The 'E' Type Forum

Dear All,

I have just started the strip down of my Series 1 2+2 and as I suspect is usual with these jobs have had an surprise with the colour.

Two things happened today.. Firstly I got the Heritage certificate back and second the strip down of the Car continued. Both have confirmed that the original colour was Opalescent Golden Sand which seems to be a pretty rare colour. It originally came with a Tan interior but now has a complete black interior and of course the famous respray Carmen Red.

The other strange turn up is that the original registration number was LHW204F (after 1st August) even though the registration date was 24th July of 1967. The chassis number and the build date confirm that it is a genuine Series 1 2+" which is good..

Now I have a dilemma do I:
1) Stick with Red and a black interior which is the easiest option
2) Change to Golden Sand with and keep the black interior
3) Change to Golden Sand and revert to a Tan interior (expensive option)
Any thoughts anyone?? The interior is in good condition..



Anyone like the above colour? I really like the Opalescent colours but not sure about Golden Sand.. Has anyone seen this colour in the flesh?

Here is the hard evidence of the oringinal colour behind the dash.



Or do I keep the current colour and Interior?



The interior is in good condition with the rest of the interior paint red, floor etc..



and




Really not sure what to do now.. Hmmmmmm. I kind of like the idea of keeping at as original as possible and wanted to preserve the patina etc.. But now not sure what original means with the car.

Any thoughts appreciated...

PS also posted this is the restoration Log on the site but wanted to get some feedback so reposted with more pictures here.

PS Not sure if there is any Value in trying to get the original Reg Number?

The manufacture date was 26th Jan 1967 so it could be an E Reg or F Reg.. It is currently E reg.. Both regs are LHW which is from my home town of Bristol which is kind of nice.

Presumably this Car had a cherished number plate at some time that then was not sold with the Car.

Hmm more to think about..

But I suppose this is part of 'the fun' of restoring a classic Jag that has had many lives before it got to me..

There is nothing rare about Golden Sand , although it is not now as popular as it was when the cars were new. It does look particularly good on E types , provided of course that you have a complementary interior . Red is probably the best . I have a Mark 2 in golden sand with red interior , and it is actually a very pleasant colour combination . As far as your number plate is concerned, I suspect that it probably was E registered originally, as suggested by the registration date , and that the F shown in the heritage certificate is just a misprint, which is far from unknown on heritage certificates

Golden Sand is an absolutely beautiful colour on a coupe. Red interior would be my choice to go with it.

As always it has to be the expensive option

I love golden sand and the tan really gets it going

This is the combo I want for my FHC

Golden Sand is a beautiful colour - much rarer than most and I've seen the asking price be a bit higher in comparison to forecourt red.

Personally, if I was doing a ground up respray, I'd always go for the original colour. If it wasn't to my liking I'd put a foil wrap over it - protecting the original for resale and giving me the colour I want.

Getting the message Tony

Red is everywhere! and I'm guilty too.

OGS is no more expensive than red. What will cost you more is the light tan interior as you have a serviceable black one, having said that the value once finished would be higher so worth the investment ? I have done quite a lot of the interior myself which has kept the cost down. I must admit that a red interior would go really well with OGS as well, that was a jaguar option back in the day.

According to Clausager there were 1,645 S1 4.2 cars painted Opalescent Golden Sand. Of these 225 had a beige interior, 544 black, 487 light tan , 222 red and 167 tan.

Thats interesting Dave, many more than one would expect, however for some reason many seem on the face of it to have been repainted different colours and so there dont seem as many OGS ones around, I have seen a few but there seem many more red ones

Perhaps you could confirm that mine was the first S1 4.2 to be OGS? The colour was supposedly introduced in 1965 by Jaguar, mine was built 21 Aug 1964.

For the S1 4.2 cars the most popular colours were Opalescent Silver Blue (2,724), Carmen Red (2,541) and Pale Primrose Yellow (2,473). OGS was offered from August 1964 to July 1968 so on average they painted 34/month that colour. Difficult to know if yours was the first without access to the heritage records but it is statistically likely there was two weeks production (~16 cars) in OGS before yours.

Mine is 12th made and none of the ones shown before it on XKE data were OGS but there are one or two missing.

Dear All,

come back to my PC tonight and over whelmed by the advice and response.

I think I am getting the message and at the moment am tending towards taking my E back to OGS.

The fact that there were original OGS cars with Black interior is also good news. I agree that the Red and Light Tan is a better combination but having a nice black interior with some Patina and constrained budget means that I have an option to go with the OGS for a while and choose to upgrade later.

I have some time to think about it all. I have a good Coachworks nearby who have the original Jag colour swatches so I will pop down next week and tale a look. I may also seek out a OSG car and take a look.

Lots to think about and I will be sure to keep you all posted..

Heuer wrote:According to Clausagher there were 1,645 S1 4.2 cars painted Opalescent Golden Sand. Of these 225 had a beige interior, 544 black, 487 light tan , 222 red and 167 tan.

David, sorry if this is a stupid question but what is Clausagher? I'd like to look up interior's for s2 in light blue.

Thanks
Carl

Anders Clausager, JHT archivist, wrote the book 'Factory Original Jaguar E-Type': http://tinyurl.com/qzvnwjs which is good reading.

Light Blue S2's most commonly had Black (182 cars) or Dark Blue (1,440) interiors although Light Blue was an option.

I think there's a stray H crept in which may confuse searches for him . Is it not Anders Clausager ?

Yes - I have made the edit. Well spotted!

Tony,

As we can see, the red respray was carried over everywhere outside (including engine bay).
Do I understand correctly that the floors (and maybe the rest of the inside (doors, trunk, etc. except maybe behind the dash) were also resprayed in red?
If so, will you go to bare shell for sandblasting and OGS respray?

Yes the floors are red and I assume the rest although the rear trim is still in the car.

The car is now at the paint shop and I am planning to go down there later this afternoon to discuss the options. The plan had been to go Bare metal and not shell and sand blasting due to the extra cost. The Bonnet will be blasted.

I have a very good local coach builder who has a long history of doing Jags and Daimlers (mainly for classic car dealers and restorers) and this will be their 3rd E this year. They really love their Jags and regularly half of the cars in the shop are classics.

Will keep you posted. Any advice is appreciated.

Tony

Whatever you do, do NOT blast the bonnet or any flat surfaces just orbital sand it, heat build up will distort it in careless hands, just is NOT worth the risk.

Make sure whoever is stripping the car knows this, it also applies to the bulkhead top and boot lid and the panel in front of it. Dont let anyone say, oh dont worry weve done this loads of times ! ..... when its knackered and full of filler to remove the ripples you will kick yourself.

Ian

Ian,

thanks for the advice.

I take your point about the sand Blasting. I will get the coachworks to strip it with a sander as you advise. The blasting was my idea.

I am pretty confident the Coachworks has the experience as they have just finished my neighbors Series 3 which has come out great. I was round there today and the were 2 E types, 2 60's Daimlers, Many 70's Jags, a TR4 and a couple of old Merc's. They have been doing E-type for 30 years and even have the original paint swatches. There was a long discussion between themselves about the OSG colour and how they could not get the right colour in the 80's (or was it 90's) and that is was too golden.

Thanks Again..