15 Freeway Cajon Fire Damages $50K Vintage Jaguar

Owner still hopes to restore the car

A vintage, collectible Jaguar became an expensive victim of the North Fire that engulfed several cars on the 15 Freeway in Cajon Pass last week.

Malcolm Croxton was awaiting the delivery of his 1962 Jaguar E-Type convertible to his home in Torrance on July 17 when he received some unsettling news from a friend.

"My friend telephoned me and his voice was different, he had sort of a graveyard voice, he said 'Mal, have you seen the news,' and I was madly irritated. I said 'No, I'm waiting for my E-Type' and he said, 'There's an E-Type burning on a carrier in the Cajon Pass."

"I said, 'Well, maybe it's not mine?" Even as I said that I thought, that sounds stupid."

Croxton, a car restorer who also owns a restored white covertible E-type, watched the aftermath of the blaze that had burned his $50,000 Jaguar as it sat on the bottom deck of a large car carrier.

Croxton's Jaguar was among dozens of other cars that were damaged and destroyed in Southern California's North Fire after drivers were forced to abandon their cars on the 15 Freeway.

Despite the way the Jaguar appeared after the fire, Croxton is optimistic his Jaguar can be restored -- when he finds it. Croxton wasn't sure where the Jaguar was stored, but hopes it is at a junkyard waiting to be picked up so that he can resume his original plans to restore it.

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