Jaguar E-Type S1 4.2 Roadster

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The whole E-Type story is one of romance; from being driven through the night to get to the Geneva Motorshow in time for its debut in 1961 through to its place amongst the 'it' crowd in the swinging '60s, its exotic and erotic shape guaranteeing it a place amongst the motoring icons of our time.

Some 50 years on, its purity of lines and remarkable performance still cause a stir on the road. With a top speed of 150mph and brakes and handling to match, it was the equal of any contemporary Aston or Ferrari. It's only because Jaguar made so many of them that mere mortals like you and I can even dream of realistically owning one today – although as prices have been on a steady upwards march for several years now, its probably best not to delay too long!

The best looking and most desirable of all the E-Type variants is the Series 1 Roadster, as here. The 3.8-litre short-stroke XK engine from the XK150S was initially used, enlarged to 4.2-litres in 1964 offering similar power but more torque. Quite apart from their sheer beauty, these are genuinely quick cars even by today’s standards, yet remain easy to live with and maintain (unlike Italian exotica) with all parts readily available and a whole army of specialists to service them. Just 1,705 RHD 4.2-litre Roadsters were built between September 1964 and September 1967 when the so called series 1 ½ entered production.

The Jaguar Heritage Certificate on file confirms that this UK supplied RHD car was completed on 3 April 1967. Painted dark blue and trimmed in black leather piped blue, it was delivered to Henlys in London. Its first owner was a Mr Williams of Southall. The buff log book shows various changes of ownership before the car was exported to America in in 1986.

Its Tennessee owner passed it to Leo Goff Racing who rebuilt the car. Various photographs on file show the extent of the work done which brought the car up to standard while retaining its RHD steering position. By 1990 it had returned to the UK having been imported by a gentleman from Leeds.

During the early 1990s it appears to have had its speedometer replaced, the 19 old MOTs on file showing a jump from 62,886 miles to 3,444 miles. By 2001 this had risen to 12,418 miles, at which point it came into the hands of the vendor who bought it from the E-Type Centre to celebrate his 40th Birthday. Used regularly during the summer months, the odometer now shows just over 20,500 miles. Dry stored in a Carcoon when not in use, it has been regularly serviced and maintained by Cardiff specialist Bernard Coly, invoices on file showing the work undertaken.

This highly desirable, sound and useable UK supplied Series 1 Roadster is MOTd until April 2015 and will be driven some 120 miles to the sale.