Lot 127: Jaguar E-Type S3

The highest price paid for any E-Type was £1,075,000 + Premium for one of the 12 original factory lighweights. The highest price for a standard, road-going e-type was just over £100,000 in the late eighties/early nineties boom. Both of these prices relate to Roadsters, which have always commanded the highest values. In the early nineties people were paying specialist companies over £30,000 to build them a roadster (S3 only), using a FHC as a donor. No wonder, when roadsters were still making well over £50,000. In the current market you will still pay £40,000 to 50,000 for a really nice S3 Roadster, (£80,000+ for concours) whereas a decent FHC will set you back less than half that amount. The car offered here is an exception, in that it is a Roadster, which has benefited from a Nut & Bolt rebuild, in a restored shell and is therefore in outstanding condition. Yet it may be bought for around half the above amount. The reason for this is that it has been built into a Roadster shell, using a 1971 FHC as a donor vehicle.The list of works is obvioulsy huge but it is supported by a photographic record and over £20,000 worth of invoices. Suffice it to say that the brakes, steering, suspension and electrics have all been overhauled, the bodywork has been rebuilt and painted from bare metal. Ancilleries like alternator, fuel pumps, radiator and brake servo are new. The engine is thought to be a genuine low mileage unit with only 82,800 miles recorded, which is supported by MoT certificates dating back to 1984. It has benefited from new core plugs, new exhaust manifolds, hoses, HT leads, distributor cap, rotor arm, oils and filters. The Stromberg carburettors have also been rebuilt and the automatic transmission overhauled.The vendor describes the car as being in excellent order throughout and stresses how well it drives. The new mohair hood and black leather interior are in excellent order. This superbly prepared E-Type comes with an MoT through to the 15th January 2008 and historic (free) tax through to Dec 2007. Both the DVLA and The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust have been advised of the current vehicle status.