In early 1990, in one of the garages in Tel Aviv, a beautiful Jaguar 3.8 Sport was being repaired - a fairly rare, expensive model made by the famous English company.

The automobile was being prepared for painting. Its body was straightened and repaired and there were putty and evened out patches in many places, as well as sanded repair lines. A question arose: "Whom to trust to paint the automobile?" This was a crucial job - the crowning piece. On this job would depend how the car looked to the world.

To find a real automotive paint specialist was not an easy job. In addition, the car had to be painted completely, in one session. A painter paints differently every day. Every day, he is a different person. But if you paint with a different thickness, the color changes, the shade…

The owner of the automobile was the head of the famous insurance company SAAR INSURANCE. Alex Saharov turned to Rafi Hershkovich of RALEX Autoservice for the completion of this job. Rafi Hershkovich is a specialist in the restoration of automobiles, in love with automobiles since childhood. He willingly agreed to take a look at the car and came to Tel Aviv. He looked the car over, and attempted to start it. But it was not to be! All the efforts were in vain. One thing was clear: something wasn't right. Perhaps, repairs were needed. The automobile needed more thorough repair. It was possible to paint the car, as its owner had wanted. But what was under the priming coat of the car? And what if rust begins to appear? To a specialist it was clear that the car needed to be taken apart and looked at from the inside to determine what was really wrong with it. To work not by guesswork, to be confident and responsible for the job. Rafi refused to simply paint the automobile. He offered Alex to completely restore the car.

"You're asking for a job - I will complete it. But when we talk about quality, every person has their own definition. Behind you are hundreds of lawyers; they will crumple me like paper. This project is not simple. It is hundreds of hours of work. And afterwards, to come back and re-do the work? I don't agree to that."To disperse any doubts, Rafi invited Alex to come and look at the restored autos at RALEX Autoservice, where at the time, a Chevrolet Master 1939 was being restored. Alex liked the work being done. And a new project of the restoration of the Jaguar 3.8 Sport began.

The automobile was brought to Ashdod. An agreement was drawn up, details were worked out. The owner of the car was a pedantic person and it was decided to record the work in progress. The beginning of the job was recorded as April 25, 1990, at 12:44 pm. Order for the completion of mechanical, body and paint work № 613-400.

Work began with the inspection of the engine because it is impossible to restore an automobile and only then, with dirty and oily hands to dig inside and repair the engine, to lever, to place containers, to adjust…. This must be set up from the very beginning and to the end. The finished restored automobile must start from a half-turn of the key and drive out of the garage.

It is very difficult to monitor a car when it is in the garage after being painted. There is the fear that someone will touch it, scratch it, a defect will appear on the paint. And to fix the paint is impossible. If a defect appears on the roof - the whole roof of the car needs to be repainted. The whole roof means the two back wings and, also, the trunk. It is a very difficult problem: how to protect the car after painting. Therefore, the job needs to be finished, the car started, taken for a spin and covered with a protective cover.

There was no chance of starting the engine. It had to be removed and checked on the stand. A strange picture emerged: the engine was completely "dead". There were no liners on the water pump. The rest was simply "eaten away"; all liners needed to be changed.

In short, the engine of this automobile was sent to England for repairs, where it was completely rejected and a restored one was sent back in its place.

The new engine came on June 18, 1990. Packaged, in nylon. Sparkling, like a diamond! A beautiful job …

The body of the car was inspected in parallel. When the engine was removed, rust was discovered in the space under the hood. All the electrical wiring - amateur work, the chassis - swelled and rusted. On the left front wing, under the paint and putty was a hole.

A decision was made to take the car apart completely. The seats were taken off, the doors, axles …

The list of work was enormous. Front and rear axles were repaired, as were the driveshaft, tunnels, floor panel. Almost the whole rear axle was restored, the disk brakes and rear springs were replaced, as well as a number of other parts. The whole muffler system from stainless steel was restored as well.

Afterwards, sand-blasting, treatment inside and outside the cabin, and, finally, the body was ready for painting. But, an unpleasant surprise came up during the restoration process. Alex ordered a new nickel radiator grate. It's fitting resulted in a warping of the "muzzle" of the car. This needed to be redone. It turned out that repairs on the body of the car had already been done by someone at some point. And underneath a layer of paint and putty we found a two-centimetre layer of tin. Until we removed and restored the body profile, it was impossible to fit the grate in its place.

The electrical wiring was not a simple thing in the restoration of this car. The owner wanted everything authentic: the colour, original wire connections, fixations, etc. RALEX re-did the electric system properly. The starting materials were taken from another Jaguar, the wiring was done in accordance with the circuit design from the manufacturer. The owner was stunned: all the connections were done inside the "sleeve", which, in turn, was also original.

The time came to paint the car. All materials were 100% DuPont. At first, the car was painted, then covered with varnish. Varnish on top of paint gives the paint depth, but also influences the final color of the automobile. After the car was varnished, it became clear that the car turned out to be a color different than the one that Alex had wanted. That he had erred in picking out the color. The car was sanded once more to remove the colour and repainted and lacquered once again.

The upholstery in the cabin was redone with a special leather produced in England. All wooden decorative fixtures were designed from a special Korean tree which is used in Jaguar automobiles.

The warranty on the Jaguar is still in effect on the paint, varnish and woodwork.