Highlights

Extensively restored including a recent £40,000 interior retrim
One of the first 500 LHD Flat Floor cars
Retains many of its early Flat Floor features
Long MOT to September 2024 with no advisories
Just 60 miles covered since restoration completed
Matching numbers with Heritage certificate

The Appeal

Jaguar wasn’t prepared for the success of the E-Type. The car was engineered for low volume, virtually hand-built production. As demand soared, that approach had to be rethought.

It resulted in ongoing changes to the cars to improve production efficiency. That makes the first cars beloved of purists. They are collectively known as ‘Flat Floor’ E-Types because of their defining feature. Only 2,214 examples were built across LHD and RHD configurations.

But even among this rarified group there are ‘Flat Floor’ E-Types and then there are pure ‘Flat Floor’ E-Types. Only the first 500 retained all the original features of initial production like the side locking bonnets.

This is one of those cars, number 403 of the run of 1,583 LHD ‘Flat Floor’ cars. Its Heritage certificate confirms it was built in September 1961 and delivered to the USA.

It returned to the UK in 1984 and has been comprehensively restored across the entire car, covering just 60 miles since the work was finished. This included a recent £40,000 retrim by Jaguar specialists CMC in Bridgnorth. The work very closely replicates the factory specification and the photographs confirm. The car has a long, advisory-free MOT.

This is a beautiful and exceptionally rare early E-Type in restoration-fresh condition. As such it is a gem for any enthusiast to add to their collection.

The History and Paperwork

Factory specification recorded on Jaguar Daimler Heritage Certificate number 3761:
- Confirms that this is a matching numbers
- Originally Gunmetal metallic with red interior and black roof
- Built on 26th August 1961
- LHD car despatched to British Leyland New York on 13th September 1961
Repatriated to the UK on 3rd September 1984
Just two registered keepers in the UK since returning
Vendor acquired the car on 5th October 2023
Little history is known of the car prior to vendor’s acquisition
Invoices from CMC dated 2020 to 2023 covering retrim and mechanical work
We are told the car has been dry stored since the restoration was completed
Factory correct car except for sill strengthening added during restoration to improve rigidity
Current MOT valid to 11th September 2024 with no advisories and 24 miles showing on test
Currently UK registered with V5C in vendor’s name

Flat floor cars have many unique features not found on later models, which this car retains in full:

Flat floors (of course) with no footwells - (some of these cars were converted by dealers to have footwells)
This car had the passenger footwell so converted but has been returned to correct factory specification
500 early cars had side locking bonnets, flat floor cars retain the body pressings for this system but have internal locking
Rubber boot lid seal is on the boot lid rather than on the body
Straight bulkhead behind the seats without a cut-out
Short exhaust tailpipes
Small bottle jack and original handle
Early type steering wheel where you can see the metal and with finger positions differently located to later cars
Round brake and clutch bottles
Interior has early rear view mirror rod, early aluminium trim patterns and early type glove box lid
Hessian under carpet
Original bucket seats
No sun visors
Aluminium floor-hinged accelerator with no rubber trim
Bumpers bolted inside out rather than outside in
Second version of door chrome with ribbed bottom edge
Door skin constructed in two parts
Twin bullet door mirrors

The E-Type’s story is well known, but that of the flat floor cars perhaps less so. Jaguar did not expect the car to be as successful or as long-lived as it was so early ones were not engineered for volume. Consequently they have many features subsequently lost as the cars were re-engineered for mass production.

The first 1,583 E-Types off the production line from 1961 were equipped with ‘Flat Floor’ rather than footwells. This shorthand is now used to describe very early cars, which inevitably are the most sought-after. The first 500 of these cars had side-locking bonnets. This car retains this feature and its chassis number indicates this is factory correct.

This car returned to the UK in 1984 and had one owner to October 2023. At some point during that period it was extensively restored, as the photographs show. There is little history with the car but we are told it was dry stored on completion and the odometer records just 60 miles. Between 2020 and 2023 high-end Jaguar restoration specialist CMC of Bridgnorth attended to the car and completed a £40,000 retrim alongside some other mechanical work documented in the photographs of the history file.

The Condition

Comprehensively restored car refinished in popular Golden San metallic with tan interior
Finished to a very high standard as shown in photographs
Retains its ‘flat floor’ features which can be checked against the list above
Tan roof with matching tonneau cover
Recently retrimmed at cost of £40,000 by CMC
Interia reel seatbelts fitted and upgraded Motorola radio but otherwise standard inside
Structurally excellent as confirmed by recent MOT

Such is the minutiae that differentiates ‘flat floor’ cars from later models - even ones produced within the ‘Flat Floor’ run - that restoring an early ‘Flat Floor’ E-Type is the work of experts. This car has clearly been renovated by experts.

It retains many of its original early E-Type features such as the short exhaust, side locking bonnet, rubber boot lid seal on the lid rather than body and absence of sun visors. We were unable to check every detail but the presence of these features indicates the level of care applied during the work.

It has been finished to a very high standard in Golden Sand metallic with a complementary tan leather interior, retaining the slim bucket seats of the early cars. Much of the recent work since 2020 has been done by CMC, one of the best-regarded specialists in the Jaguar restoration world.

The car has covered such 60 miles since the work was completed. The condition throughout is immaculate, giving the buyer an opportunity to acquire a showroom-standard example that has been very carefully restored.

The Mechanics

3.8litre XK engine with triple carburettors
4spd ‘Moss’ gearbox
Engine and gearbox have been rebuilt
Retains the early flat floor features such as the round brake and clutch bottles
MOT to September 2024 with no advisories and just 46 miles covered since test
Has only been drive 60 miles since the mechanical restoration was completed
Extensive invoices from CMC covering mechanical and fuel system overhaul
Matching numbers car confirmed by Heritage certificate

The mechanical specification of this early E-Type will need no introduction. The car’s key features are its matching numbers status - as confirmed by the Heritage certificate - and the comprehensive mechanical refurbishment it has received. We are told the engine and gearbox have been fully rebuilt - which the photographs support - and there are reams of invoices from specialists CMC relating to further mechanical refurbishment since 2020.

The mechanical restoration has clearly paid attention to the detail specification of these early cars - even the round brake and clutch bottles typical of ‘flat floor’ cars are replicated.

Since completion the car has covered just 60 miles. It therefore arrives with the buyer in ‘box fresh’ condition.

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