There’s no question this is a valuable, desirable classic car: an early 1962 covered-headlight Series 1 Jaguar E-Type. It’s listed here on Facebook Marketplace in Everett, Washington, with $79,000 being asked. Before you write it off, let’s take a look at what makes this one special.
Let me say first that the price seems high for an E-Type, even a rare one, in this condition. It has some new parts, but probably needs everything. Classic.com lists a 1962 E-Type in good condition at $101,012, but the car on offer is far from “good.” On the other hand, it’s an early “flat floor” roadster with a rarely seen hardtop.
The story is that the seller is selling his late brother’s car, bought circa 1996 in Billings, Montana, from a seller who’d had it since 1974. “All original rust-free body panels, floor and trunk. The motor was rebuilt within a few hundred miles of when he bought it, with new clutch and brake components. Sat indoors ever since he purchased it. He brought it to Everett, Washington, in 2006 and has been sitting in his garage since.”
The car was originally white with a black interior, but sometime before 1974 it was painted gold and then red. Included are four chrome wire wheels with new knock-offs. There’s also leather for the seats and door panels. The Montana title is clean.
Don’t get me wrong, this is a good prospect for restoration, better than most. Rust is a big enemy of these cars, and apparently Montana (and a garage in Washington) treated the body panels well. The engine rebuild is definitely a plus, but with the car having been parked since 1996, it’s now an unknown quantity. It will need suspension work, brakes, maybe a transmission overhaul, lots of interior work, and even if rust-free, a lot of body work and paint.
Despite the car’s half-decent quality, this kind of work does not come cheap. The E-Type was introduced in March 1961, initially as an export model only. Under the hood was the famous 3.8-liter twin-cam engine (as seen in the Mark II) and triple SU carbs. The very earliest cars had flat floors and an external hood latch – which I’m not seeing here (though the photos are pretty murky).
Zero to 60 was 6.4 seconds, pretty sprightly for the time. The cars had an independent coil-spring rear suspension, a torsion-bar front end, and—great for the time!—four-wheel disc brakes. The 3.8 cars got leather buckets, an aluminum center panel, and a console. An Achilles’ Heel of these early cars is the Moss four-speed gearbox, which lacked a synchro on first gear. Many restorations replace these with modern five-speed units. The hardtop was also an option, and there aren’t many around.
Someone is going to buy this car and restore it to its former glory. Maybe you?
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