Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1974 Jaguar E-Type Series III V12 Roadster
Estimate
£65, 000 - £75, 000
Registration No: RJA 400N
Chassis No: 1S2652
MOT: August 2025
1 of just 1, 872 RHD examples made and fitted with the more desirable four-speed manual gearbox
Benefitting from a full repaint to a very high standard in 2020
Maintained and significantly improved regardless of cost by Jaguar specialists P & K Thornton Restoration from 2006 - 2022
Matching chassis and engine numbers, and presented in its original colour combination
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 sportscar fresh claws in the shape of a 5343cc 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." (Autocar 5th July 1973). With some 272bhp and 304lbft 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/ rear tracks, new anti-dive front suspension geometry and fatter tyres gave improved road holding. 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.
Chassis 1S2652 was dispatched new on the 29th of March 1974 to the supplying dealer, Henlys of Manchester. A desirable manual gearbox example and finished from the factory in Signal Red paintwork with Biscuit leather interior upholstery and a Black hood, this is pleasingly the colour combination in which it still presents today. Purchased into previous ownership in 2006, the then owner maintained the E-Type regardless of cost, entrusting the maintenance and improvements almost exclusively to well-renowned specialists P & K Thornton Restoration with the total expenditure during his ownership (2006-2022) reaching almost £61, 000. Notable works during this time include a comprehensive mechanical check, refresh and service in 2021-22 costing c.£10, 000; full repainting in the original colour scheme in 2020; suspension refresh in 2019; and interior re-trim during 2009, amongst much more!
Offered now having covered just 68, 000 miles with MOTs back to the 1990s corroborating the mileage, the E-Type is offered with a substantial history file comprising numerous invoices from the previous ownership, Jaguar Heritage Trust Heritage Certificate, a large collection of previous MOTs, a current no advisory MOT until August 2025, and a V5C document showing just five former keepers. Boasting matching chassis and engine numbers, this notably well-presented V12 Roadster started readily, and both ran and drove excellently during the recent photography session. Completed many a successful long-distance trip during the vendor's ownership, the E-Type is due to be driven to the sale, and has much to recommend it.
