2017-12-14 08:08:17 | Harry Stevens writes:

Sold by Barbary Hill Iconic Cars of Lincoln in November 2017. Seller's description below.
www.barbaryhill.com/cars

Barbary Hill are very honoured to be able to offer this exceptionally rare and unique car on behalf of the Cresswell family. The car is the creation and masterpiece of the late Richard Cresswell. Richard's desire was to create a road legal race car that could be driven to the track, raced and then driven home.

Richard started his career with Jaguar as an apprentice in 1966, little did he know at the time he would have a career spanning 26 years, subsequently becoming the chief tester replacing Norman Dewis upon his retirement. Early in his career, Richard was exposed to various departments, but he soon realised his ambition was to work under the wings of Norman and alongside Peter Taylor. This was an era where tests were carried out manually without the influence of modern technology, covering in excess of a thousand miles per day and speeds exceeding 100mph to perform tests on the tyres.

In 1981 Richard relocated with his young family to Phoenix Arizona on a three year assignment. His role was to put the cars through a series of tests in extreme heat. During his time in America, Richard was able to identify a series of scenarios that enabled the factory to remedy problems and find solutions. When the call came from Jaguar to return home and replace Norman Dewis as chief tester, he was delighted. This was a role he would fulfil and embrace for the next ten years until he felt it was time to leave in 1993.

After his time at Jaguar, Richard went on to build up a successful business focusing on vintage Bentleys. Having always had a soft spot for the E Type, Richard heard of the new E Type race series. This was all the incentive he needed to scratch the E Type itch. Eventually a suitable donor car was found in California and the process was started to import the car back to the UK. Originally a 1961 Flat Floor LHD Fixed Head Coupe, the bodywork was in general in good condition but the bonnet was not salvageable.

It looked like the previous custodian had a similar mind set to Richard and the peripheral parts like the bumpers were missing, and the rear tailgate had been drilled for lightness. The car now benefits from the following:

Data:
Chassis No 885068. Engine No RA5200-9.
Original distributor. Jaguar Cars New York.
Delivery. Houston Texas USA.
Date of UK registration. 18 August 2011.
Rebuilt by Richard Cresswell between October 2009 and December 2012.
Jaguar Heritage certificate.

Power Unit:
Engine rebuilt by Dave Butcher to Club Race spec.
10.0:1 compression ratio. Half race cams. Triple weber 45DCOE carbs.
Lucas non electronic ignition system. Lucas dynamo and starter. Dry cell battery.
Hayward and Scott full race stainless steel exhaust system.
Fully baffled wet sump with 13 row Conrad oil cooler.
Twin Facet fuel pumps from 16 gallon aluminium tank.
Dyno run 320bhp.

Transmission:
Jaguar 4 speed all syncro, fully rebuilt with close ratio gears.
Lightened flywheel with twin plate clutch and Tilton co-axial slave.
Jaguar Salisbury PowerLok diff fully rebuilt with new 3.54 final drive ratio.

Chassis and Body:
Original very rust free shell (ex Texas USA) fully overhauled by Rod Jay.
Only mods - replace both front floors with later spec drop panels for foot room.
Rear arches re-worked minimally for tyre clearance.
Quick action hatches for rear brake access.
New aluminium bonnet with brake cooling ducts.
Front chassis frames replaced despite no visible damage to originals.
Uprated torsion bars and adjustable Spax dampers and coil springs.

Brakes and Wheels:
Jaguar Mk IX solid front discs (11'' diam), alloy callipers and racing pads.
Adjustable front/rear balance. Big reservoirs. No servo.
Lightweight pattern alloy 5 stud wheels with Avon road race tyres.

Interior:
FIA roll cage and Luke racing harness. Steel doors. Lightweight pattern seats.
Racing style leather trim. Full set racing instruments to QD dash.
Safety ignition cut out.
Cooling air ducts and Aero outlets.

Wiring:
Complete new wiring loom.

2023-03-10 07:04:50 | pauls writes:

Car now offered at:

pendine.com/cars-for-sale/1961-jaguar-e-type-series-i-fia-race-car/

Seller's description:

This E-Type was Richard’s own car, built by him when he heard that there was to be a new Jaguar E-Type race series. Reasonably enough, he thought he was in a good position to build a pretty decent car! A 1961 Flat Floor LHD Fixed Head Coupe was found in California. Between 2009 and 2012, Richard set about building the car in the VBE workshops utilising all of his Jaguar knowledge to ensure it would be one of the most tractable and best handling cars on the grid.

Purchased by the current owner in 2019, the car has been further developed and in 2020 underwent a full update to current specification by renowned Jaguar specialist Brazell Engineering. This involved rebuilding the brakes, a rebuild and crack testing of the suspension components, refreshing the differential and updating all of the safety equipment in the car.

Since then car has been continuously maintained and developed with the most recent major work being an engine rebuild producing 304bhp which was completed in January 2023.

The car has a detailed history file and Period F, FIA papers dated until December 2029. Of course being a 1961 example the E-Type would also be a suitable candidate for pre-63 races, subject to minor modifications such as fitment of SU Carburettors.

This is without a doubt one of the best handling and driving E-Type’s we have come across, which is hardly surprising considering Richard Cresswell’s thousands of hours of highspeed testing!

2025-03-12 15:57:15 | pauls writes:

Now offered at:

www.classicdriver.com/en/car/jaguar/e-type-si/1961/1039355

Seller's description:

1961 Jaguar E-Type SI, 'Lightweight' Fast Road/Race Spec

Price USD 194 148, GBP 149 950 (listed)

This incredible 1961 Jaguar E-Type Series I 'Flat Floor' spent its former life basking in the California sunshine, before being imported by legendary former Jaguar factory test driver Richard Cresswell, a professional driver with hundreds of thousands of high-speed testing hours under his belt, and converted into an FIA-approved, 'Lightweight' race-car. This incredible car is FIA class GTS12 approved until the end of 2029, and is built with phenomenal attention to detail using state-of-the-art components. Engine: Built by Dave Butcher, a well-respected Jaguar engineer, with a compression ratio of 10:1 using Half Race cams and Tripple Weber 45 Carburettors, producing 320 bhp (dyno tested). The exhaust system is a full stainless steel race exhaust by Hayward & Scott Fabrications.Transmission: Jaguar 4-speed synchro rebuilt with close-ratio gears, with a lightweight flywheel, twin-plate clutch and a Tilton co-axial slave cylinder. This is mated to a Jaguar/Salisbury PowerLok differential with 3.54 final drive ratio.Chassis: Original shell fully restored by Rod Jay (RJ Panels). Front doors replaced with later drop-panel pieces for improved legroom. Aluminium bonnet with brake cooling ducts. Spax dampers and coil springs are fitted with reworked rear arches to help tyre clearance.Brakes and wheels: BG Development aluminium brake calipers and racing pads.Interior: FIA specification roll-cage painted body colour with Willans Racing harnesses, Tillett carbon fibre racing seats and aluminium racing instrument dials, Momo Prototipo steering wheel.