1968 Jaguar E-Type FHC

*** UPDATE: This car has now been sold for £44,000 all inclusive ***

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There’s not much to say about the E-Type that hasn’t already been written, so I’m not even going to attempt it.

However, I will comment on the current market position on arguably one of the most beautiful cars ever made.

Series one models have always been considered by die-hard E-Type enthusiasts as ‘the one to own’, true they are the purest incarnation of the car and I’m not even going to go into things like ‘flat floor’ and ‘outside bonnet lock’ models. This particular E-Type is a desirable FHC and as it was built in December 1967 and has all the series one ingredients, i.e. toggle switches, rear lenses above the bumper and of course covered in headlights.

The market for restoration cars is strong right now and Paul has set a very fair price on this car – this means you can get a piece of genuine UK right-hand-drive series one for ‘sensible money’. Fully restored cars in good condition, not concours, are achieving prices in excess of £70k; even in a stabilising market.

Paul is a friend of ours here at Trade Classics and we sold an E-Type for him a few months ago. Paul worked for Jaguar Cars / Jaguar Landrover Ltd as an Engineering Manager for over thirty years. His career took him through core Engineering Design to Special Vehicles and latterly Jaguar Heritage / Jaguar Classic where one of his achievements was the technical strategy and planning for the recent ‘E Type Reborn’ Programme. Paul also worked on various projects that included the re-manufacture of body panels for the E-Type and replacement tyre development for XJ220. Paul really is an E-Type specialist and fastidious in his nature on any mechanical or engineering job he works on.

Paul retired from Jaguar earlier this year in order to peruse his own passion within the classic car business; of course, specialising in E-Types. So Heritage Classics Ltd was born and Paul now sources and works on E-Types and other exotics every day. What a job to have!

Paul purchased the car just over one year ago with the sole intention of undertaking a full restoration. The car was built in mid December 1967 then registered in January 1968 as a factory right-hand-drive fixed head coupé finished in special order Bahama Yellow with black trim. Importantly, the yellow colour is still evident in the trunk and dash area that proves the authenticity of the body.

Paul confirms that this rare, desirable and unique specification, plus the fact that the car is solid underneath, has significant history and is running strongly made it an attractive proposition. The car would be described as a series one on a Jaguar Heritage Certificate, and has all of the features of a pure series one, i.e. toggle switches, closed headlamps, curly hub wire wheels, metal radio console, open glove box, lights above the read bumper. The two radiator cooling fans are an add on to an original series one radiator.

The car was last used in 2015 and now needs a full hydraulic brake system overhaul, although the handbrake works superbly and the car starts and drives. Paul doesn’t know for sure, but from the throttle response and exhaust note when warm it’s possible that the engine is in a tuned state in some way (maybe cams / valves / flywheel etc).

Please take a look at the ‘meet the owner’ video here to hear Paul talk a bit more about this car.

Please review the images and videos to see the condition of the exterior – if you have any questions then please drop them in the comments sections below.

Wheels & Tyres
The car is fitted with wire wheels that have been cleaned together with 185/15 Michelin X tyres that although are dateless, are in good condition with plenty of tread.

Bodywork
Paul is an expert in E-Types and tells us this car is very sold. The body of the car has been repaired over the years and is seemingly solid throughout with good floors, sills and bonnet etc, and Paul believes that it should pass an MOT in its current condition. In his opinion there is no significant welding required and the baulk of the work on the exterior is around the paint and finish. The front frames look to have been replaced at some point in the past and are not the current colour of the car, so this needs to be resolved as part of the restoration.

Paint
The red coachwork (originally Bahama Yellow) is in need of a total respray. The car is all one colour, however, most panels have rough quality paint, hence the recommendation for a full bare metal respray.

Glass and Trim
The glass is in good condition throughout with the exception of the front windscreen that has some de-laminated corners. The trim is complete and in reasonable condition – please see the images and videos further.

The interior is really original – this is what people look for these days. A bit of time spent will pay dividends and get the interior looking its best.

Seats and Carpets
The seats are in good condition but are in need of leather treatment and perhaps a sympathetic restoration. There is a small hole on the drivers seat that could be repaired quite easily. In today’s market it’s important to keep the original seats and not just simply replace them. The carpets have been replaced at some point in the past and are in good condition. The other trim areas, i.e. door cards, linings and rear floor are all in really good condition and just need a light clean. The roof lining is solid and not sagging, however, it is dirty due to being stood for a while; it may be possible to salvage it without the need to replace.

Dashboard
The gauges, dashboard top and interior are in excellent condition.

Steering Wheel / Gear Stick
Both are in excellent condition in line with the age of the car with no issues.

As stated, this car is for restoration and as such is not fit for road use at the moment. The car starts quickly and the engine sounds really good returning 40 psi oil pressure.

Engine and Gearbox
The car started first go from cold – there was no smoke and the oil pressure quickly climbed to 40 psi. I didn’t notice any blue smoke on either during cold or hot start, or when driving around the courtyard. You’ll notice the radiator cap was not fitted during the cold start – this was just and oversight and was put back on as shown in the other videos.

Suspension and Brakes
Both require a total overhaul – the hydraulic brakes are currently not working and the suspension has not been evaluated but there is play evident in the upper steering column that needs attention. Paul talks about this in more detail in the video.

The Drive
N/A – however the car can be seen driving around Paul’s courtyard area, i.e. selecting 1st and reverse.

Electrics and Other
Electronics are light on this car, e.g. no electric windows. This car is for restoration so it’s assumed some electrical work would be required. Paul has recently fitted a new battery.

According to the archive books, the chassis number is 150 cars after the last ‘pure’ series one was built, and Paul’s research has turned up cars 100’s of numbers away from this car that have some or all of these features.

Paul purchased the car from the family of the second owner who had bought the car in 1987 from the first owner and he has 24 MOT’s and 16 tax discs which trace the mileage back to the 60,000s – indicating the current mileage as just over 100,000.

The engine is not original to the car, however, it has a 7E 8XXX-9 serial stamp on the block decoding as an original series one 4.2 E-Type engine from 1966. Of course the cam covers and perhaps the head have been changed at some point, as the correct fitment is polished cam covers.

Interestingly, as mentioned previously, the original colour was Bahama Yellow – this seems to be a very rare colour indeed, as we can’t find any pictures of a series one E-Type in that colour.

We think the new owner should consider putting the original colour back on the car, as it really does look stunning and very unique.

Here’s a picture of the same colour on the Aston Martin used in the TV show, The Persuaders – it really does look rather special.

The car was last used in 2015 and is now in need of a restoration.

HPi Check Results
– This car is HPi clear – please see the image file to view the certificate.

Previous MOT’s
10.06.1989 – 71,560 miles
23.06.1990 – 73,109 miles
11.07.1992 – 76,645 miles
22.06.1991 – 74,876 miles
20.07.1993 – 78,066 miles
09.08.1994 – 70,693 miles
13.09.1995 – 82,836 miles
13.09.1996 – 85,210 miles
28.08.1997 – 86,948 miles
07.10.1998 – 88,408 miles
11.10.1999 – 89,900 miles
17.10.2000 – 91,554 miles
30.10.2001 – 92,916 miles
11.10.2002 – 93,836 miles
14.10.2003 – 94,876 miles
10.12.2004 – 95,847 miles
19.03.2007 – 96,458 miles
31.03.2008 – 87,319 miles
17.04.2009 – 98,338 miles
11.04.2011 – 99,251 miles
05.04.2012 – 99,673 miles
05.06.2013 – 99,805 miles
18.05.2014 – 00,055 miles

There’s no doubt about it, this car is a perfect winter project for someone. It’s a really exciting opportunity to bring back to life a very desirable UK, right-hand-drive E-Type that will only ever get more desirable over time.

Paul knows the market for E-Type and has set reasonable expectations regarding the price, and thus making it an attractive proposition for someone to restore. As I’ve mentioned, if this car was restored then it would be worth in excess of £70k, taking into account the non-matching engine number. They are very desirable cars in the market right now.

We’ve tried to detail as much as we can with this car to give you confidence when placing your bid – if you need us to video or photograph any aspect of this car then please let us know in the comments below.

So in summary, if you’re looking for a genuine UK FHC with all the series one ingredients, with low number of owners and history, then this is the car for you.

ADAM PURRIER
This auction listing was written by Adam from information gained from Paul (owner and seller of the vehicle) and having visited and photographed the vehicle.

If you have any specific questions about the vehicle then please use the comments section below. I will receive a notification and will reply as soon as he can. I may need to check answers with Paul as he won’t be able to reply himself.