Most of us would much rather purchase a car that has been sitting in a heated garage for a few years, but there is just something cool about a real deal barn find. This 1964 Jaguar E-Type is about as “real” as they come. That isn’t always a good thing though and in this case the barn didn’t do much to protect it during the last 33 years that it has been parked. This is a highly desirable Series I car though so undoubtedly it will be saved. Bidding is already heating up at $15k with the reserve not even met! Find it here on eBay in Charlotte, North Carolina. Thanks goes to Jim S for the tip!
E-Types are one of my favorite cars to find hiding in barns. That doesn’t mean I would necessarily want to buy one as a restoration project. These car are complicated and expensive, but they are also so beautiful that even most sensible of us can be tempted. The seller claims that this one was driven into the barn in 1981 by the second owner. The car had already suffered a color-change and some repairs to the floors by that time though so its not as original as we would all like.
Not only were these cars beautiful, but they were also very fast. Top speed was right at 150mph! You won’t be going anywhere fast in this one though until a full restoration has been performed. There’s rust and lots of it. The doors are claimed to open and close properly though so maybe there are good bones underneath. While most cars used a body-on-frame design, the E-Type utilized a monocoque chassis so any corrosion can wreck havoc on the structural integrity of the car. It kept things light and cheap when new, but isn’t always the best option when you want to restore a rusty old car today.
The black leather seats are still in place, just unbolted in order to inspect the floors. I love these early E-Types with their toggle switches and headlight covers. They are just so much more visually appealing than later cars. The original sand over black color scheme of this one will look sharp too. It’s hard to imagine that someone would just park and forget such a wonderful machine. These cars came standard with independent suspension and disk brakes all around. They made great touring cars that were capable of some spirited driving action too.
No shifting into first while moving though! The Moss gearbox didn’t have syncromesh on first gear until 1964 when they replaced the 3.8 with the larger 4.2 liter inline-six. Still, this was a wonderful engine that was capable of similar speeds even with less torque. The seller mentions that this one is fitted with a high compression head, but from what I have read they all so-equipped in 1963. Please correct me if I am wrong there. Either way, this was a silky smooth engine with lots of power on tap.
This project may be too ambitious for most, but hopefully someone will take pity on it. The journey will be long and hard-fought, but the end result will be one of the most beautiful high velocity vehicles that the sixties ever produced. Of course, if money were no object I would rather have one of those new lightweight E-Types that Jaguar just announced. Then again, it would never be as cool as a real barn find, now would it?
A lot of work, I remember talking to a restoration guy at the Concurs de elegance, and he told me that you are better off to spend more money, for a better body to do a restoration project, His last XKE Project the client dropped over $65,000 on body work alone. His advice was to purchase one in as near perfect body condition as possible. Because body work on these cars, with the compound curves body lines, can add up fast. Especially when you want a near perfect job.
I hope some one see’s the potential in this one, would like to see it back on the road some day. But a proper restoration would be way to rich for my budget.
The only way to go with this is to buy a complete new tub ( the entire body from the cowl to the rear bumper) so have your checkbook handy you’ll need it & I guess you’ll need the bonnet as well.
They make the bonnets and complete tubs now in the UK. Just transplant your parts to it. I looked at a Series II a few years ago for $4500 but the bonnet was missing, so I passed.. At that time, no one knew they made new ones in the UK.
I am currently restoring the identical car. The bonnet (Hood) is a fairly complex structure that can be expensive to repair and new ones are by no means cheap. The old chromework was very thin (to save on money or weight?) so do not re-chrome well and new chrome parts, especially the bumpers, are expensive, but the beauty of these cars is such that it is a labour of love as each part of the car comes to life once more. If I remember correctly, these coupes were £1,992 ($3,286 at today’s rate) when new so they have turned out to be a good investment, though some in the UK (I am in France) say that the price bubble for jaguars will burst soon, though I see no sign of it.
The photos show that it just doesn’t make sense to buy this and restore it. It might make sense for someone who needs parts, but I think the bidding is probably already too high at $16K for the poor condition of the parts in this car. It’s not even known whether the engine turns over, and it’s questionable whether many of the parts can be salvaged and used again, especially given what Mike Burnett said about E-type chrome trim above.
The current SCM Guide gives a value of $40-$70K for a ’64 E-type in #2 condition (local concours winning condition). I think that valuation is out of date, but the cost to bring this car to #2 local show winning condition doesn’t make sense, whether the buyer tries to fix this rusty body or spends big money to buy a new body.
As for the flipper, it’s deja vu all over again:
“This is an incredible car for restoration…”
“The monocoque is in good condition except for…”
“ALL trim is in incredible condition except for…” (did he say “All”, then “except for”?)
etc
After looking at the photos I don’t believe much of anything this guy says about this car.
Dolphin, the bidding is now at $20k. Surely someone with that sort of $, must have some knowledge of what it would take to make this a nice streetable car (at least one would think). Who do you think is willing to pay that amount…….a dreamer? a fool with money? Thoughts?
Barry Thomas’ “Wheel to Wheel” blog
Could be a couple of motives I guess.
E-types are still increasing in value, and a bidder might be thinking he can rebody it with a new body+bonnet from the UK, with the VIN and rebuilt suspension/drivetrain from this car moved over to the new body. There’s a very interesting ebay auction on right now (auction # 301286078011) for a ’66 Mustang GT350H tribute that the seller attached an apparently real GT350H VIN onto. He’s very up-front about the car (unlike the seller of this rusty E-type), and the bidding on the ’66 Mustang is up to an amazing $65K—about 1/4 or 1/3 what a real GT350H would bring but close to 3 times what a GT350H tribute Mustang would sell for. There would always be stories with a rebodied car, and it would always be worth less then the real thing, but maybe a rebody is a way to get into a S1 E-type cheaper than buying a good one at current market value.
Then there might actually be someone who thinks they can ‘restore’ the body & bonnet on this E-type, but I doubt that will happen. It’s just too far gone, and after you dip or blast it the holes will be bigger and the metal will be thinner. I doubt the monocoque could take the stresses of the drivetrain, but I don’t think that will be an issue since I think what has already happened with this E-type is likely to happen again: a buyer will start the ‘restoration’ by doing something he can handle, like the seats from this car, which have already been redone. That’s about the easiest part to redo on the car, but they came out badly and the pattern is incorrect anyway. Then he’ll probably realize he isn’t going to succeed, and will sell it on to the next guy looking to restore an E-type.
In 2004 I was a Home Inspector in Jacksonville FL.
Came across a green E-type Coupe similar to this one parked outdoors at a job location in an older neighborhood. Obviously not driven for a while because the wheels were sunk into the sand down to the rims.
In the garage was a red ’68 Camaro convertible with the top down and boxes/buckets of junk stacked all around it taller than the car.
The fellow who owned the house claimed to be a retired college professor, and was such a condescending horse’s ass that I did not even bother asking about the cars even though I was very curious. The interior of the house was a cluttered pigsty.
Had forgotten all about this until today……..
S J C Sh-t Junk Crap I’ll find a better way to spend that much dough
Some rot??? I would hate to see what he would call a lot of rot.
What a shame the owner let this E-type deteriorate so much. WAY too much money for what’s here. This might make a good parts car for another restoration, but that’s about it.
The reserve is off at 20K, so 4.5 days from now we will know what someone thinks it is worth. Maybe they can keep us posted on any restoration that takes place…
I did some repair work on a 63 about 3 years ago and was able to get a new old stock door shell right from Jaguar, amazing they still had them in stock.
Really a shame such a beauty was left to waste away, and it seems we are all left to agree that it would be a financial nightmare to take on. Can’t fault the seller to advertise as a possible candidate for restoration. Why not? As a parts car, which it seems to be, what would it be worth? Probably not anywhere near the reserve, but still up there. They don’t come around much any more.
heads are marked with either -8 or -9 at end of number on head, which tells the compression. Not sure that all were 9 to 1 but may have been. The 3.8 was a engine that really wanted the higher rev to be tractable compared to the 4.2!
Sold for an amazing $30,100 to a bidder with 3 feedbacks. Apart from the money paid for the amount of rust in this car, the surprising thing is that it was paid for a ’64—not even a first- or second-year car. Well, we’ll have to se whether the car shows up for sale on ebay again if the buyer has….remorse.
If all somebody wanted was a nice E-type they could drive now, for $95 more they could have bought a very nice, low-mile ’69 with a known history, the worst part of which is “a small amount of rust in the battery box, and very small bubbles in the lower door panel”. (ebay auction # 261576387181). Looks like someone could be driving it tomorrow.
Or for $100 less (so far in the bidding) there’s a 44K-mile 1970 E-type available with zero rust (ebay auction # 321507925535).
I can,t get the smile off my face. I paid $20100 for a 1968 E type coupe on Ebay 2 years ago. Car has no rust , was a driver, good interior & good chrome. California car with 2 previous owners. Have they really gone up that much in 2 years ?? Surely not. Phil