Jaguar E-Type S1 3.8 'Flat Floor' Roadster

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“Here we have one of the quietest and most flexible cars on the market, capable of whispering along in top gear at 10mph or leaping into its 150mph stride on the brief depression of a pedal. A practical touring car, this, with its wide doors and capacious luggage space, yet it has a sheer beauty of line which easily beats the Italians at their own particular game.' - John Bolster, Autosport.

Although we have now had nearly 60 years to get used to it, there is still something so pure about the shape of the original E-Type Jaguar that its power to stop the world in its tracks remains undiminished. At least as good as any contemporary Aston or Ferrari, it's only because Jaguar made so many of them that mere mortals can realistically think of owning one today.

Naturally it caused a sensation when it was launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961 and a waiting list was quick to form. Indeed so great was the demand for the new car that Jaguar could pick and choose who got one first, so the only E-Types seen on the road in the early days were invariably piloted by celebrities, just fuelling public demand for the car.

The one criticism that arose was that taller drivers found the driving position somewhat cramped, so from January 1962 onwards recessed footwells were introduced and shortly afterwards the crossmember behind the seats was also dished to give more rearward adjustment. The comparative rarity of these early ‘flat floor’ cars – 2,615 made in total – makes them especially appealing to collectors today.

This particular ‘flat floor’ is chassis number 875842 which makes it the 842nd Roadster made in LHD. Like all the early cars it is fitted with the snarling 3.8-litre XK straight-six which provides a sportier feel than the later, softer 4.2-litre engine, developing 265bhp and 260lb/ft of torque in standard tune. It also has the wonderful early interior with slender bucket seats and aluminium cockpit trim which wouldn’t look out of place in a WW2 fighter. Another nice feature are the welded-in bonnet louvres which were replaced with pressed-in louvres late in 1961.

As the Heritage Certificate confirms, it was completed on 19th October 1961 and was originally finished in Opalescent Bronze with a red interior and a black hood. Later the following month it was shipped to the US territory of Puerto Rico, a Caribbean island about 1,000 miles east of Florida, where it was sold to its first owner via the Rio Pedras Motor Corporation.

Sadly, nothing is known of its subsequent history but this is something that the new owner may wish to explore as early E-Type owners tended to be interesting characters – Brightwells regulars may remember another early E-Type we sold a couple of years ago which also came from the Caribbean and turned out to have been first owned by Princess Nina Aga Khan. The story of this car picks up only very recently when it was discovered by our vendor in Germany, being brought back here and getting UK registered as 615 XVD in November 2018.

Appearing to be in remarkably sound condition throughout, it has lost its original engine at some point (R2263-9) but the unit currently fitted (RA2486-9) is a correct 3.8 E-Type engine dating from June 1963 so, if anything, it should be slightly better than the original: Jaguar were constantly improving this remarkable power plant to eliminate any potential weaknesses revealed in prolonged use by real-world owners who were not all as mechanically simpatico as their own legendary test driver, Norman Dewis!

Starting promptly and running well as we moved it around for these photos, it is being offered here as a straightforward restoration project and could be converted to RHD if desired using a kit of parts readily available from the many specialists that serve this model. With the best ‘flat floor’ Roadsters routinely making more than treble the estimate suggested here, it should amply reward the remedial works required and would look stunning if returned to its original Opalescent Bronze / red leather colour scheme.