1953 Jaguar XK120
Carl Meyer
Slingerlands, New York
Carl Meyer, a dentist and prominent MG collector from Slingerlands,
New York, is this 1953 Jaguar XK120’s fifth and current owner. He learned
about the car through a patient. It was the stuff of a car lover’s daydream:
a low-mileage XK120 stashed in a barn. “I had no idea as to what con-
dition it would be in,” says Carl. “We’ve all heard stories of cars in barns,
and most are not worth looking at. I didn’t know much about Jaguars,
but I know how to check a car’s condition. I took the tarp off of it, and it
was unbelieveable. I inspected it carefully for rust, dents and dings. I went
over the whole car, and I couldn’t find anything wrong with it. It had a bit
more than 48,000 miles on it.”
The car currently sports one aging repaint in its original color. Over-
all, the car remains in used, but amazingly well-preserved condition.
The car’s previous owner, Lisa Cinque, offered a shopping bag filled with
documentation, including the car’s original shipping paperwork. Carl
wouldn’t know the complete story on the car until he spoke with the car’s
second owner, a man named Bob Phillips. Lisa’s husband Anthony, a suc-
cessful chiropractor, had purchased the car, but he contracted a rare and
deadly virus and died at the age of 42. The Jaguar hadn’t moved in eight
years, and the odometer had the same reading on November 19, 2003,
when Carl purchased the car, as it did on August 8, 1995, when the car
was appraised to settle Anthony’s estate.
“I’d gone over with my wife, Mary, to look at the car, and Lisa’s younger
son, who was then 16, had made the comment to his mother after we
left, that he could picture Dr. Meyer and Mary driving the car down the
road,” Carl smiles. “As I learned its history, I was amazed to find out that
PHOTOS B Y MARK J. McCOUR T
since it was purchased new in New York, it has never been housed more
than 25 miles from my home.”
– Mark McCourt
PHO TOS COUR TES Y OF JOHN KATERBA
1939 Plymouth Station Wagon and 1948 Ford Super Deluxe Station Wagon
John Katerba
Monroe Township, New Jersey
In 2007, John Katerba poked his head inside an unmarked van trailer changed from the original Hampton Beige to green sometime in the
and was greeted by the grille of a 1939 Plymouth Station Wagon that early 1970s), John chose to repair only what was necessary to get the
had been in dry dock since 1975. Stashed behind the Plymouth? A Plymouth rolling again.
1948 Ford Super Deluxe Station Wagon. By late summer of 2007, John was driving the Plymouth whenever
John quickly made a deal on the Plymouth and added eventual own- possible, taking his two sons to soccer games, taking the family out for
ership of the Ford to his to-do list. When the Plymouth was pulled from ice cream, etc.
the trailer, it wore a thick coat of dust but was surprisingly intact. “Some people ask why I haven’t done a full restoration, but I think
“The only real damage was from field mice,” John said. “They had it’s perfect even with its scratches in the paint and a few small dents
destroyed the engine wiring harness and made nests throughout the here and there. Keeping this car original is out of respect to the skilled
car. Amazingly, the three row seats were left alone, as well as the dash- people who originally built it. How many things made today will last
board area.” 70 years?”
Taking stock of the car’s nicely preserved condition and the fact that But the story doesn’t end there. About a year after acquiring the
it showed just 30, 482 miles on its odometer (though its color had been Plymouth, John went back and wisely struck a bargain on the ’ 48 Ford.
The car has 80,000 on the odometer and is missing some wood from
the passenger side quarter panel. Some of the glass has been broken
and the original radio is missing, but otherwise it’s complete down to
the manufacturer’s date stamp on the fire-
wall: Feb. 25, 1948.
“Like the Plymouth, I hope to keep
as many of the Ford’s origi-
nal parts in service
as possible. Like so
many say, it’s only
original once!”
– Mike Mc Nessor
HEMMINGS MOTOR NEWS • JULY 2009 33
