Highlights

£40,000 restoration over two years to June 2023 with little use since
Rear suspension and differential recently rebuilt by Splined Hub
One of only 1,000 RHD Series 2 FHC
Huge history file covering significant ongoing investment
Very usable E-Type fresh from significant restoration
Will be sold with 12 months MOT

The Appeal

Jaguar didn't expect the E-Type to be a success. The car’s rapturous reception at Geneva and sudden demand caught the firm unawares. It then had to play catch up, continuously improving it throughout its long life to reflect changing customer demand.

The Series II was the first ‘official’ change to the car, introducing better build quality, a more luxurious interior and mildly altered styling. Thankfully the evocative profile of the first cars was retained. Available for just two years before the arrival of the Series III, it is the rarest of the E-Type models and the last of the original shape.

Aficionados value the Series II as a particularly usable and good value alternative to the earlier cars.

This 1969 Series II is one of the rare RHD FHCs - just 1,000 were built - and comes to us fresh from a comprehensive mechanical, bodywork and interior restoration completed over two years and hundreds of hours. That means it is solid in all the places you want one of these complicated cars to be, yet remains highly usable. It will be sold freshly serviced and with 12 months MOT to provide added reassurance.

The History and Paperwork

First registered on 8th September 1969
Current owner since 22nd July 2011
Always garaged in a dry environment by the seller
ULEZ, MOT and tax exempt
MOT exempt but has been regularly MOT tested by the seller each year
Will be sold with 12 months MOT
Heritage Certificate dated 13th October 2016 confirms its current colour scheme is factory correct
Reprinted E-Type factory handbook and original 1969 sales brochure
Thick history file covering old MOTs, invoices, magazine articles, certificates and tax discs
Invoices recording work to the car from the 1980s, 90s, 00s, 10s and 20s
Old MOTs back to 1992
Confirmation of bare metal respray in 1985
Jaguar Driver articles and certificates for ‘Car of The Day’ and concours awards from mid 1980s
Original handbook and certificate for the Clarion radio cassette system
Invoice for repair work in 1998 including replacement bonnet
Servicing every 3,000 miles by seller’s own workshop
Over 30 individual workshop job cards covering ongoing maintenance and servicing by seller’s business
Most recently serviced immediately prior to sale
September 2023 invoice for pre-MOT preparation work totalling £550
Sills and floors replaced by seller’s workshop in October 2018 totalling 151.5hrs
114.5hrs mechanical refurbishment by seller’s workshop in 2016 covering rear subframe, propshaft and driveshaft

Notable recent repair work:

Total investment in the car since November 2021 including labour exceeds £40,000
Seats retrimmed in January 2021 and additional interior trim pieces made in July 2022 at cost of £1,500
Carpets and centre console retrimmed in 2019
Differential and rear suspension, including hanger, replaced by Splined Hub July 2022 at cost of over £4,000
Comprehensive bodywork restoration from November 2021 to August 2022 by seller’s own workshop
Full time workshop employee dedicated to car 40hrs per week from March to August 2022
SNG Barratt and Martin Robey invoices for panels exceeding £5,000
Work included replacing rear arches, boot floor, rear valance and base of B posts
Clutch replaced July 2022
Post-restoration refit by Bespoke Leathering totalling £5,906.80 in May 2023
Partial professional respray in September 2022 at a cost of £3,000 (trade price)
Clutch, brake pads, steering rack and service work August 2019 totalling 39.5hrs

This Series II E-Type was first registered in September 1969 in Aberdeen on the registration that it has always subsequently carried. It was restored around 1983 and then featured heavily on the Concours circuit, clocking up regular wins at Jaguar Drivers’ Club events before being restored again in 1998.

The vendor acquired the car in 2011 and has used it for classic car experiences alongside running a classic car workshop. This has enabled him to fund hundreds of hours of workshop attention to keep on top of even very minor repairs.

It was restored between November 2021 and June 2023 and has been little used since. In September 2023 it was sent for pre-MOT testing to identify any faults requiring rectification before sale. It then went to a local specialist to rectify these faults and will be sold with a fresh 12 months MOT. For the seller’s peace of mind it has been annually MOT’d, even though this is not a legal requirement.

He is now selling it as he is slimming down his collection.

The Interior

Factory standard interior with combination of original and retrimmed features
Factory correct red leather colour scheme
Seats, carpets, centre console and side trim items refurbished between 2019 and 2022 at cost exceeding £2,500
Interior professionally refitted following restoration at cost of £6,000
Dashboard in original condition showing light signs of wear
Moto Lita wood rimmed steering wheel
Clarion radio cassette system fitted in 1980s but untested

There is no mistaking an E-Type interior. Although bereft of wood veneers it shows a clear link with its stablemates like the Mk2, combining carefully arranged Smiths dials with controls that fall easily to hand.

Jaguar lightly revised the Series II interior, most notably replacing the toggle switches with rocker ones. Otherwise there is little difference between later Series I cars and these late 60s models.

The interior of this 1969 car is a pleasing blend of originality with tasteful refurbishment. The colour scheme is factory standard as verified by the Heritage Certificate.

The leather seats - with headrests - were professionally retrimmed to a high standard in 2019 and show little signs of wear. The centre console and carpets were also retrimmed at the same time. They have held up very well, with only some light marks on the floor carpets and around the gearshift gaiter detracting.

Elsewhere the vinyl window trims were stripped and retrimmed in July 2022. The switchgear and dials are original and show light signs of wear. The dashboard is also original and displays a couple of small cracks to the top roll.

The interior was stripped during the refurbishment and then refitted by Bespoke Leathering at a cost of nearly £6,000. This work included refitting the windows and rear screen and was completed in June 2023 and the car has been little used since.

The car has also been regularly used, which has helped flush out reliability issues. The owner tells us that he has regularly completed journeys of several hundred miles without fault.

The Exterior

Factory correct Signal Red bodywork recently comprehensively restored at cost of £40,000
Car has clearly been cared for including restorations in 1983, 1998, 2016 and 2022
Comprehensive restoration during 2022 to remove all corrosion
Work covered doors, B posts, rear arches, rear floor and valance
Chrome wire wheels sitting on factory correct profile tyres
New exhaust system fitted in 2020
Partial respray in September 2022

Red is one of the most popular colours for E-Types and this car retains its factory correct Signal Red finish. The bodywork was comprehensively restored at a cost of £40,000 including labour and parts with the work finished in June 2023.

In November 2021 the seller employed an experience bodywork specialist to restore the car. Since the front of the car, including the floors and sills, were in good condition following the previous work, the work concentrated on the rear of the car. All corroded panels were cut back and new panels from SNG Barratt and Martin Robey let in, including new wheel arches, rear valance and boot floor. The car was then professionally resprayed, blending into the paintwork at the front of the car.

The floors and sills were previously restored by the seller’s workshop in 2018.

E-Types are complicated cars and the rear end can sometimes contain a multitude of issues not immediately obvious from the outside. Fortunately this car has had all of that work done, offering reassurance to the buyer.

The bodywork shows no corrosion due to the extensive recent work. There are a couple of minor bubbles on the seams of the bonnet but we only mention those for completeness. There is a small area of damage to the scuttle caused by the driver’s door which would benefit from re-hanging.

The Mechanics

4,235cc straight six Jaguar XK engine developing around 245bhp
4spd fully synchromesh manual gearbox
Rebuilt rear suspension and differential in 2020 at cost of £4,000
Propshaft and driveshaft replaced in 2016
Serviced every 3,000 miles by the seller
Serviced prior to sale in September 2023
Gearbox and MOT work in September 2023 totalling £550
Will be sold with a fresh 12 months MOT
Non-original engine replaced in September 2020 with low mileage XJ 4.2 XK unit sourced from Jaguar specialist
Clutch replaced June 2022

The XK engine at the heart of the E-Type is one of the gems of the motoring world. Developed for Le Mans in the 1940s but then progressively improved over its long life, it is a torquey, tractable motor that enables the E-Type to accelerate cleanly from 20mph to 120mph in 4th gear.

This car has been extensively mechanically overhauled during the vendor’s tenure. Most of the work has been undertaken by his own classic car workshop and is carefully detailed in a sheaf of job cards from 2011 to 2023. Most notable this has included replacing the propshaft and driveshaft in 2016 and replacing the clutch in June 2022.

In 2020 the car went to Splined Hub, the E-Type restoration specialists, who rebuilt the rear suspension and differential. The rear subframe hanger was found to be cracked so was replaced with a new item and the whole back end of the car fully rebuilt at a cost exceeding £6,000.

On its return it was felt that the engine was in a poor condition. As this was not the original engine - it was a XJ saloon car XK unit - the vendor sourced a low mileage 4.2 XK saloon car engine from a reputable Jaguar specialist, which was installed in September 2020 and runs very well.

The car has been serviced every 3,000 miles since the vendor acquired it in 2011 and always dry stored. It has also been annually MOT’d - even though it is exempt - and will be sold with a 12-month MOT. This is to provide added reassurance to the buyer.

Summary

Few cars are instantly recognisable by aficionados as well as non-petrolheads but the E-Type is unquestionably one of them. Its looks are as arresting and evocative as they surely were the day they were unveiled in 1961 in Geneva.

This car comes to us fresh from a £40,000 restoration that has refurbished the key areas like the rear suspension and bodywork that buyers look out for on these cars. Add in the reassurance of a fresh 12-month MOT and this very usable E-Type looks particularly tempting.

BEFORE YOU BUY

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