﹒Fully restored, matching numbers

﹒Fascinating history

﹒Beautifully finished interior

﹒Incredibly smooth to drive

Jaguar’s E-Type was revolutionary for two key reasons. Firstly, it was relatively inexpensive for a sports car – at launch in 1961 it cost £2,160, whereas its rivals at Aston Martin were selling for double that. Secondly, it looked astonishing. Like a cross between Jessica Rabbit and a spaceship. Enzo Ferrari famously called it ‘the most beautiful car ever made,’ and he should know a thing or two. With these key attributes in its favour, status as an icon was assured.

Its genesis lay in the successful D-Type racer, with its monocoque chassis and disc brakes, and the D-Type based E1A and E2A prototypes informed the production E-Type. The model history in a nutshell runs thus: the Series 1, built from 1961-64, had a 3.8-litre straight-six and was available as a two-seater roadster or coupe; the 4.2-litre engine was offered from 1964-68, while the tricky Moss gearbox was replaced with a more amenable all-synchro unit. A 2+2 four-seater was offered from 1966, and 1968’s ‘Series 1.5’ soft-launched a few changes before the full-blown Series 2 came in for 1969 – higher bumpers, relocated headlights, splayed exhausts and a wider mouth are all S2 telltales. And finally there’s the version we have here – the Series 3, produced from 1971-74. This had a growling 5.3-litre V12, egg-crate grille, and revised suspension and braking. Contemporary ad straplines read ‘Maybe we should have called it the F-Type’. Refining the road-racer into a sumptuous cruiser, this big-hearted machine was the E-Type’s last hurrah before it was usurped by the XJ-S – talk about going out on a high!

This particular Jag has a tremendously interesting history. You see, when it was first assembled back in 1974, the steering wheel was on the other side and, indeed, the whole car was on the other side of the pond; it was delivered to its first owner in New York, by the Stateside British Leyland distributor, and we can see from the vehicle titles in the file that it subsequently made its way to Virginia. The car lived in the USA all the way up until 2015, when it was imported to the UK. Having then been stored for a year or so, it was subject to a full and comprehensive restoration by marque experts Chariots, including swapping the layout to right-hand-drive. The whole car has been refined with no stone left unturned; the bodywork is superb and has been repainted in its original shade of British Racing Green, the Biscuit interior has been fully retrimmed, and all the running gear gone through with a fine-tooth comb, as well as a new soft-top and hard-top being fitted.

The current owner has had it for around a year, having bought it for a little over £95,000 and then spending a further £5,000 or so completing a few little jobs. He’s a true-blue E-Type expert, having owned all sorts of them over the last 45 years, and he looked at a great many V12s before deciding upon this one. Sadly, however, thanks to the Covid situation and various other factors of these strange times we live in, it’s time for him to say goodbye to this truly splendid Series 3.

There’s an impressive and reassuringly substantial file of documentation with this car. The Heritage certificate is present, which is always a massive plus with a classic Jaguar; it shows that the car’s current colourway of British Racing Green over Biscuit is the same spec as it was originally supplied with. It also corroborates the car retains its matching numbers. The car was built on May 21st 1974 and first registered in New York on July 10th of that year. Endearingly, the long-standing American owner who bought it in 1984 kept incredibly fastidious records in a little notebook, detailing how much fuel they put in on each date and recording the accompanying mileage, and this charming book comes with the car. The original owner’s manual is present, as well as the import documents from 2015 and a huge amount of receipts and invoices for parts and work carried out. The V5 is present and correct, showing the car’s first date of UK registration as October 1st 2015.

The mark of a quality retrim is that the cabin should feel fresh and yet classic, and that’s very much the vibe in this E-Type. The trimming that’s taken place here was done to an extremely high standard, paying respect to the car’s original Biscuit hide and bringing it into the twenty-first century. The seats are pleasingly supportive and beautifully finished with just some very, very minor signs of wear. They tilt forward correctly, to reveal the hideaway cubbyholes behind - which of course have also been trimmed. The carpets are excellent and fit very well, and the quality of the headlining inside the hardtop is superb. The car still has its original Motorola push-button radio, which is a lovely period piece. The dash is in excellent order, with all gauges and switchgear present and functional. Inside the boot, there’s a new carpet beneath which resides the correct false floor with matching spare wire wheel below.

The restoration work to the body is exemplary, with the paintwork completed to an extremely high standard. It’s evident that a lot of care and attention has been paid to making sure all of the panels sit correctly with even gaps, and all of these painstaking hours of work pay dividends in the overall profile. It really is a striking machine. All of the correct chrome trim is in place and in great condition, the light lenses and window glass are all good, and it’s solid beneath the filler cap. The wire wheels are straight and superb, wearing recent Michelin rubber with excellent tread. In a final flourish of correctness, the owner has recently replaced the wrong-era exhaust the car came with, fitting the proper quad tail system to complete the period-perfect aesthetic.
During the restoration, a brand new soft-top was fitted – although the seller readily admits that he’s never removed the hard-top (which is also new) simply because the car looks so good with it fitted… and we’re inclined to agree. Strong shades of the Goodwood paddock with this one.

This is a tremendously smooth and willing E-Type. It’s most reassuring to buy such a car from someone who’s owned them for so many years, as his depth of knowledge and level of mechanical sympathy are unparalleled. Furthermore, this car has had everything done to it to ensure it’s mechanically tip-top: during the resto, the engine was treated to all the belt-and-braces stuff you’d expect, including attention to the timing chain, replacement radiator and so on, and in addition to that the current owner has had a new fuel pump, starter motor, fuel tank drain sump filter, spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor arm and plug leads fitted a few months ago.

Also addressed during the restoration were the brakes, with the front and rear calipers rebuilt and stainless braided lines fitted; the rear subframe came out so all the mountings could be renewed, and much more besides. The whole thing’s on-the-button – it fires up first time without trouble, idles evenly, pulls strongly through the gears, and makes a glorious noise. The automatic gearbox is super-slick too – no lumps or judders here, just creamy-smooth shifting.

There’s something beguilingly vintage about driving a V12 E-Type. The driver’s seat is a fabulous place to be, with the cosy cabin shrinking around you like a well-cut suit. Before you reside a plethora of gauges, the likes of which a modern car could only dream of; the windscreen’s close enough that you can touch it without taking your hands off the wheel and the rear axle is as-near-as-dammit right under your backside, meaning that you steer it like a Caterham: with your hips. That 5.3-litre engine just has so much heart, and of course the principal lure of the sylph-like Jag is the way it looks. Slinky and curvaceous, it’s arguably at its very best in British Racing Green. And when you find an example that’s beautifully finished and champing at the bit to be enjoyed, how can you possibly resist?

It’s the full package, this one – everything’s been done and it’s ready to enjoy. We’ve got a great summer on the horizon, and this wonderful Jaguar would be the perfect accompaniment to your post-Covid adventures.






**THIS VEHICLE HAS NOW BEEN SOLD AND WILL NOT BE GOING TO AUCTION. WE APOLOGISE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE **






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