When I was a kid, one of my biggest joys was when the family would make a trek to the store where I could buy a new car model. I preferred the Revell models, but Monogram had some good ones too. While I pine for those days sitting at the dining room table- spread with yesterday’s newspaper- and spending hours carefully cutting tiny injection molded parts off of the trees and assembling them into a 1/25th-scale interpretation of the objects of my obsession. But that doesn’t mean I’d pay $12,000 to do the same thing today with the full-size version.
Nineteen sixty seven was the last full year of the series 1 E-Type, recognizable by its covered headlamps and tall-pot SU carburetors. By this time, most of the kinks had been worked out of the design, and the sturdier Moss box and 4.2-litre six make the car a very capable high-speed tourer.
This particular E is a long way from high-speed anything, and while the seller claims most everything is extant, there’s a patina to all the parts that gives the impression multiple dogs have been using it as a territorial marking point. Really big dogs.
In excellent shape Series 1 E roadsters, go for one hundred-grand plus, but this build-a-bear pile-o-parts will take nearly that to put it in concours condition. And that’s if the rust weevil hasn’t decimated the body, as it appears it may have.
Some people like a challenge, and there is nothing, and I mean nothing, more rewarding than slipping behind the wheel of an E-type, snicking the 8 ball-topped shift lever into first and pointing the long, low hood toward some twisties. But this may be too daunting a project for the average garage restorer, and sending the car off to a professional shop means pretty much doubling the cost of resurrection. That makes the twelve grand asking price seem a bit high. Like 4-times too high.
Check it out, see what you think. There would be a certain sense of satisfaction in sorting through that pile of parts and taking the first step towards E-Type nirvana, but this one comes at a hefty price, and you’d need a pretty damn big dining room table.
1967 Jaguar E-Type on eBay
Hat tip to JeepyJayhawk!
eddingsjc=JeepyJayhawk. But really my friend who shared this with me this morning deserves the credit. Thanks Allan!
Hey if he has all the parts then it wouldn't be too bad, although i'm sure this qualifies for Murilees Project car hell.
I would need a Tony Montana sized pile of coke to go along with the pile of car parts to even consider this. How in the hell did it end up like that anyway?
I'm shocked there isn't a "ran when parked" somewhere in the listing.
Would be more like "running while parted out"
Really the engine is the only part that looks partially okay…
The really scary part is that this car has been disassembled since 1975! It was only 8 years old at the time. A 42 year old car that has only been on the road for 8 years?!? Who could even conceive of disassembling a 2001 or 2002 car right now to do a total restoration. Maybe the good old days weren't so good in some respects.
I'm guessing that the $12K is for the matching engine, gearbox, and body serial numbers. I'm pretty sure you can restore one of these out of a catalog with a big enough checkbook.
Okay, but once you have bought or toiled your way through a "cup half full Jag" would you every break even?
If you already have a decent or restored body with mis-matched/missing engine you could easily turn this into a restored matching numbers example and have a big pile of parts left over to sell. Not the most honest way, but you would probably come out ahead. If Jags are like most other collectible cars you take a 25-50% cut in value for non-original engine/transmission.