HELM Jaguar E Type 300hp Restomod - Review

[Joes66]

Can't tell the difference Robbie!
But does your bonnet pop open?
Joe

[christopher storey]

Should I have heard of Helm Automotive ? And who is the bearded scruff eulogising on this rather badly detailed car ? ( the lack of a heater plenum is very odd indeed). The whole thing to me has pseuds' corner written all over it

[288gto]

And who is the bearded scruff .....

Hi Chris,

He is, I am informed by my son, one of these new fangled social media influencer / blogger chaps. Based on his 604k subscribers, millions of views on YouTube and the revenue from adverts in his videos, he will be earning a tidy amount.
Comments on his channel positive or negative generate more views and more revenue. Although perhaps a little bewildering to people of our age, it's the future I'm afraid. Moreover, with everyone locked indoors surfing the internet, it's a good business to be in, that or Amazon.

Talking of bearded scruffs, I keep telling Angus he needs his own channel. He'd make far more from that than the actual restorations.

Simon

[1954Etype]

Simon

‘Bearded scruff’?! How dare you

[288gto]

Simon

‘Bearded scruff’?! How dare you

I see it now, you and Pete............The Hairy Restorers. appealing to the more mature audiences and perhaps picking up some of the more shall we say "niche" viewers of the internet along the way.

On a serious note as I think mentioned above, if you've got half a million to spend I think I'd rather go to somewhere like Moss Jaguar who really do have the often missused "attention to detail" and keep a large part of the money in the bank. If you are into Restomods or upgrades I know this too is something they can advise on and do.

[chrisfell]

“ Does anybody think the dashboard is an improvement?”
As far as I am concerned any interior that is the same colour as the contents of the nappy of a weaning child is to be avoided. I am not a fan of tan interiors.

Oh, and Pete, those Weber’s aren’t. They are FI throttle bodies.

[max-it-out]

What happens when you get bored of this car and want to sell it in a few years time ? I think you would be lucky to get back half it`s cost ( probably only a dealer would be interested in buying it ).With a really good standard car , possibly with an interesting history , you stand a good chance of getting your money back , maybe even making a small profit . These days , originality seems to be where it`s at .

[288gto]

Ref, the throttle bodies, that's why there's no choke slider mechanism on the drivers side. Another part of the overall dash that for me doesn't work. You've lost the symmetry of the original with sliders on both sides. The choke could have been re purposed as an air con or additional heating control for instance. The suede or alcantara on the centre panel would also I think soon get shiny or grubby around the switches irrespective of its colour. For me you can't beat a nice dot pattern or hatched aluminium centre. However each to their own.

Ref, ." These days , originality seems to be where it`s at ." I think that's absolutely true on early cars unless it is a recognised brand with perceived extra value such as Eagle or Singer.

[Robbiee]

I think originality is probably the key to maintaining value Mine cost £12,500 as a body and lots of boxes of bits 10 years ago.
£70,000 spent plus some personal (fun) man hours over 6 years
Finished in 2016
Insured at £130,000 for insurance purposes
Driven hard and often

I’m a bit worried as my present project car (British RHD OTS March ‘62) is ODG ......wait for it ....with an original TAN Interior ...I’m definitely keeping the interior as original . Actually the only change I’m making is an SU fuel pump instead of an in tank one

[MarkRado]

Should I have heard of Helm Automotive ? And who is the bearded scruff eulogising on this rather badly detailed car ? ( the lack of a heater plenum is very odd indeed). The whole thing to me has pseuds' corner written all over it

[mystery type]

To much of the same colour inside for me, and I didn’t like the steering wheel either.
But as a restomod, quite nice.
Where’s Helm located, looked like the old RAF site at Bicester?

[JulianBarratt]

What is the view front bumpers without over-riders? Its similar to 9600HP and i have personally always quite liked that look. I was lent a V12 with a similar look in the USA a few years ago and I thought it looked great. Not original obviously but the V12 in question would have originally had those extended over-riders for the USA market so it was certainly better than those...

[politeperson]

Without over riders they bumpers are cheaper to buy and look better.

Most E's are pretty molly-coddled, so what is the point? You are hardly likely to get backed into from year to year as an E type owner in 2021.

The only thing against them is originality.

I have a set of S1 bumpers to repair and get chromed, so I may as well weld up the holes and blank the ends now before they go to the chromers. Then I will have a set for the additional cost of £0.

[Herzeg]

Talking of bearded scruffs, I keep telling Angus he needs his own channel. He'd make far more from that than the actual restorations.


Now that's a channel that would need to come with an age restriction. We don't want him scaring younger viewers

John

[1954Etype]

When are you booking your car in again John?

[Robbiee]

[Heuer]

What is the view front bumpers without over-riders? Its similar to 9600HP and i have personally always quite liked that look.

It was a Factory design for a particular purpose but nonetheless I have always wondered why no one has supplied the bumpers in that configuration. Given 99% of current 'upgrades' were never considered by Jaguar I would have no problem seeing cars with the 9600 HP style bumpers.

[Joes66]

I think overriders were a government requirement
As I remember they were added by law to prevent cars locking together in the case of a car crash
It may even technically be illegal to remove them
Joe

[Simon P]

It may even technically be illegal to remove them

Not sure that's the case. My Fulvia had been fully 'de-bumpered' and it never got pulled up over this in umpteen MOTs. In any event, all E-types are MOT exempt these days, so I guess it would be something of a moot point anyway.

There's maybe a 'modification from standard' question as far as insurance goes. I never thought to declare their absence of presence as such, but each renewal I provided the insurer with plenty of photos of the car and it was never queried. Probably with cars of that era bumpers are purely decorative, so they're viewed as one less expensive and elusive item to try to track down and replace in the event of a claim.

Legal requirements will differ from country to country of course, but I can't see that you'd have an issue removing overriders in the UK.

[Joes66]

Its very likely that mot stations simply overlook the fact that they are missing
But I am fairly sure they were a legal requirement when new
They were put on for a reason and if they could have saved money by not fitting them they would have
Removal from standard on an item that was fitted as a safety precaution seems to me to be still relevant
Like you cant remove seat belts if they were originally fitted can you?
Its illegal to completely remove bumpers in the uk
So removing part of them may well be challenged in court
If you were in an accident with a pedestrian and it went to court I am sure the removal of the overriders would be an interesting point brought up by the lawyers
Say you were caught between 2 cars without the overriders they were originally fitted with to prevent bumper locking and your legs were cut off, for instance


Joe