1973 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster

Registration No: ROR 525M
Chassis No: 1S2432BW
MOT: Exempt

• Offered from a deceased estate
• An exciting opportunity for recommissioning, having been off the road since 2016
• Displaying a very credible 35,773 miles on the odometer
• A genuine British-market, right-hand drive example fitted with a Borg-Warner automatic gearbox

By 1971, Jaguar's jaw-dropping E-Type had been in production for a decade. Despite continual improvements, new emissions legislation in the all-important American market threatened to strangle the big cat's performance. Jaguar responded by giving its revered sports car fresh claws in the shape of a 5,343cc V12 developed from the stillborn XJ13 Le Mans project car. The new engine was both effortlessly powerful and eerily refined. "The turbine-like smoothness with which the engine provides a sustained shove in the back is almost uncanny, the more so when one accelerates hard in top gear without even a gear change to interrupt one's headlong dash into the distance," is what Autocar reckoned on July 5th, 1973. With some 272 bhp and 304lb. ft. of torque on tap, the Series III E-Type once again had 150mph in its sights. A revised wheelbase yielded better cabin space and, in conjunction with wider front and rear tracks, new anti-dive front suspension geometry and fatter tyres, gave improved roadholding. Imbued with a more muscular stance thanks to its flared wheel arches, re-profiled wings and larger grille, the model also boasted vented disc brakes and a restyled interior. Only 1,872 right-hand drive E-Type V12 Roadsters are thought to have been made.

Beautifully presented in its original colour scheme of Signal Red with Biscuit trim, this rare original right-hand drive, automatic E-Type Open Two-Seater was manufactured on August 29th, 1973, and despatched on October 24th to the distributor Henlys Ltd. of Bournemouth. Come November, it was sold to an owner in Milford-on-Sea, Hampshire, and shortly afterwards passed to a gentleman in Southsea. It proceeded to spend many years with Mr. John Foss of Staddlestones Garage in Ashley, on the Isle of Wight, until 1997, when it changed hands having covered 25,000 miles—believed to be the original mileage from new.

The Jaguar had two owners between 1997 and 2004, and it was then acquired by our vendor’s father, who kept it until he passed away last year. This owner of twenty-one years took excellent care of the Jaguar and preserved it in wonderful condition, but he very seldom drove it, as its sporadic MOT record testifies. In 2004, it had covered 35,230 miles. In 2011, that increased to 35,290; it stood at 35,292 in 2012 and 35,333 in 2016. Since reaching 35,773 miles that year, it has not been on the road.

The E-Type’s wonderful condition very much gives the impression that the mileage is original. While the exterior may have been repainted, the interior is in quite a remarkable state of preservation and originality. Now in need of recommissioning (though it has been running in the past year - 18 months), it represents a wonderful and straightforward project for a practical enthusiast, and we are sure it could be driving well ready for a summer of sporty open-top motoring. It is supplied with much history, including the current V5C, photocopies of the original logbook and old V5s, MOTs dating back to 1998, tax discs, a Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust certificate, original Operating, Maintenance and Service Handbooks, a wiring diagram and some old photographs.

For more information, please contact:
Lucas Gomersall
lucas.gomersall@handh.co.uk
07484 082430