Long-term ownership wasn’t on McLaren director Phil Kerr’s mind when he went into a showroom in late 1968. What he sought was one of the first XJ6 models. What he bought, however, was a superb 420 saloon.
ONE OF the last off the production line, the maroon 420 would have looked splendid when it turned Phil Kerr’s head as he dropped into the showroom at Coombs & Sons, Guildford, to buy a new XJ6. It’s not known quite why Kerr decided not to buy an XJ6, but he took delivery of the 420 immediately – at Bruce McLaren Motor Racing, in Colnbrook.
He initially used his 420 for commuting from his home in Walton-on-Thames to the team’s factory on David Road, Colnbrook, and for attending business meetings in connection with McLaren and the Formula One Constructors’ Association. High-profile passengers included team principal Bruce (himself a serial Jaguar owner), Formula 1 and Can-Am Champion Denny Hulme, plus FOCA luminaries Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley. For a while, Ecclestone drove a deeply impressive Mercedes 300SEL 6.3, which Kerr agreed to buy from him in about 1972. Running another executive express meant the 420’s annual mileage tapered off, as evidenced by Coombs’ regular service records. But, Kerr had become so attached to the Jaguar that he never considered parting with it.
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