The 'E' Type Forum

Hi all

My family owns a Series 1 3.8 Roadster, which my father bought it in the early 80s. It has been in a state of restoration for about 30 years, meaning that the chassis and body were restored in the 80s and mounted on a jig, drivetrain restored and parts crated.

We have finally decided to pass it on to someone who will finish the job and actually drive it. So we have been getting everything together for sale, and realised that we cannot track down the body number. We have the VIN, engine and gearbox numbers but cannot find any trace of the body number. I have trawled the forums and looked in every conceivable place the number might be stamped, tagged or written in crayon (we don't have the door linings), to no avail.

Because we've had it so long, we have limited paperwork. I guess at the time we bought it, it was only 20 years old and such things weren't really a concern.

We've been able to identify the vehicle, and have original colour and trim, date of manufacture, and distributor (an existing dealership in Singapore). We are in Australia, so the car was imported at some stage, but we have no record of this.

Has anyone (particularly those of you in Australia) had any luck in tracking down this sort of information? I have spoken with the Department of Infrastructure and Regional Transport, but their records only go back to 1990...

Selling the car without this information wouldn't be doing it (or us!) any justice. Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers
James

James, have you tried contacting Jaguar Heritage for a certificate, it will give you the date of manufacture, the original colour, plus, more importantly all the numbers; engine, gearbox, body and car (vin).

Hope this helps. Also there are a few Oz restorers on here who might help with the sale.

Geoff

Generally speaking, heritage will only confirm numbers which you give them i.e. they will not volunteer information . However, the body number is probably the least important number on the car, and huge numbers of Es no longer have the bodytag, so provided your other numbers are there , ( with the original car number on the picture frame) I doubt that its absence will affect value

Thanks gents.

Yes Geoff, we've been in touch with Jaguar, who gave us a lot of interesting information, but would not provide the body number. Hopefully one of those restorers will stumble upon this thread!

Christopher, it's interesting to hear you say that the body number is least important. I just assumed that a car was only worth the value of its parts without a full set of numbers.

Appreciate the help.

James Wrote:

we've been in touch with Jaguar, who gave us a lot of interesting information, but would not provide the body number. Hopefully one of those restorers will stumble upon this thread!

Hello James,
If you have any previous proof of registration, or Bill Of Sale to submit, Jaguar Heritage will provide the missing information; I've carried out this exercise many times for clients.

Private Message sent to you.

Regards,

Bill

Totally agree with Christopher.....the important thing is that you have a registration document, you are the owner and the chassis matches the reg documents....its even debatable if matching engine, gearbox numbers make a difference on values....if you get a Jaguar Heritage certificate as mentioned it will come to you with the body number on it.... http://www.jaguarheritage.com ...you should also consider putting all your information on http://www.xkedata.com its a resource that most E type owners or potential owners will use to look up information on particular vehicles....... Steve

I agree ...don’t worry
As long as the car is registered and has a VIN (chassis number) the bodynumber, engine number etc are irrelevant and often not locatable after body repairs etc

Interestingly though I was able to get a full certificate from Jaguar heritage on an early RHD OTS 1962 from only the Body number as the chassis number was lost!
The engine, gearbox and original colour were all original and matching which may have helped

So if you can find a handwritten 4 figure body number anywhere it Can actually be very significant.
Mine was written (upside down) on the back of both sides of the dashboard just next to the speedo and glove box

Jag heritage we’re able to tell me the chassis number and issue the certificate based on this

So the body number MIGHT come on the certificate

I found phoning Mary at the Jag heritage archives very helpful

Keep hunting..you might find the number for your own satisfaction!

Robbie

mgcjag wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 02, 2018 11:18 am

Totally agree with Christopher.....the important thing is that you have a registration document, you are the owner and the chassis matches the reg documents....its even debatable if matching engine, gearbox numbers make a difference on values....if you get a Jaguar Heritage certificate as mentioned it will come to you with the body number on it.... http://www.jaguarheritage.com ...you should also consider putting all your information on http://www.xkedata.com its a resource that most E type owners or potential owners will use to look up information on particular vehicles....... Steve

Thanks Steve - we'll get all the info up on xkedata.com. Interesting input on values, cheers.

Robbiee wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 02, 2018 12:55 pm

I agree ...don’t worry
As long as the car is registered and has a VIN (chassis number) the bodynumber, engine number etc are irrelevant and often not locatable after body repairs etc

Interestingly though I was able to get a full certificate from Jaguar heritage on an early RHD OTS 1962 from only the Body number as the chassis number was lost!
The engine, gearbox and original colour were all original and matching which may have helped

So if you can find a handwritten 4 figure body number anywhere it Can actually be very significant.
Mine was written (upside down) on the back of both sides of the dashboard just next to the speedo and glove box

Jag heritage we’re able to tell me the chassis number and issue the certificate based on this

So the body number MIGHT come on the certificate

I found phoning Mary at the Jag heritage archives very helpful

Keep hunting..you might find the number for your own satisfaction!

Robbie

Robbie, thanks for the input. Unbelievably, after having searched with a flashlight over the entire car to no avail, we dug out the dashboard and found the number almost exactly as you described. I've since spoken with Jag Heritage who are issuing our cert with full matching numbers now.

Cheers.

Thanks all - it looks like our mystery is solved, we have a certificate with full numbers on its way.

Now to get down to finding a buyer. Please feel free to PM me if you have any interest.

Much appreciated
James

Hi James...why not post for sale in our wanted/sale section....please not that you do have to give a price and not just open to offers...all the best.. Steve

Hi James
You’ve made my day
Well done for persisting
Don’t clean the number off!!!!
Good luck with a buyer....not me I’m afraid, my wife says two is more than enough!!
Robbie