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43,500 Miles & Zero Rust: 1970 E-Type Warehouse Find

Whenever I hear zero rust and E-Type in the same sentence, I’m understandably skeptical. Especially when the car is located in Yonkers, New York (the land of salted roads)  like this one. But aside from a few tiny areas of surface corrosion, the claim appears to be true with this car. Now it’s for sale here on eBay, and bidding is just over $20,000 at this point. Thanks to Peter for this great find!

The rest of the pictures in the ad reflect that the owner has pulled the car out of storage and has installed new tires. Evidently they have chosen not to wash it, however. In this photo you can see how the E-Type morphed from a sports car to a grand touring car with the 2+2 version, gaining height and length along with the two “seats” in the rear. Have any of our readers actually sat in one of those upholstered mini seats? I’d like to hear about the experience, and what it was like to get back there!

Of course, the E-Type still had its practical hatchback. Can you tell I’m writing this on April Fool’s Day? It is an easy way to access the load carrying area. By this time, in addition to the size increase, the E-Type was sporting the 4.2 liter version of the XK six cylinder, and proudly advertised that on the boot lid. It turns out this was a California car for all but the last four years, which at least partially explains the lack of rust!

Many an E-Type owner would long for this shot. Although the car has been repainted, it looks like the paint was applied over nice original metal.

While it’s a little stained in places, the interior generally lives up to the mileage claim. The automatic transmission falls into the same category for me as the additional length and height–luxury added to a car that didn’t need it. But it’s still a crumpet catcher! (thanks to Henry Manney)

The engine looks pretty nice and not messed with. The twin Strombergs are nowhere near as impressive looking as the triple SUs fitted to earlier cars, but you can’t have everything, and this isn’t at $70,o00 either. Would you like to bring this warehouse find home?

 

Comments

  1. Avatar Coventrycat

    I’ll never understand why people will go to the effort to pull a car out, pull tires off and mount new ones, and still not wash the car and scrub the sidewalls. Geez.

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    • Avatar RayT

      Not a gen-U-wine Barn Find without dirt!

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    • Avatar coolguy1

      1. It devalues the car.
      2. Heavy dust requires steam cleaning, or you’ll jut scratch your paint and ruin it.

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      • Avatar Peter

        coolguy1,

        Re: “2. Heavy dust requires steam cleaning, or you’ll jut scratch your paint and ruin it.”

        Could you expand upon that, please? I used to repaint heavy equipment, and used an ACTUAL steam cleaner (about half the size of a large, chest freezer) as opposed to a modern pressure washer. It actually MADE STEAM, then pressurized it. (IIRC, it burned propane, to make the steam.)

        That steam cleaner would probably remove the paint all by itself…so I’m thinking we have different definitions of “steam cleaner”….

        But I’m still interested in learning more about your point, as I’ve never heard of anything like that being done, especially as a tactic to preserve vintage paint.

        Thanks,

        Peter

        Like 0
    • Avatar wuzjeepnowsaab

      Seller PLEASE leave it dirty! Maybe I can get it for a few dollars less that way ;)

      Like 0
  2. Avatar Mark S

    I agree take your dirt shot than clean it up for the rest of your pic’s. Nice car I’d be ok with the extra seats.

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  3. Avatar Dolphin Member

    Looks like this could be a good car to start with, especially being a CA car with 43K miles. But….

    From the door jamb photo it looks like it has had a repaint, and you wonder why a 34K mile CA car that’s been garaged all its life would need one. And it seems to have been treated hard, what with the staining and general look of neglect inside.

    Maybe low miles, but I would want to look it over closely and drive it before bidding. If the owner neglected the servicing like he neglected the interior and maybe also the paint, there might be some big work needed down the road. This might not be the E-Type to buy at a distance on Ebay without a thorough check first.

    Like 0
    • Avatar Ross W. Lovell

      Greetings All,

      Dolphin, the original paint coming from British Leyland run Jaguar left much to be desired, like their rust proofing.

      Like 0
    • Avatar racer99

      Have to agree. With the respray, the surface rust showing through in places (like around the door latch), the underneath (blue painted mufflers, corrosion coming through the seams under the paint, undercoating, etc.) I’d have to lay my hands on this before buying. I’ll defer to Jag experts if this is typical but to me there are just some red flags.

      Like 0
  4. Avatar waynard

    Yet another car with water staining, mildew and mold all over the place. Even on the paperwork. How bad was this before the interior got wiped down? I’d want a really good PPI before I committed to this.

    Like 0
  5. Avatar Peter Atherton

    Back in the day the dealership where I worked had a Jaguar franchise;when the 2+2 came out,we salesmen called it “the Conestoga Wagon”.The only buyers were men with wives and little kids….dreaming like Walter Mitty!

    Like 0
  6. Avatar Tin Box

    Hmm, 2+2, steel wheels, strombergs, and an autobox. Already at all the money

    Like 0
  7. Avatar bcavileer

    These coupes look great in person. Never seen a pic that did the design justice. Sweet ride, love ’em. As for the back seat, my kid looked good back there listening to Devo and tapping his feet. He was 2 years old… but what the heck. Now he is 34 and just as twisted. Worth every penny then and now.

    Like 0
    • Avatar john C

      your son or the car? …(-; Nice words for either one, eh !!

      Like 0
  8. Avatar pperros

    That’s Henry N. Manney III. One of the best auto scribes ever.

    Like 0
  9. Avatar Dave Wright

    I find that people who wait for the perfect anything to buy rarely buy anything. The color is wrong, the story doesn’t make sense, it has the wrong top line or transmission. Those people really need to go to the dealer and order what they want…….of course the dealer won’t be able to satisfy there requirements either. Those people are generally full of talk with no money or ability to buy it anyway. This would be a fun car……not perfect…..for modest money in compared with a flat floor. It will bring great pleasure to the owner (as it always has) for the same price as a junk Acura and no depreciation. Maby even make a few bucks over time.

    Like 0
  10. Avatar Peter

    What waynard said, specifically:

    “Yet another car with water staining, mildew and mold all over the place. Even on the paperwork. How bad was this before the interior got wiped down? I’d want a really good PPI before I committed to this.”

    To which I would add: my wife noticed the (vinyl?) covering around the instrument binnacle has started to come unglued/is hanging down. To us, it looks like the car was stored in a VERY moist environment, despite being a CA car. Looking at the pics of (presumably) the Seller’s storage building, perhaps that was damp enough, over four years, to do this?

    Seems unlikely, however, given the visible remnants of MOLD on the books/paperwork, as waynard pointed out. Seems like there was waaaay too much water INSIDE this car, regardless of the explanation.

    At $46,000., non-running, 2+2, steelies, auto, and bad respray (re: the repaint–did you catch the sandpaper scratches around the edges of one of the doorjamb tags? Not the “hallmark of a professional…”) I feel this car has already surpassed it’s value–just my .02.

    Peter

    Like 0
  11. Avatar Peter

    Okay–I changed my mis-typed “$46,000.” to $26,000″, with minutes to spare, in the “editing period.”

    I’m guessing if you happen to have more than one BF session open, on the same car, at the time you’re editing, some of the edits don’t “take”?

    Sorry.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar AutoArcheologist

    I love old Barn Finds… That is part of my business, to find them and help the owners sell them if that is the desired end.. I’ll happily tell their story if not. When I do sell one for them, I like to be able to get the “dirt shot” and then clean up as best as possible before doing the full “money shots”..LOL
    Asa non-runner, I’d have to agree that as a 2+2 auto, it is very probably over it’s real world value… However… as the popular Jags increase steadily, the less wanted become desirable until they too rise out of reach…

    Like 0
  13. Avatar racer99

    Shows as a “NO SALE” at $26,100.

    Like 0

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