1971 Jaguar E Type S3 2+2

Finished in its original colours of Regency Red and Beige leather, ‘NCK 506J’ is a heritage-certified Series III Jaguar E Type with matching engine and chassis numbers. The vendor cannot say for sure, as he has never checked,  but it's unlikely the gearbox has ever been changed.

An older ‘bare metal’ restoration that’s holding up well, it’s been in the seller’s hands since 2014.

Beautifully specified with a manual gearbox, chrome wire wheels, and a maroon Webasto sunroof, this is a V12-powered E Type 2+2 Coupé that stands out from the crowd for all the right reasons.

Gosh, it looks magnificent, doesn’t it? The combination of very good Regency Red coachwork, excellent chrome, and sparkling wire wheels makes for an arresting combination.

This sort of thing doesn’t happen by itself though. In this case it started with a full bare metal respray in the hands of the chap who owned it between 1989 and 2009. Clearly a top-notch job, it still sports a healthy shine to it even now.

It’s obviously been well curated over the years since; E Types tend to be looked after well anyway but this one looks to have been pampered even by classic Jaguar standards.

Because it’s all very impressive. Take the Webasto roof for example, which slides fore and aft as it should, seals well, and is free of holes, rips, and other damage. It also matches the coachwork when most would have plumped for the presumably cheaper option of fitting a plain black one.

The badges, lamp lenses, and window glass are all good too, and the presence of a window sticker for the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club is another reassuring sign.

The 15-inch chromed wire wheels are in great shape with no serious rust or pitting and a great shine. They’re also fitted with good Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 tyres on the front (date-stamped 2018), and Vredestein Sprint Classic on the rear (2014).

As for flaws, there is some micro-blistering on the boot lid, there’s a small dink in the bonnet to the right of the offside bonnet louvre, and a repair to the metal around the driver’s door lock.

While the exterior wears its years lightly, the interior’s patina is more developed. Not unattractively so as you can see, and we think a day’s-worth of elbow grease would make a huge difference to how it looks.

Because underneath a thin veneer of grime is a nice interior, and given we can’t find any mention of it having been replaced or restored, it may well still be the original.

The rear seat and boot are both grubby, as is the offside door pull. The headlining is taut and free of damage but could do with being cleaned as well.

The rear seat, to be expected, seems to have suffered very little wear, and the passenger seat is only gentle softened and creased.

The driver's seat has been well used and has some spot marks, a scuff a some loss of colour. Whilst re-colouring and re-conditioning would work wonders, it could well be a contender for a re-upholstering.

The driver's carpet is past repair, but is covered with a good rubber mat, so is a job for when motivation and money collide.

The wood-rimmed Moto-Lita steering wheel is nothing short of magnificent in both looks and the way it feels in your hand, and it sits in front of a rather nice dashboard that’s stocked with the usual comprehensive array of instruments and switches.

A modern Blaupunkt Alicante head unit and Pioneer speakers are fitted along with an immobiliser.

The spare wheel well is solid and contains a matching wire wheel fitted with a Uniroyal Rain Expert 3 tyre.

As for your To Do list, there is a short split in vinyl covering the instrument binnacle, and another on the far end of the dashboard on the nearside. Neither are really visible when you’re sitting in the E Type.

The Jaguar was treated to a new battery in September of this year, which followed on from a change of brake fluid and differential oil in the preceding July.

There are lots more recent invoices for work over the years, so why not make a brew and sit down to leaf through them?

Previous auctions listings online suggest a previous owner, who owned it between 1989 and 2009, treated it to a full restoration that included “a bare metal repaint, engine/gearbox rebuild, new headlining and an electronic ignition upgrade”.

As you can see it starts well and shows good oil pressure and a healthy charge to the battery. It could probably do with a service and/or a tune up but then the seller has barely used it in the past five years, so some low-rev fluffing is only to be expected.

The engine bay is grubby but serviceable; while we’d normally suggest that only those of a demanding nature would feel the need to detail the engine, in this case we think most might like to ask their preferred valeter to deal with this while they’re onsite to clean the interior.

Having said that, there are some nice features under the bonnet including what looks like the original chassis plate, a Lumenition electronic ignition system, and that recent Bosch battery we mentioned earlier.

The underside has clearly had some repairs over the years, and these are protected by underseal. The protective coat is wearing off in other places, so a session with a wire brush and some rust killer would be in order. That said, it’s been a decade since an MoT tester mentioned structural corrosion, which is another plus in its favour.

You will need to attend to the paintwork on the underside of the bonnet though as it is cracked and rusted.

The E Type’s MoT certificate is valid until July 2025, and it was issued, like so many before, with no advisories.

The recent Vehicle History Check is clean, and the car comes with a Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Production Record Trace Certificate confirming the specification and numbers it left the factory with, a thick wad of old invoices, and many years’ worth of expired MoT certificates.

The seller has had the E Type for the past ten years, even holding on to it during a period of rationalisation that saw him sell the rest of his collection.

It’s clearly been a proper love affair, and one that endured even during the turbulent Covid years when he barely used it.

But, when he realised that he’d only covered 154 miles between its MoT in 2020 and the one he’s just put on, common sense kicked in and he realised it’s time to let the one he loves go.

We’ve all had affairs like that.

But his loss could be your gain because we’ve put an estimate of between £35,000 and £45,000 on it, which seems like a small price to pay for a car of this quality.

Small for you, that is. As for the seller, he’ll always have his memories…

Viewing is strongly encouraged, and this lot is located at Bonhams|Cars Online HQ. Viewings are STRICTLY BY APPOINTMENT and we are open weekdays between 10am- 12pm or 2pm-4pm. To make a booking, please use the Contact Seller button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.