ROMA – Buy yourself a car as magnificent as only a 1967 Jaguar MK II can be, have it customized according to your tastes and whims and then leave it in a warehouse because you don’t have a driving license. To the many extravagances of Noel Gallagher (guitarist and co-founder of Oasis who plays with his right hand despite declaring himself left-handed) is added this somewhat bizarre story linked to his passion for engines.
Let’s start from the end: after several changes of hands, the Jaguar is now at a dealership near Oxford and is on sale for £145,000. However, it all began in the late nineties, in 1997, when the founder of the British band fell in love with this car forged in the production lines of the Browns Lane plant in Coventry. Imagine a “regular” four-door saloon in black, with all the necessary chrome including the iconic radiator grille that would be taken up much later by the S-Type. Under the bonnet, the most powerful of the three engines supplied, the 220 HP 3,781 cc.
However, it wasn’t enough for Gallagher: there was a need for something that reflected the eccentricity of Britpop that he and his friends were professing in those years. A unique piece was needed: a MK II convertible? Why not? The work was entrusted to Vicarage, a body shop located in Peterborough (north London) and specialized in complicated customizations. After a rough evaluation, the technicians said that it could be done, costs permitting, but that it would take a bit of time. No problem: after all, the customer had to be given time to pass the driving test.
The operation took longer than expected, almost two years, as the removal of the roof caused the same fate to the rear doors, with consequent extension of the front ones. In short, an epic undertaking. Once the work was completed, the car was delivered to Gallagher who meanwhile, between one concert and another, he had not only forgotten about the Jaguar but obviously still couldn’t drive it.
The Mark II Cabriolet therefore ended up in a warehouse for a long time, as if it were an old wreck, to be exhumed in the video of Flying On The Groundfamous song recorded by Noel High Flying Birdsband founded by the same singer in 2010. Just a small appearance to do justice to a beautiful and unique car, on which the curtain fell again until 2022, the year in which Jaguar Land Rover Classic bought it to use it in the celebrations of Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee. For the record: on the 70th anniversary of the Queen’s accession to the throne, the black Mark II convertible with red leather seats, only 2,123 miles on the dashboard, which Noel Gallagher has never driven in his life, shuttled up to Buckingham Palace the former British supermodel and actress Twiggy Lawson (who by the way took part in an immortal film such as The Blues Brothers). But now that even this last flash of worldliness has gone into the archives, the old Mark II can only hope for a new, wealthy owner. Possibly licensed and above all eager to launch it at full speed on the roads of the United Kingdom.