Just Joined the Forum - looking for help on buying a car

[Carajas]

Hi all,

My name is Tony (originally from Cornwall) - I now live in Perth Australia but working currently in Brazil in the mining industry

I expect return to Perth next year where I have a already have a Triumph TR5

Am now looking to find a partner for it - thought an E Type would be fitting friend, being also six cylinder etc

So I thought was a good idea join the E Type club to help me search for a suitable car since I know little about jaguars

I am looking at importing what I hope will be a good choice for restoration, probably from the States ?

At the moment I have my eye on a green 1967 series 1 roadster on the Gulwing Motors website - any feedback on this vehical would be most appreciated

thank you

Tony

[mgcjag]

Hi Tony..welcom to the forum....im sure you will find it very usefull and get lots of help with your search..Steve

[Mark Gordon]

Welcome to the forum, Tony. I have a '67 OTS and I think that it's the ultimate E Type. I will admit, though, that if you ask the owner of any other model or year and you'll get the same response. Bottom line, they're all wonderful cars and a blast to own, drive and show. From the time that I saw my first E Type, I always lusted for one. I transitioned from a '78 Spitfire to my E and even after about 46 years of yearning, it exceeded my greatest expectations.
I can't comment on the specific car that you're considering (could you provide a link?) but before you make the plunge, I strongly recommend Peter Crespin's book:
www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=sea ... rs+guide+t

Good luck with your search, feel free to ask more questions as they pop up and keep us updated.

[Mark Gordon]

For comparison, take a look at Trev's '67 coupe in the Wanted/For Sale section of this forum. When making such a purchase, you can't have too much information.

[Carajas]

Thanks for the feedback - is appreciated

Funny thing is, a long time before I acquired the TR5 I owned a GT6 for many years "the poor mans E Type"

this is a link to the car I am examining at the mo

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmreB8MM - assume if you copy this link into google it will take you to a deck of pictures

Otherwise try www.gullwingmotor.com - and look for the 1967 jag

thanks

tony

[Mark Gordon]

Others on the forum with far more expertise than I will probably chime in, but my observations are as follows:

1. Obviously a rough car, probably a Hagerty condition 3. It needs considerable restoration but you at least have something to work with.
2. Body is questionable. It appears that bondo has been applied to the boot lid and perhaps the bonnet. Body repairs are EXPENSIVE! Particularly if you have to start replacing panels, frame rails, etc.
3. Exhaust system is shot; I've never seen resonators that were that badly rusted.
4. Interior will need retrimming
5. Frame rails are black so car has obviously been resprayed in green; perhaps right after bondo was applied. finish is in poor condition. Proper body work (if panels aren't too rusted to be salvaged) followed by decent paint job are again, EXPENSIVE.
5. Very minor point: I believe that this early '67 car should have arm rests on the doors; arm rests were deleted on the Series II's.

My best advice is to get Pete's book and read it carefully. It will save you a lot of heartache and expense in the long run. Some of the best advice that I've heard is buy the best car that you can afford and go from there.

[nefematic]

Welcome Tony!

a hint on what you are looking for in terms of level of condition will help giving sound advice. The green OTS will be a nice E once well sorted, but as is reg pictures doubtfully a MOT-worthy driver. Are you looking to get an immediate driver, or are you looking to do substantial work? The latter is my guess on the green car.

Martin

[christopher storey]

I agree with everything Mark has said above. The problem on an E is that the rust you can see is invariably just the tip of the iceberg. For the exhaust to have rusted like that, the car has been stored somewhere very wet for a very prolonged period. It looks to me from the fact that the tops of the pipes have rusted away that it has probably been in a garage/shed with holes in the roof. Even if you really want a total rebuild project I would avoid it unless the price was derisorily low, because it is the hollow spaces on the E which are most difficult to repair, and the hardest to see : the sills, the diaphragms in the bulkhead, the bulkhead itself etc . If any of those are affected - and they usually are - it is an enormous job to rectify

[Gerry]

Hi Tony,I suggest joining Jag Lovers as well,a lot of good people on there some of whom might be willing to inspect a car for you if they live near by.Some insane asking prices out there,check out Beverly Hills Car Club to see what I mean, much better if you can find a private sale.
Regards Gerry 62 Ots.

[Geoff Allam]

Hi. Welcome to the forum. I would also cautiom you on buying a stored “rust free” cat. The one you are looking at has spent it’s life in Georgia and Chicago. Those are both high rust areas of the US. I have attached 2 photos of the 67 ots I am restoring presently. One is of the car when I dragged it out of storage last fall and the second one is a recent photo after I finished blasting it and cutting out all of the rust. This was a western Canada car which is not a traditionally high rust area. My point is you can probably expect most E types to be in similar shape to mine or worse. If you really expect a non rusted example make sure it is inspected by an expert and expect to pay quite a premium for it. There are lots of pictures on the Classic Jaguar site out of texas that show what is under the paint in most of the cars they get in for restoration. By all means buy an E. just don’t trust that there are not serious problems under the shiny paint. Good Luck with your search. Geoff.

[Gerry]

Just as an add on to my previous post,Bring A Trailer is by far the best source of what E types are selling for in America from rust buckets to nicely restored cars!
Regards Gerry 62 Ots.

[abowie]

Car looks pretty complete. Apart from the alternator it seems pretty original. What do they want for it?

As a guide, we have just finished a ground up resto on a S1 2+2 manual car. This cost the owner $150k plus purchase cost, and we are very cheap in Australia. The high end boys in the Eastern states can easily double that.

My current personal resto is a 3.8 coupe. It was appallingly rusty and I have spent somewhere around $16k on new panels with a total for the body resto being near $60k, although it is pretty much perfect now. Unfortunately I think that our panel guy is retiring and has done his last E type (he's done around 30). My total personal cost will be $110k which includes all bodywork paint and trim but I do everything else myself.

Other approximate costs are engine rebuild $6k machining, $3k parts $4k labour. IRS $2k parts plating and powder coat but probably $5k labour. Gearbox $2k total. Wheels around $3k depending on what tyres you choose. Trim $10k. Rechroming at least $5k. Wiring loom $1k, rubbers $500.

In Australia at the moment the car you are looking at would be worth in excess of $250k fully restored.

When importing cars into Australia you need to pay scrupulous attention to the import papers.

WRT RHD conversion: if you want to go down that route it is fairly straightforward in that you can buy all the necessary components and it all bolts on.

Cheers.

[Heuer]

Andrew

To be clear, are those costs US$ or Aus$?

[abowie]

Nope Aussie dollars.

Just to make it clear too that I'm not touting for business here but just trying to give Tony a ballpark idea of resto costs.

[Carajas]

thank you mark for pointing out perter crispin's book - i have this and have read through it several time and is very helpful as you suggest

[Carajas]

Gents

the asking price is US$90,000

the engine runs but the car is not roadworthy

Its a restoration candidate which is what i am looking for since i plan retire next year and am looking for something to play with

I prefer play than drive !

My concern is that I get what i hope it is - which is a fairly original, numbers matching true series 1 car

I have engaged a professional car appraisal company to go inspect it for me

the dealer describes it as "rust" free ---- lets see what my inspection report says !!!

thanks

Tony

[Carajas]

By the way - the quote i have for export imort to Perth WA from the USA is A$4,000 including "asbestos " clearance certificate

[MarkRado]

Hi Tony,
welcome to the club!
My car came from the US (Jaguar NewYork) and was a driver, nevertheless received a full restoration, which I did together with my father over a period of two years. Bodywork, paint and engine rebuild were outsourced. Although the body was good and remarkably rustfree, we did not succeed in getting it really right - you need an expert experienced in doing Etypes.The engine was done twice during the first year and the next rebuild is on my list...
Everything else is straightforward, especially with the help of the forum, and can be redone quite easily, if you are not satisfied with the result.
If I were about to buy an Etype, I would dream of an unrestored original car (preferably no rust bucket). Original- not only matching numbers, but also the other parts that were on the car when it left the factory, or at least as many as possible . Repair - not replace - will retain the feel/ soul of your car.

[Series1 Stu]

Nobody seems to have mentioned the asking price, so I will.

How much? Is that a typo?

Starting at that level of cost, sight unseen, suggests that you'll spend a lot more on it than it will ever be worth. You could buy a much nicer car for not a lot more money. Derek Sharp's car was for sale here a little while ago at £120k and was a pin sharp right hand drive OTS. He struggled to sell it at that price and got so disillusioned with chancers that he decided to keep it.

I think it's generally agreed that the market for our cars is cooling although there is no sign of a crash yet.

The car you are looking at can only be described as a pig in a poke. The vendor has not bothered to include a description of it and hasn't really included enough detail pictures. There are so many things that can be picked at that just scream that the car hasn't been cherished. From what I can see there is no part of this car that doesn't need attention.

For me, that car needs to be a third of that price before I would consider it anywhere near viable.

The Dino they have appears to be similarly overpriced.

Regards

[christopher storey]

I agree with Stuart. $90,000 US is a joke price for that car . What I referred to earlier as a "derisorily low" price was something in the region of $30,000, and even at that level you would be taking a big chance