“I’D LOVE TO HAVE A SHOW-WINNING CAR, PERHAPS AN E-TYPE”
a boss who brought in highly specialised NC machines and gave me the opportunity to learn about them. I’d always liked Pommie cars – had owned MGBs and the like – and the money allowed me to buy a 1958 MkI Jaguar out of a bloke’s front yard. It was a heap of crap and I restored that in my back yard.
I thought it was fantastic, but when you go to a big Jaguar club event and see the cars there you soon realised it wasn’t up to scratch. Even back then I thought I’d really love to have a show-winning car, perhaps an E-type. But I figured I’d never be able to afford an E-type while I worked for a boss, which was the whole motivation for starting my own business.
For years I never got around to buying the E-type, though I had been looking. In 1984 I bought a C4 Corvette – which I reckon even today are the best value for money out there – and owned it for a while. I progressed
“THE CAR HAD BEEN ‘RESTING’ FOR 25-30 YEARS AND WAS VERY ORIGINAL”
through more classics, including the C1 and of course the Bel Air.
I reckon I made some questionable decisions along the way. For example I spent far more on that Bel Air than I should have. I was talking to someone I know in the trade – Gavin King from Concours Sports Car Restoration – and was wondering out loud why I didn’t put the money into an E-type. He said, “Would you like one?”
That led me to the car you see here, which was owned by a well-known long-term Jaguar E-type enthusiast and collector. This one had been sitting up in a mezzanine for years – perhaps decades – and so I began on the negotiations. We agreed on a price, then sadly the fellow went into hospital and never came out again, so the whole process started over with his estate.
Finally we got hold of the car and I did the initial disassembly and got components alkaline-dipped along the way. Incredibly, as we bagged up the pieces, we realised these were all the original nuts and bolts. The car had been ‘resting’ for 25 or 30 years and was very original.
It was about then we made the decision to go for broke and build it to concours standard. This isn’t something you should take on lightly. My previous two Chevs are beautiful cars, but they’re ‘mongrels’ with some non-stock components. I like that – it makes them interesting. But going concours means everything has to be standard, which is much, much harder. And more expensive.
The trouble is, once you start down that rabbit hole you have to pursue it. Changing course halfway through would have meant that the effort already expended on all sorts of details would have been wasted.
And here was the other realisation: while I have a fair few skills to restore a car, I’m not at the level required for a concours build. That is a whole other skill set.
In the end, the entire car was stripped and rebuilt – from mechanicals through to bodywork and interior. It was actually in pretty good shape, but concours level means you start from scratch.
The hardest part? Believe it or not, finding the literature pack and the original jack! The literature includes an invitation to join the Jaguar club, a service book, and various other bits and pieces. Some are near impossible to find, and I eventually tracked them down in Canada.
When it comes the jack, if you can find one in Europe you’re paying around $3500 for it.