1968 Jaguar

•Meticulously restored between 2011 and 2017

•Presented in original colours of Opalescent Silver Grey with red interior

•Supplied new to Jaguar Cars, New York

•Converted to right-hand drive and five-speed gearbox

This superb Jaguar E-type was built during the final year of Series 1 production, and hasrecently benefitted from a full restoration in which the painstaking attention to detail even extended to using bolts with period-correct markings.

Completed at the Browns Lane factory on 26 January 1968, chassis number 1E 16873 was a left-hand-drive Roadster that was dispatched to Jaguar Cars, New York, on 12 February. It was finished in Opalescent Silver Grey with a red interior and a black hood.

By 1972, the E-type was owned by John Kenneth Long, who lived in Redondo Beach, California. The history file includes a 1974 invoice that was issued by Parnelli Jones Firestone on Hawthorne Boulevard in Torrance, for the car’s smog certificate.

It seems that Long then moved to Parker, Colorado, and took the Jaguar with him. Its current UK-based owner bought it from a dealer in Colorado, and a windscreen sticker suggested that it had last been taxed in 1980-81. He recalled that the car was ‘quite dishevelled’ but looked to be ‘remarkably free from rust’, and he duly had it shipped to the UK in October 2011.

A talented engineer, he then embarked on a restoration that eventually returned the E-type to the road in August 2017. While he took care of the mechanical side of things, he carefully selected a number of specialists for other elements of the rebuild. The bodywork, for example, was delegated to Pitt Lane Restorations in Winchester, while BAS International made and fitted the interior trim.

A new mohair soft-top was also fitted, a tonneau cover was made, and the floors were given a layer of heat- and sound-proof material – as were the insides of the doors.

The engine was fully rebuilt, and was later fine-tuned by Nutts Performance Classics once it was back in the car. The standard four-speed gearbox was replaced by a T5 five-speed manual – a popular E-type modification that makes high-speed running much more comfortable. The differential was also rebuilt with a UK-spec 3.07:1 final drive, and uprated Coopercraft brake calipers were fitted front and rear.

Since being completed, this beautiful Jaguar E-type has completed the Fougeres Rally through Normandy and Brittany, and is perfect for classic touring thanks to its well-chosen selection of upgrades. Now offered for sale in its original colour scheme, and having been converted to right-hand drive, it’s a lovely example of the highly coveted Series 1 Roadster.