Jaguar E-Type

[79sunrunner]

My dream car, its the centerfold of my dreams, a car that I yearn for. The E-Type.

I found this one on EBay, and even though its a undesired V12, and an automatic, this one still has my name on it, and for a reasonable price. It has 101,000 miles, and I do have access to another engine and transmission. The body looks good, and the original paint is untouched. Maybe I'll open my wallet sooner than I thought, maybe this is my time...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-E-Type-19...=US_Cars_Trucks

has anyone here owned one of these? What was your ownership story?

 

[hattaresguy]

Very pretty car. I'm more of a fan of the early cars with the straight 6 and no top.

The coupe version of the E type, IMHO looks a bit off from certain angles.

Although judging by the prices of the early cars I think the later ones are probably a good buy right now, I bet the prices on them take off as they are "discovered" again.

The same thing happened to +2 Ferrari's from that era and the Gullwing as well. No one wanted the hard tops or +2's, so the convertibles just got insane, than people "discovered" them.

Also why is the V12 not "desired"? If you learn how to work on it, and keep it up they are wonderful engines. Most horror stories you hear is because a hack of a mechanic who is used to working on SBC or Mustangs tries to work on one without bothering to figure out how Jag did things. With an original car like that if you start swapping stuff around your going to destroy the value.

 

[Jimmy9190]

That is a very beautiful and elegant old Jag. It's nice to see unrestored original cars in that good of a condition. I like the old E-types too but would not know where to begin if I had to work on one..

 

[HyundaiGuy]

I nearly bought an XJS V12 years ago, 60k miles, mint, with full service records. I asked my British car guy (that occasionally worked on my MGB) to do a pre purchase inspection. He asked me if I had fallen and hit my head.

With that reaction, I passed on the Jag.

 

[79sunrunner]

I drove a '73 V12, and I liked it, but the 4.2 straight 6 is just more desirable, and considered more reliable. I really want a 3.8, but it is simply unaffordable, and a '62 Light weight coupe is out of the question. For now (or the next 20 years) this is all I can comfortable afford, and I'd be happy with it. I had an issue deciding between a coupe or convertible, and the conv is so much nicer to drive, yet a hard top is so much more beautiful. I can take either one. Maybe this green one.

 

[79sunrunner]

Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
That is a very beautiful and elegant old Jag. It's nice to see unrestored original cars in that good of a condition. I like the old E-types too but would not know where to begin if I had to work on one..


You began with the oil spill on the garage floor and work up.

 

[HyundaiGuy]

Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
That is a very beautiful and elegant old Jag. It's nice to see unrestored original cars in that good of a condition. I like the old E-types too but would not know where to begin if I had to work on one..


You began with the oil spill on the garage floor and work up.


The oil spill is fine. If you don't have a spot underneath an old British car, it means there is no oil in the sump.

 

[Spazdog]

Mine too.

I had a chance at one. Owner quoted me a price I could not refuse on an e-Type coupe. I scraped up all my savings and sold my Spitfire (at a profit) and my Chevy converted XJ6 (most beautiful piece of excrement in the world. sold at a loss) and returned cash in hand.

The price had gone up from $8,000 to $20,000 in a week.

He accused me of trying to rip him off. Hey man, you quoted the price! I didn't lowball.

It was not a $20,000 e-Type. It was a solid runner but cosmetically far less than perfect.

I don't regret losing the XJ6. It was a money pit that would need significant time and finances to make into a daily driver. (but it was so pretty on the outside) I do regret selling the Triumph. I had a perfectly good Coventry car but I lost it to get a "better" Coventry car and then I didn't have either one of them.

 

[Win]

Originally Posted By: HyundaiGuy
Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
Originally Posted By: Jimmy9190
That is a very beautiful and elegant old Jag. It's nice to see unrestored original cars in that good of a condition. I like the old E-types too but would not know where to begin if I had to work on one..


You began with the oil spill on the garage floor and work up.


The oil spill is fine. If you don't have a spot underneath an old British car, it means there is no oil in the sump.


If something leaks, it's broken.

Fix it.

My Jags don't leak. I wouldn't tolerate a car that did.

 

[Cujet]

I prefer the convertible V-12's. In "resto-rod" configuration. They can be incredible cars, done correctly. Not a stickler for original. As the originals were not that great.

 

[hattaresguy]

If you can afford it, buy it. As I said above I suspect the values on all XKE's are only going to go up!

 

[fdcg27]

These are gorgeous cars, although the later ones do have a stretched look.
CAR&DRIVER years ago labeled the E-type as the most beautiful car ever built, and I'd say it's certainly a contender.
This seems like a cheap price for a good condition original driver quality car.
If you want it, why not?
For Camry or Accord money, you'd get something really nice, although I realize that that's a false comparison, since you'd also get something not all that useable for daily transportation that a V-6 Accord or Camry would also leave for dead in any contest of acceleration.
Find a shop that has old Jag expertise to take a few hundred of your dollars to go through it before you part with any money to seller.
A Jag board would be your friend in finding such a shop, since the car is located well away from you.
This does seem like a promising find.
Just don't let emotion rule the purchase lest you be begging someone to take it off your hands for half what you paid a year or two from now.
Buy it only if it checks out as having no major problems.

 

[97tbird]

It's certainly unique looking, but too awkward and disproportional looking to be the most beautiful car ever built.

To me, the XJS looks more 'balanced', somehow...

 

[fdcg27]

Please tell me that you're being facetious.
The XJS is unique but hardly a looker.
It was considered ***** upon its intoduction, which was in 1976 IIRC.

 

[97tbird]

Nope. i am not. To ME the XJS looks less clown-ish.

But then again, looks of a car is so subjective, no one (incl. me and you) cannot say Car X > Y etc. One can only state PERSONAL view.

I don't care what car rags state about looks of a car. They can't 'pronounce' a car to be good/bad looking, and I don't have to follow their lead. It's all too subjective.

 

[Win]

The one's I've looked at seemed pretty simple; I can't imagine them being difficult to work on or maintain. There looked to be little that could go wrong. The XK engine is pretty simple. The V12 is a bit more complex, but is probably what I would want since I'm familiar with it. If you're going to bust your knuckles, might as well do it on a V12, I say.

The fundamental problem with old Jags is that they have often been worked on by people who didn't know what they were doing, and parts are damaged or bizarre "fixes" have to be undone and repaired properly.

Someone might be getting one for Christmas. I saw a six cylinder 2+2 on a car hauler headed south on Monday .

 

[Win]

That's a fine looking E Type, at a price that looks like a steal.

If I had room for another car, I'd be all over that.

 

[hattaresguy]

The XJS while a good car is nothing compared to an E type.

Which is why an XJS is worth $5k and a good E type is $100k.

Jag's are not terrible to work on. I have found Jag parts to be a bit more pricey than Mercedes parts, and they are not engineered up to the level as the same vintage of Mercedes.

In the 80's and 90's in terms of quality they are somewhere between a Mercedes/Porsche and a Lambo.

But generally if you take the time to learn a bit about them, and buy the FSM, they are not terrible to take care of. Most of the horror stories you hear are from 350 Chevy guys who get lost working on them.

 

[fdcg27]

The 350 Chevy was often swapped into Jag sedans back in the day.
I don't know how well this worked, but it was pretty common and all of the parts needed were available from various aftermarket sources.

 

[JetStar]

Originally Posted By: 79sunrunner
My dream car, its the centerfold of my dreams, a car that I yearn for. The E-Type.

I found this one on EBay, and even though its a undesired V12, and an automatic, this one still has my name on it, and for a reasonable price. It has 101,000 miles, and I do have access to another engine and transmission. The body looks good, and the original paint is untouched. Maybe I'll open my wallet sooner than I thought, maybe this is my time...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jaguar-E-Type-19...=US_Cars_Trucks

has anyone here owned one of these? What was your ownership story?


Cool car!!! I don't really care for that color of green, but it's still cool. I like how they demonstrated that the lights all worked

. Never owned one but worked on several 30-40 years ago (man I'm getting old). If the car spent it's life in Az. it should be pretty rust free. With the right documentation (FSM) and a good forum, one should be able to keep it running.