The car started life in 1959 as a standard 3.8 XK 150 FHC coupe (chassis No. S. 825043 DN). The original engine (VA 1219-8) was later swapped (LB 2049 according the logbook.)
The Production Record Trace Certificate of the Jaguar-Daimler-Hertiage Trust indicates that the original colour was cream with a red interior. The first owner of the car was B.G. W. Haynes. He lived in Nr. Northwich, Cheshire, UK. The car had the number plate 6797N.
The car's colorful life began on the 14th June 1964 when Douglas Hull Ltd. from Finmere, Buckingham, UK, bought it. Mr. Hull owned a garage not far from the Silverstone race track and needed a fast practical car which would also be good for towing. He asked Douglas Wilson Spratt, who was well known at the time for fettling, racing and building fast Sprites, to draw the plans to transform the XK150 into a Shooting-Brake.
In 1968 Wilson Spratt sent the XK with the plans to PEELS of Kingston upon Thames, Surrey UK. There, coachbuilders Alec Goldie and Les Faulkner grafted on a Shooting Brake body and - very important - a towing hook. It was then that the car was first painted metallic grey or gunmetal. There's a rumor that Frank Feeley of Aston Martin had something to do with the swooping design of the rear wings. At any rate this is probably the best looking station wagon conversion of a Jaguar XK.
While the body was being converted, Wilson Spratt modified the engine to a full blown 3.8 S-type race engine (Straight Porthead with original S-Carburettors). Soon the XK (now 150 S-ESTATE) with registration 6797N got attention within the amateur racing circles in the UK and was surnamed the ‘towcar’. It was frequently used by the lat Hon. Patrick Lindsay for towing his famous ex-Bira ERA Remus to its racing successes.
Besides towing the ERA to events, Douglas Hull also entered the XK in Jaguar race meetings and hill climbs with his brother Peter, as you can see in the pictures. Chris Harvey's book "The Jaguar XK" shows it racing on page 110, and in the Book of Roland Urban “Les Métamorphoses du Jaguar” it is shown in hill climb on page 331.
Here's a pretty story that was often told in race circles then: one day 6797 N was towing the ERA to the Tholty-Will hill climb in the Isle if Man. The event was marred with torrential rain throughout the meeting. Douglas decided to enter the XK against Patrick's normally very quick ERA. The XK won the race, because the ERA simply had too much power for the wet road.
The Hull family were keen flyers and members of the Finmere Airfield Vintage Aircraft Club. Bernard Harding, the first later owner of the car, was also a member and remembers Douglas Hull keeping the XK at the Airfield next to the hangar containing his Gypsy Moth aeroplane, fondly known as 'a bag'. It seems that he used the XK to tow the Moth to the runway and back each time he flew.
In 1977 Douglas Hull passed away and the car, now in poor condition, was sold by his wife to their friend Bernard Harding. Harding registered it for three months but was obviously surprised by several technical problems. Undecided what to do with the car, he kept it for approximately 3 years and then sold it on to Rodney Tolhorst. Rodney was overwhelmed by the power of the car and because of this did not drive it anymore. He kept the car until the beginning of 1983 and then sold it to Graham Radcliffe. Graham Radcliffe subsequently owned it for 12 years but never moved it an inch and unfortunately for the Tow Car left it standing out in his yard absolutely unprotected to weather and rain.
1996 the car was acquired by Marteen Staveman, a Dutch car dealer living in England. 1997 Staveman sold it to the Dutchman Peter Janssen in the spite of the fact that the son of the designer Anthony Wilson-Spratt was bidding just a little less at the same time. Peter Janssen and his friend Jacco Mol moved the car to the Netherlands where they restored the car which was in a dreadful condition from bottom up during 5 years. In spring 2003 Peter Janssen sold the beautiful restored car to the Dealer Aaldering in Brummen (Netherlands).
While the latest restoration effort did make the car shin, it unfortunately left out an important detail: the tow hook. Without it, the car had not quite regained its historical nickname …
THE TOW CAR!
Aaldering subsequently sold the car the same year to a Chinese Lady - Judy A. Reyes - who lived in Singapore and worked in Hong Kong. The car was stationed in Germany and Judy Reyes participated at a few events in Europe.
In July 2005 Eugen W. Schmid from Zurich acquired the car. He discovered that the missing tow hook was still with Peter Janssen in Holland and it was transferred to Switzerland. In spring 2006 Eugen Schmid asked the Swiss Jaguar Specialist Georg Dönni to restore the tow hook and to refit it to the car. The XK150 Estate of the late Douglas Hull now had regained its historical identity “The Tow Car”.
In 2006 the car participated at several Rallyes in Switzerland and met during the 30th anniversary-Rally of the Jaguar Drivers Club Switzerland the famous Jaguar-Lady Rose Eaton. Rose’s comment seeing the car:”Oh I know this car, it was quite an eyecatcher at its time!”
Eugen Schmid with Rose Eaton
The famous XK150 ESTATE with nickname the Tow Car is now back on the road! The picture shows it pulling a Riley 1931 Racing Car of Roland Portmann.
The Australian Jaguar Magazine the Tow Car in their issue # 112 in 2003, the Swiss Jaguar Tribune in the issues issues 2005.3 , 2006.1 and 2006.3. The XK Gazette mentioned it in the issue 103/April 2006.
Text by Gary Oxley (2003) completed by Eugen W. Schmid (2006)
