In 1974, the E Type V12 Roadster represented the pinnacle of Jaguar's engineering and craftsmanship and along with its long distinctive bonnet and curves, the E Type V12 Roadster has an unmistakable and unforgettable silhouette.
Julien's Perspective
SOME THOUGHTS ON THIS MODEL
Registered in the UK in 1974, this superb Series 3 E type roadster was supplied new to the Levy family in London. They kept the Jaguar until 1984 by which time it had covered 19,700 miles.
It was sold to a Swiss businessman based in Zurich who then emigrated to New York and took his E type with him. He owned the car for thirty years and drove just over 7,000 miles in that time.
The E type is a UK supplied, right hand drive car and the Heritage Certificate in the file confirms that this is a matching numbers example. Whilst in the US, the Swiss owner had it converted to a four speed manual using an original Jaguar conversion from the UK as he had always felt that the car should have been so equipped.
In 2014 the Jaguar came back to the UK, it was fully serviced and fettled on arrival and then received an additional thorough going over at an E type specialists, at an not insubstantial cost of £6,000 and included lots of detailed work to make sure that everything worked correctly.
The original paintwork was fading and had some spidering so a complete bare metal repaint was carried out in early 2016. No corrosion was found and no bodywork rectification was necessary. The underside has never had any repairs.
The current keeper has remained loyal to the cause, diligently looking after the Jaguar with recent sensible upgrades & expenditure too.
Expanding on this, in the last 2 years the following has been undertaken: 2 services, 4 new Pirelli P5 tyres, refitting & tensioning of hood plus associated velcro fixing strips, press studs & rubber seals, re-packing/foam of drivers seat, differential oil changed, new electronic ignition plus a host of smaller details and improvements all of which help elevate this E Type to a 'Superior' status vehicle.
The total mileage of the car is now 28,660 miles with its four owners.
This E type drives beautifully and feels very powerful. It accelerates strongly and cleanly, the suspension is tight and quiet and the brakes and steering are smooth and clunk free. The car remains standard with only the addition the manual gearbox to enhance its specification.
