Matching numbers….

[Stevemorris]

Hi all, thought I’d start a thread re the age old subject of ‘Matching number’ cars….

Apologies if this has been discussed at length before, and I suspect it has, but I am kind of collecting people’s thoughts on the subject. Firstly, the reason…

I am looking for a car, holy grail maybe, but I guess we all want ‘that car’ don’t we? My ideal car is a series one fixed head coupe, 3.8 and as standard as is possible (Moss box included!), in either Opalescent dark green or dark silver (like gunmetal) with red leather.

Now finding one is proving nigh impossible, so of course one thinks about compromising, so I have began to consider the 4.2 variant, and a few different colour schemes, which has opened up the choice considerably.

I looked at a fairly nice 4.2 yesterday, Opalescent light blue, blue leather, ticked most of the boxes but the ‘All important’ one maybe, did the numbers match… In a nutshell no. The chassis plate had been replaced, and whoever did that didn’t put a lot of thought into it… The gearbox number and Body number sections are blank, the car number is stamped, and the engine number is also stamped, but with a ‘Y’ instead of a ‘7’ (maybe they didn’t have a 7 and thought a Y looked similar from distance?), and the font is incorrect and too big…

Now that, I know, would make some people run a mile, but the owner had lots of invoices and photographs of an early restoration of the car, so I decided to stay with it and dig a little deeper…

The car number as we know is stamped into the picture frame above the right top shock absorber mounting hole, and after a little bit of careful rubbing with some wire wool (with the owner’s blessing of course), the number that was revealed matched the chassis plate and the V5c. I was fairly comfortable with that bit. The body number tag, as I have discovered is either behind the rear number plate, or on the inner wing around the area of the fuel filler neck. I removed the rear plate and saw no tag, but didn’t look in great detail around the fuel filler neck, only a Quick Look, and could see nothing. My thoughts were that it just isn’t there, was probably not re fitted when the restoration was done, otherwise whoever did it would have surely seen this, and stamped it on the chassis plate?

Moving on to the engine. The number at the front of the cylinder head (usual place) did indeed match the V5c, but the number on the block (on the oil filter housing), did not. I went through the reams of papers the owner had, and found evidence that the car had had a replacement ‘Jaguar E Type short engine’ fitted, but there is sadly no date on this…

So, in summary, it clearly isn’t a matching car, but, in my opinion it is a fairly honest one. The asking price, in my humble opinion, kind of reflects that, in fact no, absolutely reflects that, as I think, on looking around it’s a bargain. I won’t put the price up but suffice to say it would be the cheapest series one FHC in that condition in the country!

So my question is, do we place too much importance on this ‘Matching numbers’ thing? After all, there surely can’t be many completely original cars about now can there??

Steve.

[mgcjag]

Hi Steve....my opinion....matching numbers is desirable as it adds to originality but only for an " important car"....as a driver it adds nothing....more important is condition....and proof to back up any restoration....also that the V5 has the exact details of the car....the engine number...not the number that's on the head....otherwise you have an incorrectly registeted car....this can be sorted with dvla probably.....dont buy becaus you think its cheap ...carpets, upholstery etc can cost more than you think....Steve

[Stevemorris]

Hi Steve, sound advice and thank you.

[mgcjag]

And think tyres.....might look OK but a lot of older restored cars have old tyres....new arnt cheap

[Gfhug]

Steve, did you follow Steve’s (mgcjag) advice and have a knowledgeable (about E Types, not just a bar room expert) person look over the car with you? We can all be mesmerised by the beauty of an E Type and not notice the rust or other problems under the surface.
As he says, matching numbers are nice if the car has significant history or status. Do you want to show the car or do the proper thing and DRIVE it?

Good luck

Geoff

[Stevemorris]

Hi Geoff,

After a conversation with Steve (thanks mate), I have decided that was the 'reality' check I needed.

I have decided to pass on the car, as it's not what I really want. There were a few things that would have needed attention, some straight away and some over time I guess. But, if it isn't the car I actually want, what's the point? I will be forever remorseful...

Whilst I want to be specific, I must also realise that 'MY' ideal car may not be for sale? So I have a list of certain small compromises in my head, and as they say we will see how it goes...

Steve.