Jaguar E-Type Series III V12 Coupe

Launched in 1971, the Series 3 V12 was the last and most luxurious of the E-Type range with a wider track, longer wheelbase, bigger tyres, revised suspension and a more spacious cockpit. Much better proportioned than the earlier 2+2 E-Types, it had a beautifully muscular form and was easily a match for anything that the Italians had to offer and is still surprisingly undervalued by comparison.

Weighing just a few pounds more than the smaller XK 4.2 engine it replaced, the alloy blocked 5.3-litre V12 produced only slightly more power (272 instead of 265bhp) but vastly more torque (349 instead of 283lb/ft). This results in a quite different driving experience: gone is the XK snarl, replaced by quiet thunder and a sense of huge momentum in place of raw acceleration. Despite its size and complexity, the V12 has also got an enviable reputation for unburstable reliability. In manual form, the 0 - 60mph benchmark is dispatched in just 6.3 seconds and 145mph is only a squeeze of the right foot away – even today, it is hard to imagine a more desirable car in which to cross a continent.

According to the Heritage Certificate this prime example was completed on the 6th August 1973, despatched from the factory to University Motors of Kinston upon Thames on the 20th August and registered on the 1st of September.  The file also shows that it has carried a number of personalised registration numbers, the car now wearing the age related ABW 429M.  Invoices show service and maintenance back to 1992, whilst 25 old MOTs show a gentle accumulation of mileage from 33,374 in 1979.  The MOTs from 2004/2006 show a jump from 59,656 to 69,671, the next subsequent record in 2008 showing a drop back to 59,983.  The vendor believes that the 2006 MOT mileage was noted incorrectly - which would make a genuine overall mileage of just 62,600.  The current MOT expires in August 2012.

In very fine condition, it fired instantly and ran with typical V12 refinement when manouvering for the photographs although it was noted that the rev counter was not functioning.  The vendor has installed a fabulous sound system at a cost of around £3,000, carefully fitted to be visually non intrusive (but not aurally!)