Many times I am frustrated by the way people advertise barn finds. Either they don’t clean up the car at all and you can barely tell what the pictures are supposed to be of, or it’s all cleaned up already and you have no idea how the car was found. This seller did it the way it should be done, with both before and after shots! The yellow cat is located in Wilmington, North Carolina and is advertised here on craigslist for a reasonable $27,900.
Here’s the other “before” shot. It does look like a fairly dry environment with a concrete floor, which is good. Note the missing rear window; it’s still missing. However, now let’s look at the car after it was cleaned up.
Holy cow, it’s a beautiful Jaguar! Ok, the 2+2 isn’t quite as elegant as the original 2 seat coupe, but still — it’s an E-Type, and it’s not $60,000+ either. Nice choice of photographic background as well!
The rear doesn’t seem to have suffered any from the window being out. Nice to see the knockoff hammer as well. You could even claim you were buying a hatchback to be practical…right? It is an automatic (sigh) which hurts the value, but I think the originality and preserved condition carry some weight too. Besides, I don’t buy cars for their value anyway — it’s if I like them or not! On the plus side, this is an air conditioned car, but the seller does tell us that a headliner and new seat upholstery are in order. Of course, it was “running fine when parked.” Why would you park it, then?
Under the hood looks remarkably original as well. If it really is as non-rusty as it looks, this could be a great car to use as a driver. I realize E-Types can be finicky, but by this time most of the bugs had been worked out, the Strombergs are easier to deal with than SU’s (my personal opinion, your experience may vary) and the automatic at least means you won’t be pulling the engine for a clutch job. Imagine; an E-Type that you could drive while making it better–wouldn’t that be something!
Seems like a good deal but a little worried that there are no interior pics other than a close-up of the dash, no chassis pics, and nothing that says the motor even turns over (was running when parked but how long ago was that?). Also wonder where it was during the hurricane. Super straight body with good chrome so may make a really nice vehicle when done — just some questions need to be answered.
racer99, If it doesn’t run he must have pushed it down to the lake to take the pictures, and the rear window is still missing, or maybe that’s his front yard with a BIG fishpond !!
CL ad says he has not tried to start it but was running when parked. Background does make for nice pics.
I agree Jamie, sometimes these car ads are really bad. As I’ve said many times, my pet peeve is when there is no shot of the steering wheel and dash from the driver’s seat…that’s the view the owner will have most of the time!
You’ve never owned a Jag have you! The view the owner most often sees is the tow truck and the repair bills!
Hmmm, maybe you aren’t clicking through to the CL ad? Not a ton of pics, but the shot you describe is there, along with 21 additional photos.
Hi All,
This is a series II 2+2 non-running E-type. The most unloved of the all E-types. The underside of the bonnet (hood) is painted black, the frame rails are painted black. Both are flags to look very close at them for repairs. The E-type frame rails rust from the inside out and should not to be repaired i.e. should thrown away if there is any holes, cracks or damage (can run up to $6k for and entire new heavy duty set). The bonnet runs around $8 to $10K. Then there isn’t any pictures of the underside, Is there any rust? What shape is the suspension in? shock absorbers alone run over $600 for front and rear. If the brakes need a rebuild it can cost $2K just for that. The ad says the front seat need recovering and the new covers not installed will run over $600. Lastly Hagerty #3 condition, which this car isn’t, is $30k and since this car doesn’t run it should be a low #4 at $18k or less. My Thought is would be worth $10 to $12K because there are a lot of unknowns with this car. Like why was it put away, what broke
From an investment standpoint, $28,000 would be far wiser spent on something such as maybe a Corvette. Don’t see these as a good investment. Auto+2+2 = 0. I have lost enough money on British cars to buy a few of these…….
money, money money money… hey that’s the lyrics of a song. Sorry, didn’t realize this was an investment site. Was looking for my missing 401k…
You won’t find it in this Jag…
$100,000 “INVESTED”. Asking $39,995 or best offer. Seems backward to me. Just saying………
This is what I call “popularity proximity”- a less-loved model of a beloved classic benefits from the reflected glow from it’s lovelier sibling. Unfortunately, a rusty frame or porous floors on an automatic 2 +2 is going to cost just as much to fix as a 2 seat drop-top. If you’re looking for an investment, move along. But if you like the idea of a little more storage and don’t like to row your own gears (96% of new cars in the US have an automatic transmission, after all), then this could be a fun toy. Just don’t expect to retire off the appreciation.
Parked because it had no rear glass.
As the old saying goes: “The most expensive car is a cheap Jag.” If the seats are worn, it’s probably more than a 40K mile car. Headliner, rear window, and probably carpets after the latest hurricane, about $8K, engine and brakes an easy $8-10K. Nice color, but not the collectible one, AT, unpopular model, and a whole lot of suspicious issues makes this critter a nice little $10K punt, but the net effect would be buying the same animal when it is totally sorted and roadworthy for a modest $34K. This is a classic example of the old story about 2 people; one with money and one with experience. I’ll give you 3 guesses which one ends up with the money, and which one the experience….Happy motoring, and watch out for the little old ladies driving the big Buicks.
You can get everything for these that you would need but the fitting of the body parts will drive you crazy. The bonnet can take as much as a week with two people if the car has ever been hit and is off just a millimeter or two. I agree that these are the lowest level of E-Type but that is still a very high level indeed and if you have small children it could be the perfect car for you but if your children are small now they might be too big before you can get it safely back on the road. Better you start before you have children to be safe.
But if you have not driven an E-Type you are missing something. Not perfect by any means but the feed back is so wonderful. You always know you are driving something special even with the 2+2 body.
If you are really crazy and have both too much time and money I have seen the rear upper sheet metal of a V-12 convertible fitted to one of these and I looked better then the V-12 but the man that did it was an expert as proof that recently he won the best aircraft restoration at Oshkosh.
He is a high school friend and I helped but what a hell of a lot of work.
Personally I find the 2+2 to be a very attractive body style. The long lines and tall greenhouse are very pleasing to my eye. And god forbid I should say that the automatic wouldn’t be that bad either.
Just thinking if it’s in Wilmington that’s 24hrs a day, 7 days a week 365 days a year of salt air. Not even counting the storms. And right on the coast. So you definitely need to check the bottom and everywhere else.
Hi motoring mo
Where did you find that it was “Parked because it had no rear glass”? The rear glass is easy to fine. All 62 to 74 FHC & 2+2 used the same glass.
Considering Jag’s unreliability and great looks. It would be a great display car. Polish it up and only drive it out into the driveway to show it off.
I was told by a Jag restorer once, if you buy a jag make sure the body is in the best shape you can afford, because you can spend 50 to 60 thousand just getting the body perfect. Granted he was doing Concourse quality restorations, but he said the Jag has a lot of hidden places for rust, and the curves take a lot of work to get them just right. Honestly he said sometimes you are better off buying a good older restoration, than trying to resurrect a rusty complete car.