to work with James going forward as we develop our heritage activities.
Speaking with US auto site, Auto Blog, Jaguar’s US spokesman, Dan Connell, said the collection would remain together for the foreseeable future.
