JAGUAR E TYPE 4.2 2° SERIE OTS (1969)
CHASSIS N. 1R12270
ENGINE: 6 CYLINDER
DISPLACEMENT: 4235 CM3
POWER: 265 BHP
BODY STYLE: OPEN TWO SEATER
A PERFECT ROADSTER
The launch of the E Type in 1961 was the fruit of a ten year development process during which Sir William Lyons established his Company on the markets as well as on the race tracks.
After the Competition XK120, in short, C Type, Lyons went to the aerospace industry in search of men and ideas: the result was the hiring of Malcolm Sayer and the D Type. Inevitably, it was successful and beautiful, something that cannot be said of another aeronautical-inspired Le Mans contender, the Bristol.
Sayer went on morphing the D Type into a roadgoing car, and the result was the only Jaguar not directly styled by Lyons and, nevertheless, possibly the best.
Like the “D”, the E Type had a centre-rear monocoque and a square tube front structure, in addition it received Jaguar’s very sophisticated rear suspension module.
The car was born with a 3.8 version of the XK engine, then bored to 4.2 in 1964. Later a few body and interior changes gave life to the Second Series, with better lights and a safer cockpit.
Had it not been produced in such numbers (around 70,000 units), the E Type would surely be one of the most valuable cars ever: Enzo Ferrari himself told journalist Gino Rancati that it was “the most beautiful car in the world”.
In 1968 an E Type 4.2 Roadster like the one you’re looking at had an Italian price of 4,780,000 lire. As an example, a Lancia Flaminia Zagato was 3,615,000 lire, a Maserati Mistral Convertibile 6,150,000 lire, and a Mercedes-Benz 250 SL 4,750,000 lire just like a Porsche 911S.
This E Type was originally sold in America. In the 1980s was imported in Italy and went through a painstaking ten-years restoration. By sheer coincidence, I have followed this process as it was coordinated by my mechanic and good friend Antonio Tentori in Cazzago Brabbia near Varese, who was also working on my own E Type.
Apart from the heating system, that the owner decided not to fit, the car has been brought back to as new condition in each and every component. In the following years it has been used very sparingly, and the seller informs us that it has never experienced the rain.
It is therefore an E Type which has been perfectly restored and still is like new. It has been published as an example of Series Two in a feature dedicated to E Type Roadsters by Ruoteclassiche, as well as in two books.
The vehicle is in excellent mechanical condition but for safety reasons, we advise the purchaser to have it checked over and to replace the fluids, filters and perishable elements.
