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Cheap E-Type: 1971 Jaguar XKE Project

Raising E-Type values have removed it from many people’s bucket list. The prospect of picking up a project on the cheap has all but disappeared. Well, that’s what we thought anyway. Located in Wallingford, Massachusetts and listed here on craigslist, there’s an XKE project for sale for $4,500. Thanks go to AMX Brian for the tip!

Instead of listing what this project has, it might be easier to list what it does not have. It is missing an engine, transmission, and windshield. Based on the photos, there’s no interior either. So, that leaves you to your own imagination when the seller mentions that “lots of parts” are included with the car.

Yet, sometimes when things are beyond what they can be restored to something they once were, creativity can flourish. If you aren’t afraid of Frankensteining something or being ridiculed for a build you find worthwhile, then you should see this car as a blank canvas. The words that come next are simply just out there ideas, like LS swapping it, or 2JZ swapping it and then drifting it. Wouldn’t that be fun?

There you have it – a cheap E-Type. Well, at least the price of entry is relatively cheap. The missing parts and missing title will end up costing a lot in the long run, but it’s fun to dream. The idea of using this car to build a V8-powered Cat isn’t a bad one though. Check out the XKE Jesse and Josh found a while back for inspiration.

Comments

  1. Avatar U.K. Paul 🇬🇧

    A steal .. crazy.

    Like 3
  2. Avatar Nevadahalfrack Member

    “Try to find something positive in all things” I was told by the teacher..
    Ok, the positive here is the seller showing those of us with unfinished projects that some folks have a LOT more unfinished projects than we do! The FrankenCar Jaguar with what appears to be the wrong hood and frame for the body, the engine on the cherry picker out of the truck in the background, the Datsun in the garage, the Challenger out in the yard, the other car (another Challenger?) behind the lawn mower, the lawn mower that apparently doesn’t work when looking at the height of the grass…
    Yep! Makes a lot of us feel a whole bunch better about our unfinished projects and the number of those therein!

    Like 16
    • Avatar Robert White

      After half a century I’m down to the last two antique chairs that need refinishing & minor repair. If I had a yard like that guy I would at least have a full plate again. He must be a young wipper-snapper still full of beans.

      And who has time for lawn cutting when the yard still needs to be cleaned up first?

      I am envious of his yard & garage space as I have none.

      Bob

      Like 5
    • Avatar PRA4SNW

      Great eye.
      I’d take the Barracuda before this, one sentence, 5 picture, CL nightmare.

      Like 1
  3. Avatar ReyDelMundo

    there is no such thing as a “cheap E-Type”….

    Like 10
  4. Avatar Wayne

    If the body is as nice as it appears in the pictures. Then a melding of this body and a rotted complete car would make a nice project.
    In it’s current state with the above option not on the table, then a blank slate it is. And I do love the lines on the Jag. So it would be a fun project to ponder.

    Like 4
  5. Avatar TimM

    I’m not sure if I owned this if I’d try to put a small block in it or try to restore to somewhat factor specs!! Either way I think with the condition the body looks like on the outside if underneath looks similar it would make a good blank canvas!!!

    Like 1
  6. Avatar Coventrycat

    I think it would be awesome tubbed and run at the drag strip with the biggest motor you could fit in it. I wouldn’t bother restoring this one, and it would be a perverse pleasure to see the Jaguarnistas faint.

    Like 6
  7. Avatar Rovinman

    Strip it completely, Clean it, Shot blast it, Polish the metal till it gleams.
    Then hang it on your lounge wall as a BLANK Canvas, …….. to peruse, and amuse your friends.

    Like 4
  8. Avatar dovi65

    A “cheap E-Typer” HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA.. You’re such a comedian!

    Like 6
  9. Avatar luke arnott

    Restoration cost $130,000 plus.

    Like 3
    • Avatar Healeymonster

      If i was 16 again, i would scan the yard for the donor drive train, bleed the brakes, fire it up and drive it as is till the cops stopped us. I did it back in the 70s. Took a pinto wagon body and bolted it to a frame of a International Scout. It stopped and went but no frills like plates, brakelights, turn signals or any of that nonsence. Lol. Cops had a different view of me altogether as they impounded it..

      Like 2
    • Avatar MG Steve

      This much I’ve learned, in my several years in the car hobby: The most expensive car in the world? Answer: a FREE car. See above comments.

      Like 2
  10. Avatar John

    Something suspicious about this car…it’s missing something…Oh, there’s no hound dogs livin under it!

    Like 2
  11. Avatar Jake Loring

    No such thing as a “cheap E type”! Also something not right in the altitude of the car, never seen an E type sitting that high in the rear end and I sold parts and cars and worked on them for years.

    Like 0
  12. Avatar Imperialist1960

    Nobody’s getting any younger around here.

    There is a group of people who will NEVER get their projects done before death. Said projects will eventually hit a market that has a declining number of participants.

    I’m not seeing people under 40 being into this hobby the way that the old-timers are.

    I wonder what will happen over the next 20 years as the hoarders kick their buckets and worthy projects like this one start to become more common?

    I for one will be curiously spectating on this aspect of the marketplace.

    Like 5
  13. Avatar Robert G.

    This car is not too far gone to restore it to it’s former glory. It is a shame what he did to it. Seriously speaking, this car would have been worth twenty grand if he would have just left it stock.

    Like 1
  14. Avatar sluggo

    Ahhhh,, If only, full up on projects but my wife and I agree, If we could find an affordable basket case Jag E type project, We would build it as a Harold & Maude tribute car, Crank up the Cat Stevens and piss off the Jag Elite. I often get puzzle or sideways glances from Jag owners at the All British Field meet when staring at the Jag club showing, Singing “Trouble,Trouble dont you see,,”

    That movie was so epic and a formative teen experience when taken to a showing of that. The song still tears me up when I hear it and I get chills… Of course the scene when his mother gifts him the car and then they show him with the torch with that vacant 1000 yard stare…… Well worth watching again and again. Buy the DVD, share with family and friends. They wont look at a Jag the same way ever again. Spoiler alert,, The epic ending.
    See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPqxNzhyp7w

    Like 0
  15. Avatar JagManBill

    its not just an E Type, its 2+2. Kills the value even more. Even tho there are 1/5 the number of 2+2’s out there and any other body style (FHC or OTS). I have a 69 that this car would be perfect for. It was severely damaged in a house fire but the engine and transmission were in a storage shed far enough from the car/shop as to not be destroyed. At $4,500 agreed it would be a steal. Unfortunately, the add says its expired.

    Like 1

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