The 'E' Type Forum

I was amazed at the quality of the cars on display at the London Classic Show this evening, CMC, New Forest Cars, E-type UK all had first class examples on show, Eagle were there with their cars too. What I found more interesting was the Evolution E-type stall, Uryk has clearly been very busy. On display were remanufactured engine blocks, heads, various other mechanical components and body tubs. Clearly a lot of investment has gone into the production of this stuff, I just find ?600k to be a little OTT for a car!

Ian



ps. The completed car behind the new tub is a "snip" at only ?400k

But what is the tub in the foreground ? It certainly is not a conventional E

Looks like an Eagle Speedster

This is Uryk's redesigned tub for these cars, unfortunately I didn't take a shot of the finished body, it is very much a streamlined E-type.

Ian

I don't understand sorry? Are you saying that Uryk is now making replica E types called Evolutions at ?400k plus?

See: http://www.evolutionetypes.com

ah right, now I see thank you. I am there tomorrow so will take look .

Looks quite good. Not sure I understand the billet aluminium and stainless fetish though.

Very nice but hugely expensive. My question would be can they be registered in the road? If they are new cars with all new parts then my guess would be with difficulty. The evolution E type cannot have passed the current vehicle safety test rules regarding passenger and pedestrian safety so each car would need an SVA test in the UK in order to be registered would it not....and old toggle switches for example would not be allowed I suspect.....mate built a caterham and the SVA test is onerous.

The same applies to the six light weight E types....they ain't road legal.

I guess for your six hundred k they get them past an SVA test somehow.

Unless of course they are "restoring" an original car and retaining the old chassis number and V5?

For now, until those six numbers come up, I will stick with my Browns Lane creation.

Having peered at their website they "refresh" an old car....with a complete new shell and just about everything else i suspect. So they avoid the need to register....my worry with this sort of thing is the DVLA will get interested in relation to the 40 year tax exemption rule.....

So long as their refreshing does not end up causing all of us issues proving our cars really are more than 40 years old as I suspect 98% of an evolution is not 40 years old.

Pretty certain these require a donor car

Don't get me wrong the level of finish on the Metallic wide speedster style car was superb BUT I cannot see why someone would pay ?600k for an "Evolution" Etype against an "Eagle" when the latter has 35 years of history and a name that stands for something come resale

So ho much of an original car needs to be in a recreation to enable it to be registeted as an e type..are they still classed as tax exemped.....or in the same catagory as a challenger

With DVLA apparently taking a great interest in the provenance of rebuilt historic cars, I should think the bigger worry would be having a "Q" plate forced on you.

?600k and everybody thinks it's a plastic kit car !

According to their website the E spec and E spec plus do retain some semblance of the original shell and are still steel underneath. They also seem to retain the original engine so I suspect they can at least lay claim to be restorations although just how much is restoration and how much is recreation one can only guess.

However the ?600,000 low drag roadster has an aluminium shell, aluminium block engine, aluminium rear cage, five speed box...I could go on... None of these features was present in the originals. I do not see how they can claim this is a restoration yet their blurb says it has "Original period E type identity". Methinks DVLA man may think differently.

While I know the debate goes on and the definition of a restoration is nebulous, I do know that the DVLA have taken great interest in Bugatti's that have been " restored" from nothing. I do worry that they may take an unhealthy interest in these as the line between restoration and recreation seems to have been crossed, at least as far as the low drag one goes. I could see the DVLA refusing period registration, insisting on an SVA and then issuing a Q plate. Q plate cars are not tax exempt either!!!

To me the problem is that the more recreations for want of a better word start appearing the more likely it is that the DVLA will start to take a greater and greater interest in the authenticity of all old cars. The exemption for classics does presume they are 40 years old. While we all accept the need to replace worn out bits, if all the bits are replaced en mass is it really an old car? DVLA can say no.
Good luck to those with deep enough pockets to buy one of the low drag rowdsters but I for one won't shed a tear if they find they can't register them on the road without an SVA and Q plate!

I just don't get it ...at all. I mean first of all Eagle are the company that have made the name and can charge this sort of money, and even then, their recreations do not fly off the shelf. Second, where do you get donors from? I mean, they all fetch real money now. Some years ago someone had the idea of making Aston Martin DB4GT Zagato recreations using "cheap" 6 cylinder DBS cars as donors. That didn't last long as the cars soon were worth more than the recreation to start with. Thirdly, I personally, just don't get these evolution cars, who ever makes them. If you want something special go buy an OBL car and strut your stuff that way. I find it hard to fathom how people with the intelligence to create this sort of stuff cannot see that it will never happen.

Makes more sense to go for one of these:

http://www.monocoque-metalworks.com/mai ... -for-sale/

Nice!

Why not just buy a really genuine e type fully restored, flat floor if you like with side locking or any other combination for half the price.? I would always feel it was a really good kit car. In terms of the 6 built lightweight these have some credibility as they have been built by Jaguar who have the right to decide if they are real Jaguars or not.

cactusman wrote:
The same applies to the six light weight E types....they ain't road legal.

I guess for your six hundred k they get them past an SVA test somehow.

Unless of course they are "restoring" an original car and retaining the old chassis number and V5?

I had a very interesting conversation with Peter Neumark of CMC last week, who confirmed that the new lightweights are not road legal. When I mentioned SVA, he was categorical that they could not be authorised under SVA . Where that will leave Uryk I don't know, but it is no longer good enough just to have a logbook , four old toffee wrappers from under the dash and three headlamp screws to get your new car registered

Exactly. I don't see how the low drag roadster can ever be described as a restoration....it ain't. To me they are building a new car. New cars either have to pass all the current safety legislation or be able to pass an SVA test. I cannot see how a series 1 E-Type could ever pass an SVA test. Pointy toggle switches, wooden steering wheel, bumpers,.....the list would be endless of things that a sixties E type would fail on. The test is onerous as a mate of mine found getting his caterham past the test.

I followed with great interest the set of articles following the restoration of car #60 by cmc recently. They went to extraordinarily lengths to retain as much of the car as they could. I am sure not all was retained but to me it was a genuine restoration of an old vehicle. These evolution E types look more like new cars with an old chassis no being re-used and that, or so I understand, was what certain Bugatti owners were doing. The DVLA were investigating the originality of these Bugatti's and requiring the owners to provide proof the cars were genuine and of the right period....or so I understand....otherwise the DVLA would not issue a period reg no with its attendant exemption. They would get a Q plate instead. I believe the matter is still on going but I agree with Tony....why not just buy a properly restored genuine original car...there are plenty about for half the price. To me at least the car was pretty near perfect from day one. Hard to see how it can be improved on when used as a road car.

I think you need to first look at the starting point to consider whether you will reach the desired end point.

If you have a currently roadworthy car, with an MOT and you alter it substantially in this evolution manner, then you will almost certainly have nothing which will attract DVLAs attention. If however, your "car" is a non running imported unregistered rust bucket with minimal or no evidence that it has ever run in the last ten years, let alone that it has its original gearbox, chassis and engine, then I think obtaining a sign off from the man from the ministry may be more problematic.

Deliberately creating a brand new car from scratch is a different kettle of fish and not really the right comparison to be making, neither against a total "concours" restoration from little or no original as a donor nor against a partial redesign/evolution of an existing car.

kind regards
Marek