Duxford, Cambridgeshire - Any petrolhead old enough to remember Patrick MacNee as ultra-suave secret agent John Peel in the cult spy fantasy series The New Avengers will have a lump in their throat when they see the sad condition in which this car was found.
Yes, this is the actual 1976 Jaguar XJ12-C that starred alongside Macnee, Joanna Lumley as Purdey and Gareth Hunt as Gambit in the series.
The XJ12-C was a tweaked, sportier version of the pillarless two-door XJ Coupé, powered by Jaguar's legendary 5.3-litre V12.
It was the absolute epitome of the rakish, somewhat louche British car culture of the mid-1970s, the perfect wheels for the elegantly bowler-hatted Steed, purring Purdey and the gritty Gambit.
Finished in Racing Green, this was only the eighth XJ12-C made. It started life as a one-off experiment with a Broadspeed body kit and special extra-wide cast-alloy rims, fitted specially for its role in the TV series.
PARKED AND FORGOTTEN
Sadly, as with so many iconic movie cars, when filming ended it was 'dry stored' - which is a nice way of saying 'parked in a hangar and forgotten' so when it was re-discovered recently and put up for auction it was in very poor condition and desperately in need of restoration.
The guys from H&H Classics had to do quite a lot of work on it just to get it running (check the first of the two videos) but it's complete and will make a dream project for somebody who loves a 'barn find' - which is almost literally what this is.
If you're interested, it'll be up for auction as part of an H&H Classics sale at the Imperial War Museum, RAF Duxford, on 14 October, and it's expected to fetch £10 000 - £12 000 (R220 000 - R245 000).