Del Boy’s ‘lovely jubbly’ motor up for grabs

It’s a right cushty motor, one that Del Boy himself drove around the manor on his days off from filming the TV comedy, Only Fools and Horses. Yes, the 1991 Jaguar XJS once owned by actor Sir David Jason is up for auction in Britain next month. Sir David isn’t selling it – the fellow who bought it from him some years ago is parting with it. So it’s not farewell … just Bonjour, as Del Boy would say. The auction house says it is not going to give it away to just any old plonker. It’s worth around NZ$13,000, a lovely jubbly old price for what Del Boy would have called the crème de la menthe of cars. The

1991 4.0-litre XJS is finished in burgundy, with cream leather interior, and has 61,600 miles (99,790km) on the clock. It was bought new by David Jason Entertainment, before being registered in the star’s real name of David White. The story goes that he never intended to sell the Jag. But as his alter ego used to say, in his best French: “Tel aviv”, or “You can never tell.” The auction house is in Kings Lynn, about 160km north of Peckham, Del Boy’s old stomping ground in south-east London. It is welcoming interest from overseas buyers. Del Boy would approve. He was sharp, that lad. “It’s a well-known fact that 90 per cent of all foreign tourists come from abroad,” he said.