1965 Jaguar E-type Series 1 4.2 OTS
Fully restored by XK Engineering
Matching numbers
Original UK-market RHD car
This Jaguar E-type Series 1 4.2 was built on 11 January 1965 and dispatched from the Browns Lane factory in Coventry on 29 January. Chassis number 1E 1089 was finished in Cream with a black interior and black soft-top, and it was supplied via distributor PJ Evans in Birmingham to Stourbridge-based dealer Hewitts Garages. There it was collected by its first owner – a Mr J Peutherer – and registered SRF 234C.

According to the car’s Heritage Certificate, it was fitted with engine number 7E 2308-9, body number 4E 1568 and gearbox number EJ 1432.

At some point in its life, the E-type must have found its way to America, but it was imported back into the UK in 2014. Between 2016 and 2019, the car was fully restored by respected marque specialist XK Engineering in Coventry – only a few miles north-east of where it had originally been built.

The restoration is fully documented in the E-type’s history file, with invoices totalling more than £90,000. There isn’t room here to document everything that was replaced during the painstaking process, but new floors were fitted, plus a new bonnet panel, sills, rear wings and the ‘picture frame’ at the front of the engine’s subframe.

Towards the end of the project in October 2018, the E-type was given the age-related British registration FAW 364C.

A full retrim in deep red was also carried out and a mohair soft-top – now covered by a black tonneau cover when lowered – was specified. Its chrome wire wheels are shod with Dunlop SP Sport tyres and it is presented in exceptional condition throughout, with a photographic record of the restoration.

Now being offered for sale by The Classic Motor Hub, this Jaguar E-type retains its matching-numbers status and is a superb example of the model that many enthusiasts would say is the best-driving of all – the E-Type Series 1 4.2 Open Two-Seater.

MODEL HISTORY
Following the E-type’s sensational launch at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, Jaguar introduced a number of detail modifications as production gradually got into its stride. And ‘gradually’ was the key word – despite overwhelming demand for the ground-breaking new model, only 342 cars were built for the UK market in 1961.

After early milestones such as the deletion of the ‘outside’ bonnet locks and then the introduction of more spacious footwells to replace the flat floors seen on the earliest E-types, the first really significant change came in October 1964, when the 3.8-litre, twin-overhead-camshaft, straight-six engine was replaced with an updated 4.2-litre version of the same unit.

The old Moss gearbox – which has often come in for criticism over the years – was dropped, and a new all-synchromesh, four-speed Jaguar gearbox fitted in its place. More comfortable seats were also used in the 4.2, plus improved electrics.

Elsewhere, the basic layout that had been designed by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer was retained. With its monocoque centre section and a subframe to carry the engine and front suspension, the E-type owed much to the legendary D-type sports-racer of the previous decade. Independent rear suspension was employed, and disc brakes were fitted all round. Two body styles were initially offered – a roadster (OTS) and a fixed-head coupé – and a 2+2 model was added to the range in 1966.

When Motor Sport magazine tested a 4.2 E-type, they found that they were able to spend long periods at 110-130mph on Britain’s pre-speed-limit motorways. Editor Bill Boddy – not a man who was easily impressed – concluded thus: ‘The Jaguar E-type has been one of the world’s outstanding sports cars from the day it was first announced, representing quite extraordinary value-for-outlay and a high degree of driver satisfaction. In its latest form it is very near perfection.’

After an interim run of models that are now referred to as the ‘Series 1½’, the Series 1 was eventually replaced in 1968 by the facelifted Series 2, which carried over the 4.2-litre six-cylinder engine. Then, in 1971, came the Series III with an all-new V12 powerplant. The final E-type was built in 1974, and the following year Jaguar introduced its latest grand tourer – the XJ-S.