A common lament among car enthusiasts is that they wish they bought cars from their youth when they were cheap that are now worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Unfortunately, in your “youth” you rarely have the extra dough to buy that cheap Porsche or Austin-Healey, but cars like this 1970 Jaguar E-Type convertible remind us they were just used-up beaters at one time. This example has a variety of rust and running issues; check it here on eBay.
Said to be a recent prize from a Virginia Beach estate sale clean-out, this is a later Series II convertible that’s been slightly bastardized with an engine swap involving a Ford-sourced V8. The “351” badges alongside the edges of the hood provide a likely clue to the specific powerplant used, but before you get to that, you’ll have to deal with extensive floor rot – and that’s just the beginning of the rust battle, it seems. Tail light and turn signal lenses are smashed and the rust along the base of the car is pervasive.
The seller has no clue whether the engine runs or will turn, but I’m so distracted by the rampant surface rust, I’m not sure I care. Given this sat somewhere in Virginia Beach for years, I have to believe prolonged exposure to salt water in the atmosphere was a factor. The engine swap itself doesn’t do anything to enhance this Jaguar’s value, and given the rise in prices for preserved, barn find examples, I have to imagine the swap here hurts. If the body were better, probably not – but in its current form, the non-original engine likely works against it.
The interior is the one part of the car in decent shape, but that’s not saying much. The cabin is far from the days of sheepskins and leather seats, replaced by buckets from a different model entirely and the fun-sapping automatic transmission standing front and center. The OEM steering wheel is at least still present, but it’s a very small bright spot. The seller has listed this basketcase example at no reserve, so at least he’s reasonable about his expectations.
Always good to walk the beach at low tide or after a storm,cause ya never know what may wash ashore.
its already up to $15,600.. In 1970 money when I was young, that would have bought a nice house or at least three corvettes, or in my case five new Harley Shovelheads, maybe more. Not that I could scrape together more than a 100 bucks.
A roached out girls automatic with free rust!
Yep no pics of underneath to show the real story too!
I think it will buff out though and a little ameral on the interior and we’re good as a grandpa with two worn out hips and a bad ticker 😜
Bargain day baby!!!
It’s very tiresome to see and hear the non stop pissing and moaning about every vehicle that has a automatic transmission in it. It’s about as tiresome as putting black wheels on every single vehicle. Do you know why there’s almost no manual transmissions any more? I’ll tell you, it’s because people stop buying them. It’s not some sort of conspiracy from the automotive manufacturers. They couldn’t care less, it’s what the customers order. My daily driver is a manual transmission car so please save the childish comments. I’m a used car dealer and the best way to never sell the car on your lot is to have a manual transmission in it, can you guess why? It’s because no one will buy it.
@Darren.
At last, someone who sees it the same way as I do. Why the continual chirping that goes on re automatics, four doors, SBC’s, black wheels etc, is beyond me. Please would somebody let us know, what are the BENEFITS of having a stick shift, 2 doors, SBC’s and horrible black wheels.
.
The BENEFIT its that they are fun to drive.
I don’t rip on automatics, four doors or whatever. To each their own.
I agree that people should stop putting down cars because of how they were built.
But you asked about the benefits so here my thoughts:
There is absolutely nothing as fun as ripping through the gears in an old car. Or a new car. Or a broken down car in a field that you pretended to be driving when you were a kid. That is totally my opinion. Others may vary.
Don’t get me wrong, I love e-type’s, but I love to look at them more than I ever would want to own one. Looks like like someone gave up along time ago trying to keep the original motor going. Well, it also looks like someone gave up a long time ago trying to keep the swapped motor running. But easily one of the sexiest cars designed.
Never saw one as rotten as this. somebody sees some value. 15,600 is almost what I borrowed for my house. Love the custom transmission tunnel.
Rust Never sleeps–spent some time under water???
It looks bad but not as bad as some I’ve seen. A few weeks ago I looked at a completely rotten coupe with a Chevrolet engine. The shop I worked for years ago still has some of these all balled up from horrible crashes. One in particular I wouldn’t go near it, you just know somebody got their angel wings that day.
E-Type SBF conversions were more common than one might think, as the engines were lighter than the XK six and was a cheaper option than rebuilding the original.
Sadly, this one is way too far gone to be saved. Methinks the paint is what’s holding it together.
$15,600.00 right now. Another prime example of someone having more money than brains. Unfrigginbelievable.
Lotta money for rusty scrap metal.
I love to be reminded of the days when this was just a beat up old Jag – and there were plenty of them – and some one did exactly what they wanted to with their car without that stupid word “investment “ coming into the conversation.
Carrol Shelby puts a Ford v-8 in a British sports car and boom…fifty years later and you have a million dollar car. Do the same thing to a jag, and you have ruined the value. Go figure!
“Virginia Beach estate sale clean-out”? More likely an estate muck-out.
Oy,,this, without question, the worst E type I’ve seen.( with all it’s wheels on, anyway) I think at one time, it was a cool car, but some doofus ran it in the salt, and this is what you get. E types being what they are, someone will get this, even for parts.
My XKE story, go back to that wonderful time, 1973, I was just out of HS, got a foundry job, so I had some cash, found a 1971 MGB, with 19K miles for $1995. On the lot, right next to the MG, was a 1970 XKE like this, pea green ( stock, no funky Ford motor) for $2,895. Try as I might, $2,000 was all I could borrow, just couldn’t raise the extra $900 bucks ( a lot of money in 1973) and “settled” for the MG, and was very happy with it,( drove it for 10 years, until it looked like this) but always wondered if I had gotten the Jag. Ford motor aside, what they did to the beautiful interior and dash, makes me want to vomit.
That shiftier looks like it came out of a Mercury Comet.
It’s does look like a Mercuri shiftier
These E-Types really wore out quickly. This one *only* has 37K miles on it.
In 1970 an XKE listed for about 5 grand, doesn’t like much , but it was .
It belonged to a smoker. I’m out.
“Car is being listed as used, which means its not like new. Parts on this car may need replaced, ”
LOL, Kind of like the axe with a new handle and a new head.
I have a basket case British roadster in my shop now. Everytime I look at it I wonder why I bought it.
A sea breeze is delightful, except to an automobile. Amazingly, you can trailer a classic like this in as-found condition to a car show and everyone will flock to it. Like looking into a coffin at a long-dead corpse.
Best description yet. I can’t top this.
Jaguar E-type lightweight. Plenty of patina, which extents all the way throughout the exterior and interior at no additional charge. Astound your friends and grab the spotlight anywhere you arrive in this proper vintage British sports car; wheither you pull up leaking and burning various fluids, on the back of a flat bed, or in “Eco mode” as you make memories pushing this classic ride to the entrance of the country club…
It’s all in how you sell it
Parts for the motor seem to be readily available.
Yes, that’s a 351 Windsor, so no problem. Cleveland would be a bit harder, but plenty “maintainable.” A Cleveland would have suited the Jag better, from a revving perspective, though (think Pantera).
I’m surprised no one has commented on the upside-down exhaust manifolds – that’s some seriously interesting routing, but was cheaper to do than custom manifolds/headers would have been.
The whole thing speaks to having the donor car readily available – especially given the presence of the little, two-barrel carb and the corporate Ford shifter. This wasn’t a carefully planned, optimized build with the best SBF parts. This involved a recently “blown up” Jag engine, a cosmetically dead mid-level Ford or Mercury product in the same driveway (or yard) and just enough ingenuity to end up with what was once a roadworthy vehicle with a great power-to-weight ratio and an unexpected exhaust note.
What a shame it got to this condition. I guess if your set up to do all this work then it might be a worthwhile project. You would need years of experience to make this poor old cat something to admire. I hope it gets saved. I agree that an automatic in this car was a poor choice. I understand though I prefer driving an automatic these days. Manuals become tedious for a daily driver in the city. But hey for a sunny day weekend car they are a lot of fun with a manual especially with a Jag.