2005-06-24 07:49:32 | pauls writes:

Ebay item 6/24/05
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This is a sale, not an auction. Selling price $23,500. 5 days left in sale.

Sellers description:
Jaguar 1970 E type roadster. Read my description carefully, there is a list of defects that this car has. 6 cylinder. Red with black leather and a black canvas convertible top, although the top has faded to gray. Chrome wire wheels, although the spare wheel is a silver painted wire wheel. This car is generally in good condition, but please read the description carefully to find out the good and the bad. I have owned quite a few E types over the years, and worked for Jaguar for thirteen years, so I am familiar with these cars. The car starts, drives, sounds and runs well. The clutch and brakes are excellent. It does not smoke. It is a sweet driving car, nice and tight. But, there are a few mechanical problems. First, the speedometer and odometer does not work. The most recent owner of the car stated that the odometer broke less then 200 miles ago. The car has about 104,000 miles on it, which is supposed to be true mileage. Secondly, it is a little difficult to shift up into third gear. All other shifting is nice and smooth and tight, even down shifting from fourth to third is excellent. I believe it is a linkage issue, because if I search a little to find 3rd gear when upshifting, it goes into gear nice and smoothly. Lastly, there is a coolant system issue, which I believe may just be a thermostat. About ten days ago I took a long drive in the car and the temperature was fine. The car is fitted with an auxiliary fan on the radiator. A couple of days later I drove the car and the radiator cap was not secured and it overheated, and the thermostat may have seized. When I ran it again, after a short run the radiator was cold to the touch while the motor was hot, so I believe it is the thermostat. I have not pulled the thermostat yet to check it. The exhaust is not correct, but it looks good and sounds nice. It has four pipes at the rear. The car has a jack, the hammer and the knock-off tool for the wheels. The body is generally nice and straight, but does have some small scratches and nicks and light impressions. You can tell in the engine bay that the car was originally primrose yellow. At some point it was painted blue. Now it is red, the color change was well done in the door jams and trunk…all except for the engine bay. I feel it is an honest car, you can see its history. When you look closely under the bonnet, behind the headlights and in the trunk; I do not see indications that this car was ever wrecked. And it drives down the road nice and straight. On one of the doors there is some paint bubbling just below the door top trim molding, I think this a just an area where there was some poor paint prep (you can see this area in one of the close up photos). The body and undercarriage have some defects, but the majority is good. Most of the undercarriage is good and solid and original. There are places where it looks like it has not had rust or repairs…the foot wells, the floor areas, and aspects of the sills have original indications. Underneath, it is mostly nice and solid. That said, there are some problems. There is one rust hole, you can see it in my photo. It is only on one side, the other side does not have it. It is near where the rear spring attaches underneath, but is not so close that I would consider it a structural concern…structurally I think it is very solid. The hole is somewhat isolated and I think it can be a quick fix. In addition, there are other places in the sills where there is some body bubbling, buckling or rust…probably where the car had some filler when it was last painted. The doors hang and open/shut well, as do the bonnet and the trunk lid. The top goes up and down well. There are some parts in the trunk, including the material to redo the interior sill panels in the proper black vinyl type material, and there is a nice new set of Jaguar floor mats. The steering wheel is real nice, and the leather seats are nice and soft and supple. Some of the chrome is deteriorated, but most of it is good. One of the rear bumper blades has chrome loss to it, as does the front grille horizontal bar. I think this is a good solid car that has been partially restored years ago, has some deterioration but still presents well, and someone can make a few improvements and have a nice car. I may think of some other defects it has. If you are looking for a car with no defects, this is not it. The car is being sold as is. Buyer is responsible for pick-up or arranging shipping, although I will be happy to work with your shipper in releasing the car. Full payment must be made within 48 hours of the close of the auction. Acceptable payment is by cash, bank wire or cashiers check. I have a clear Virginia title for the car.