2012-03-11 12:00:12 | pauls writes:

Car offered at:
www.symbolicmotors.com/detail-1961-jaguar-e~type-convertible-used-8429316.html

Sellers description:
Year 1961
Make Jaguar
Model 3.8-liter / E-Type Series I
Type Open / two-seat "Roadster"
VIN/Chassis No. 875041
Engine No. R1091-9
Gearbox No. EB196JS
Body No. R1062
Exterior Color Carmen Red
Interior Color Biscuit
Soft Top/Tonneau Black
Completion Date 1st week in May 1961
Mileage 10,611 kilometers / 6,593 miles since restoration
Registration "19-61"
Options High Compression (9.00:1) engine
Seat Belts (left & right)
Supplemental Factory Fitted Hard-Top

Chassis 875041 is the 41st E-Type Roadster built and according to the leading registry source (www.xkedata.com), this is the 10th oldest known, completely in-tact, running, driving, restored matching numbers roadster in existence.

It was ordered and sold new via the Jaguar North American Distributor in the first week of May, 1961.

Registry records record that the car was well cared for and sparingly used by the original owner until being purchased in 1988 by Don Williams. The car was one of the very first pre-production examples to undergo a total and complete JCNA standards full, no-expense spared restoration that took nearly three years to complete. Upon completion the car was sold by Williams for a then world record price to Sakota San via Hiroshima Motors. The total purchase price in 1991 at the time of the sale was 18,000,000 Japanese Yen. At that time, the exchange rate was 123:1 giving a total sales price of more than $145,000, a record which would not be equalled for more than fifteen years!

Less than a year later, Sakota sold the car to another Japanese Jaguar enthusiast named "Baba" who retained and maintained the car within his collection until 2000 when it was sold to Dr. Hidaka, a prominent member of the Japanese Veteran Car Club. This early E-Type while lost to the eyes and ears of enthusiasts outside of Japan continued to gained local notoriety in and around Kobe, Japan. In 2008, Mr. Maruyama's (Mini Maruyama Ltd.) private museum collection purchased the car. It was regularly serviced and cared for by Jaguar specialist Mr. Yoshida's "Big Cat Engineering Co. Ltd." until being sold in 2009 to its last Japanese owner from whom we recently purchased the car.

The restoration while now many years old had clearly held up well. A testament to both the car and the attention lavished upon it by the car's subsequent owners and reflected further in the limited mileage the car has covered since the main work was done. Total mileage since the comprehensive restoration is only just over 10,000kms / 6,500 miles. This example further benefits from a fantastic color combination as well as having both the high-compression engine, seat belts and supplemental hard-top in addition to the soft-top.

These early E-Type roadsters have an extremely avid and very serious "cult" following and are considered by marque collectors to be the "Holy Grail" of models to acquire. They are not for everyone, so if you are looking for just a good E-Type Roadster for casual use, this is probably not going to be a car worth pursuing.

On the other hand, if you are interested in something really special, this just might be the right car at both the right time and price. These early, pre-production E-Types are very different from the later, mass-produced production cars. They were of course all hand-assembled but also quite different most noticeably by the use of "out-side" front bonnet-latches, welded-in front bonnet louvres, flat-floor pans and numerous other small and minor detail differences that really set these examples apart as something extraordinary and speciall.

2012-03-14 09:57:03 | pauls writes:

Car returns to ebay 3/14/12
cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Very-early-1961-Jaguar-E-Type-OTS-41st-car-built-/300678 ...
Opening bid $199,000, no reserve, 6 days left in auction.

Same seller as above.