Please let my dream come true ....

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#1 Please let my dream come true ....

Post by E - Fanatic » Sun Jan 17, 2010 5:42 pm

Hello from a newbie

I am very pleased to have stumbled across this forum on the WWW.

I am 4 years away from a lump sum semi-retirement and I was in two minds re:-

1] Track Car
2] E Type

Not in that order .....

I cannot get my boyhood dream out of my head and I am still favouring the E-type.

At the moment I am a little lost due to not having an E-type and wanting to maintain my passion for them.....

What is the sensible price bracket for a series 1 4.2 ?

I trust some of you will guide me away from my stupidity of wanting a track car.

What is the E-Type experience like for long term ownership ?
Any general chat would be welcome.

Many regards ....

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christopher storey
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#2

Post by christopher storey » Sun Jan 17, 2010 6:10 pm

Well, first of all , a decently prepared E type is a wonderful driving experience even by today's standards, with performance that is still exhilarating. There are , however, a couple of drawbacks in use to warn you about

i.they all leak if used in the wet . The Fixed heads tend to draw water onto the sills which then drips down into the passenger footwells and seat wells. The Open cars in addition almost invariably get water driven in between the screen top rail and the hood. These are nuisances rather than significant problems

ii.the cockpit tends to get quite hot in summer. Some cars seem to be worse than others in this respect, or it may just be that people vary in their tolerance of heat. Quite a few people now insulate the interior extensively to reduce the ingress of heat into the car

As far as the choice of car is concerned, the S1 4.2 is generally regarded as the most desirable because its gearbox is infinitely nicer to use than the original Moss Gearbox , and it has considerably more comfortable seats. In long term ownership , a great deal depends on whether you are able to maintain the car yourself : it is a car which is a bit like the Forth Bridge in that there are always numerous minor bits of maintenance to perform, but few of them are very difficult so if you have any rudimentary mechanical ability you should have few problems. The major engineering items are very reliable and long-lived, and so provided you keep up with the minor jobs ( greasing etc) and keep the electrics in good order the cars are actually very reliable. That having been said, you need to realise that you are taking on a 40 year old motor car and thus you need to keep a watchful eye on the general state of things, and although virtually every part is available , parts in general including things such as window winders etc are in some cases expensive

As far as price is concerned, this is very much dependent upon a.the model and b. the condition. The JEC valuations page will give you a start

http://www.jec.org.uk/sframe.php?src=cg ... es09%2Ehtm

In general terms , of the 6 cylinder cars the cheapest cars are Series 2 and the most expensive the S1 4.2 , with the 3.8 fetching marginally less than an equivalent 4.2 . The cheapest models are 2+2 Automatics , then 2+2 manuals ( quite a nice and civilised car to drive even though it is not the nicest looker) , then FHC ( regarded by many people as the most beautiful cars ),and then the open cars, although the gap between FHC and open values has closed quite a lot in recent years

The golden rule in buying an E is to look at plenty of cars before deciding. You will learn a lot from doing this. Also, try and go on an XK or E type Club visit to CMC at Bridgnorth where you can see quite a few customer cars and ask lots of questions ( one coming up in Feb or March) . What you MUST look for is bodywork problems. The E was a real rotbox when it first appeared , and is very expensive to repair bodily. If you look at an original car, take someone with you who is experienced in E types. If it is a restored car, see absolute photographic proof of what has been done as, particularly in the past, many so-called restorations were in fact extensive bodges - ask me how I know ! Mechanical issues, although not cheap to fix, are of secondary importance

Sorry this is so long, but I hope it will help

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#3

Post by E - Fanatic » Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:04 pm

Wow what a fantastic response, thank you very much for your time.

It is through individuals such as yourself that people like me are not too afraid to ask in the fear of that "I am not worthy feeling"

Once again thank you ....

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Tony
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#4 E- Fantastic - I am in a similar position

Post by Tony » Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:27 pm

Like yourself I am in the same position but hopefully only 14 months away. From what I have discovered to date you are going to spend a minimum of ?50k depending on what standard of car you are after.

I have been watching the sale prices for some months now and while you could buy a much cheaper car, by the time you upgrade it, it will still end up at a minimum of 50k to get it to a decent standard.

Again Christopher has been very helpful and given me lots of food for thought. Having seen the car he has rebuilt, he knows what he is talking about.

NB : Christopher, the visit to Bridgnorth looks interesting. Is the actual date given on this forum or do I have to watch some other forum.
Last edited by Tony on Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
Tony (E typed)

1962 E Type Series 1 Roadster (OTS)

Tony

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#5

Post by E - Fanatic » Sun Jan 17, 2010 9:48 pm

Tony

You are right on the button with how much I would like to spend, that's not a bad start for me ...

I would be really interested in how you get on re- finding an e-type i,e. good and bad experiences.

If you do not feel I am being too pushy you can always e-mail me on my regular e-mail :- paulmorrissey@waitrose.com

Happy hunting, I can think of worse things to be shopping for :- )

regards

Paul

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Heuer
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#6

Post by Heuer » Mon Jan 18, 2010 12:27 pm

Paul

Christopher covered most of the high points but you should also check out the articles in The Library part of the Forum e.g. http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=890

Tony

I try to put the dates of upcoming events in the Meet & Greet section of the Forum.
David Jones
S1 OTS OSB; S1 FHC ODB
1997 Porsche 911 Guards Red

Add your E-Type to our World Map: http://forum.etypeuk.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=1810

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#7

Post by E - Fanatic » Mon Jan 18, 2010 5:46 pm

Many thanks for your assistance

Paul

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Tony
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#8

Post by Tony » Mon Jan 18, 2010 11:24 pm

David,

I will keep an eye out for it


Tony
Tony (E typed)

1962 E Type Series 1 Roadster (OTS)

Tony

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#9 CMC Event 27th March

Post by Tony » Tue Jan 19, 2010 8:46 pm

David,

Do you need to be a member of the E Type club to be able to go to the CMC event. I am presuming being a member of the E Type forum is not the same thing as being a member of the E Type Club? Or am I getting confused?
Tony (E typed)

1962 E Type Series 1 Roadster (OTS)

Tony

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