Jaguar E-Type S3 V12 Roadster Manual

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Not so much an engine as a symbol of national pride, Jaguar's iconic V12 remains to this day the smoothest V12 engine ever built. Mercedes even took one apart to see how it was done but no amount of Germanic genius could replicate the turbine-like delivery of Coventry's finest powerplant.

The V12 was introduced to the world in 1971 in the Series 3 E-Type – what better way to get it noticed? Visually distinguished by its wider, more aggressive mouth, flared wheelarches, broader track and purposeful quad-exhaust pipes, the S3 combined supercar performance (0-60 in 6.4 seconds and 150mph) with limousine refinement.

Uprated brakes, power steering and benign road manners made long distance cruising an effortless delight. Even today there are few finer ways to cross a continent, basking in the glow of the admiration that this fabulous car elicits from other road users.

Dating from 1972, this wonderfully original V12 Roadster has the manual gearbox that makes the most of the car’s prodigious performance. As with the majority of E-Types, it was supplied new to the American market and has therefore never been exposed to the salt-laden roads that have taken such a heavy toll on those cars which never left this damp island of ours.

Imported back to its birthplace in the summer of 2013, it has had just one owner since and has had a great deal of money spent on it since then to get it purring as a big cat should. This has included a full engine rebuild by VSE with all the performance-sapping US smog kit removed and an SU carburettor conversion kit fitted instead. In addition the damper, flywheel and clutch have been balanced to ensure smoothness and electronic ignition fitted, this lot alone costing some £9,600.

Other work has included new track rods, steering gaiters, Gaz adjustable shock absorbers, fuel pump plus a host of other minor items adding another £2,500 to the bill. Now running and driving beautifully, it has only covered some 100 miles since the engine rebuild and is still running in. It flew through its MOT in May with no advisories recorded and is in remarkably sound and original condition structurally, showing few, if any, signs of significant previous metalwork restoration, with all its original factory stickers still intact.

It also comes with an original owner’s handbook, a factory workshop manual and parts catalogue and the last US Certificate of Title, issued in Colorado. Easily converted to RHD if desired, it all adds up to an unusually well-sorted and well-preserved 'matching numbers' E-Type that should have decades of useful life ahead of it and is being offered here at significantly less than the price of an equivalent UK car – should such a creature exist...