This is my "new" original tool roll, compliments of Ray, who is crafting the bodywork on my car.

25 years ago, Ray was cleaning out a garage with some buddies, and came upon this old toolkit. A price was agreed upon, Ray took possesion, and stashed it in his toolbox, where it sat 25 years.

Recently, Ray came across the roll, and was kind enough to give it to me to complement my 50 year old XK140. He had no idea, long ago, that he would be restoring a "classic" Jaguar in the future, so he figured it was karma that the planets aligned in this particular way. Furthermore, though my car retains many original bits, I never found any of the original tools. I knew I would, eventually, need to codge together a tool roll to make the car complete.

The condition is unbelievable. The wrenches are still knife-sharp, like they've never been used. Everything still retains its black oxide finish, with no rust. They're all marked with "Jaguar", and they appear to be part of a set, except for one of the tommy bars. After photographing, I wiped each tool down with a light coating of gun oil before putting them back in the roll, to ensure I didn't cause any corrosion. Like they say, you can restore something many times, but it's only original once. I might place them in a new repro roll some time in the future when the car is complete, but the tools themselves look exactly like 50-year-old unmolested tools should look.

10/14 update: Friends on the Jag-Lovers site have identified that the tool roll is from an early Series 1 E-type, so the tools are only 45 years old. So, I could simply pop them in the boot of the E-type, but I'd still need a toolkit for the XK140. Hmmmm, decisions, decisions.

October 12, 2008: Found this little gem at a local 'vintage tool' sale.