Description
H&H Classic Auction @ The Imperial War Museum, Duxford/ Cambridgeshire
9th October, 2024 13:00
1962 Jaguar E-Type 3. 8 litre 'Semi-Lightweight' Coupe
Road legal and tractable but current FIA HTP
Estimate
£120, 000 - £160, 000
Registration No: BOG 6
Chassis No: 860657
MOT: May 2025
Entered from The Merlin Collection
A 'home market' car supplied new via Henlys of London
Extensively restored and reconfigured for competition use in 2000 - 2001
Subsequently campaigned at the Spa 6-Hours, Goodwood Members Meeting, Zolder and the Nurburgring etc
Aluminium bonnet, tailgate and doors plus plexiglass side / rear windows (previously weighted at 1, 100kg kerbwieght)
Rob Beere engine developing over 340bhp yet docile enough for road use
Purchased from Jaguar Land Rover Classic's 'Works Legends' showroom (where it was advertised for £249, 940)
Used by the vendor as an exhilarating 'fast road' car with its suspension recalibrated accordingly and a bespoke 'peg drive' space saver wheel made especially for it
FIA HTP valid until 2027
According to its accompanying Jaguar Heritage Production Record Trace Certificate, chassis 860657 was completed on 14th June 1962 and despatched to distributor Henlys Limited of London some three weeks later. Originally finished in Opalescent Silver Blue and issued with the Soke of Peterborough number plate ‘PFL 478’ on 3rd August 1962, the Fixed Head Coupe belonged to Robert Henry Williams Esq of Dunstable, Bedfordshire the following decade. Sold to Michael Moore Esq of Broomstick Cars in 1984 (arguably better known for their BS120 homage to the Jaguar XK120), the E-Type was uprated to ‘Semi Lightweight’ specification around the turn of the Millenium. Stripped to bare metal, its aluminium bonnet, tailgate and doors were sourced from the renowned RS Panels. First issued with FIA papers during 2001, the two-seater raced at Zolder, the Nurburgring, Spa 6-hours and Goodwood Members’ Meeting thereafter. Acquired by historic racer and serial E-Type campaigner Paul Kennelly in 2011, he initially tasked marque specialist CKL Developments with further lightening and improving chassis 860657. However, it would be another five years before he commissioned John Arnold of Brooklands Motorsport (and later Revival Motorsport) to ‘turn the Coupe into a well-prepared, competitive race car’. Disassembled once more, the Jaguar was refinished in its original Opalescent Silver Blue and trimmed in Dark Blue to match Mr Kennelly’s existing Lightweight Roadster ‘245 YUB’. Air duct cooling was added to the front and rear brakes and the existing Rob Beere 3. 8 litre XK DOHC ‘full race’ engine refreshed. Numbered as ‘7B55246-8’ the unit in question remains in situ. Breathing through triple Weber carburettors and incorporating a ‘wide cheek’ crankshaft, Saenz steel conrods and Cosworth pistons, a past dyno sheet records the straight-six as developing 342. 8bhp and 317. 7lbft of torque. A ‘track legal’ Hayward & Scott stainless steel exhaust was added and the existing rollcage replaced by a more comprehensive one from Custom Cages. The wiring was tidied and a new FIA Historic Technical Passport issued on April 4th 2017.
Something of a ‘spare’ during Paul Kennelly’s custodianship, the E-Type had seen comparatively little action by the time that it appeared in Jaguar Land Rover Classic’s ‘Works Legends’ showrooms with a £249, 940 asking price. Purchased by the vendor from its original manufacturer during October 2020, the Coupe joined a Bryan Wingfield C-Type, very early Lynx D-Type and Lister ‘Knobbly’ Continuation as part of the Merlin Collection. Finding the Rob Beere engine to be surprisingly tractable if warmed through properly, the seller reconfigured the ‘Semi Lightweight’ E-Type as a fast road car. Sourcing a second set of magnesium peg drive alloys from RS Panels, he treated the two-seater to new Avon tyres all round and had a bespoke ‘space saver’ alloy spare wheel made. Perspex side and rear windows are still fitted but the car is now fully road legal. Boasting a prodigious power to weight ratio (it was previously weighed at just 1104kg), the Jaguar has sufficient performance to embarrass many a modern sportscar sounding epic in the process. Entrusted to marque specialist CMC of Bridgnorth last year for a thorough overhaul of its four-speed all-synchromesh gearbox, ‘BOG 6’ also had its AP Racing clutch renewed. As clean underneath as it is on top, this exceptionally smart ‘Semi Lightweight’ is worthy of close inspection. Offered for sale with Jaguar Heritage Trust Certificate, FIA HTP (expires 2027), numerous CKL / Brooklands Motorsport / CMC / RS Panels invoices, MOT certificate valid until May 2025, restoration photos and a second set of magnesium ‘peg drive’ alloy wheels.
