There are a lot of E-Types offered for sale on a given basis. So much that you can occasionally get unintentional blinders to the thing, not really paying much attention when yet another project-grade E-Type shows up for sale. But this one is special and worth a look, and not just for its charmingly roughshod presentation. This is a true Series 1 E-Type with two bucket seats and a manual gearbox. It’s as pure as it gets for an XKE, and the seller has listed the Jaguar here on eBay with bids to $11,700 and the reserve unmet.
You have to love the mismatched body panel colors, which suggests that this Jaguar was just another used car at one point in time, with previous owners simply trying to bolt it back together after an accident or rust damage set in. The original color is a very striking shade known as Opalescent Golden Sand, which is effectively tan but is still a color we don’t often see on the racy E-Type, which is almost always painted red, or black, or British Racing Green. I was somewhat excited that the burnt orange paint on the car’s hindquarters was possibly original, as it looks pretty sharp on those fat fenders (it is not). The Jaguar appears to retain its original wire wheels, at least.
The interior is a feast for the eyes, even in unrestored condition. The toggle switches that were unique to the Series 1 cars are present and look just as killer as they did when the car was new. This was perhaps one of the biggest sins of the later cars, the pivot away from toggle-style switchgear. You truly felt like a fighter jet pilot in a car like this, with a huge, powerful engine in front of you, acres-long hood, short rear over-hang, and just two bucket seats in the cockpit. The Jaguar’s respray did go inside the jambs, but it looks like in the bottom right corner of the A-pillar, you can see some of the original tan paint poking through.
The seller does confirm that the E-Type is rusty, with the floors, sills, and rear wheel arches all needing rust repair. The good news is that some of the bodywork prep work is already done as the seller notes that the sale includes brand-new replacement Martin Robey panels. No details are offered regarding the health of the engine, so potential bidders will have to inquire directly for background information regarding upkeep and outstanding mechanical issues. Early E-Types are the ones to buy, particularly when there’s no backseat, so it seems likely this one will find a new home that will oversee its restoration back to good health and its original paint color.
About the toggle switches: don’t blame the “sin” of rocker switches on Jaguar. Sir William Lyons would have loved nothing better than to leave the toggles, as the switch to rockers cost money to undertake. The “sin” should be blamed on American government safety bureaucrats. While I have a minor preference for the toggle switches on a one-on-one basis, don’t forget that there were only SIX toggles on a Series 1, whereas TEN rockers on a Series 1.5 onwards. The rocker dash also gained a fifth gauge, helping to compensate in the cool department. By the way, it is piston-engined fighter planes that had toggles, whereas it is jet fighters since the ’50s that have had the toggle switches. Something else: the rocker switches, apart from being safer in a violent crash, are about four times more durable that the toggle switches. Furthermore, if you simply cannot live without a toggle switch in your latter E Type, the safety bureaucrats, for some unexplained reason, did allow ALL latter E Types to have one in the far corner, on the opposite side of the grab handle!
ERRATA: the penultimate word at the end of line 9 in my above comment should be ROCKER. Sorry!
Was this car previously owned by Johnny Cash? Built…one piece at a time???
ufffff… those lucas parts go really well with the rusty crunch
Well… as long as the numbers match and matching rust disease , the body panels? Harlequin is just fine at this stage, they dont` need to match
Those cars are a nightmare once you get into them due to the rust. The rocker boxes rust out from the inside out, all the spot welds are usually 3 panels deep especially when you get into replacing the floor sections and the quarters are fun. All the door gaps are leaded for fit, not a job for the novice restorer.
THIS IS a bucket list car for me. Just missed out on a ’62 convertible in 1974 and have had with drawls ever since. I firmly believe all cars have a heart and soul. This guy isn’t afraid to strut its stuff amongst the 6 and 7 figure cars in the immediate surroundings. “BULLY” to the Brit in this auction. Hope it finds a new home worthy of its offerings.