2017-12-28 09:20:53 | Dominique Renotte writes:

So why would an Englishman purchase a left-hand drive car?
He was planning on using it for his 'job'.

Claude H. Dewhurst was appointed to the Order of the British Empire (O.B.E.) by the Central Chancery of the Orders of Knighthood as Officer of the Military Division, Royal Sussex Regiment on January 1st 1947. In a relatively short period of time, Brigadier Dewhurst was promoted to Chief of the British Mission to the Soviet Forces of Occupation in Eastern Germany, where he was stationed from March 1951 to March 1953.



And how does this relate to the important role this car played after the war?

Brigadier Dewhurst purchased this XK120 under the Personal Export Delivery* (PED) program. The car was dispatched from the factory in February 1951, and immediately sent to East Germany, where Brigadier Dewhurst would " zoom around the Soviet Zone in a white Jaguar sports car with the unfortunate M.V.D. struggling along behind in an unwieldly black sedan**" Dewhurst loved his Jaguar XK120, and mentions "driving my white XK120 Jaguar alone on an autobahn about 200 miles south of Berlin" in the book he wrote, "Close Contact", about his experience in East Germany after the war. This was the 'job' for which he wanted a left-hand-drive car!

After returning to the UK in 1953 from his mission in Germany, Brigadier Dewhurst moved to Toronto, Canada. Already a published author, he wrote two more books about his experiences, spoke at such prominent venues as the Canadian Club of Toronto and the Empire Club of Canada, as well as appearing in several debates on the CBC television program "Fighting Words"

In the late 1950s and early 1960s, this Jaguar XK120 was raced at Watkins Glen, New York and Sebring, Florida. It was at a race in Watkins Glen where the motor blew, and was subsequently replaced locally with a new XK140 motor.
The story has always been that mr Lambert bought the car from the wealthy owner of a construction company, who had purchased the car unbeknownst to his wife, kept the car hidden from her, and when he went away on 'business trips', he was actually going racing! When she discovered his deception, she forced him to sell the car.

Dewhurst was a lifelong bachelor, and was indeed involved in overseeing project fundraising for construction of the York-Finch hospital in Toronto from the mid '50s to the mid '60s.

In either case, Mr Lambert purchased this XK120 in 1964, and it's been in his family ever since. There has been many classic Jaguars in his family over the years, but this one has always been the most special.