1961 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 3.8 OTS Flat Floor
Highlights
- Very early LHD OTS and a genuine flat floor car
- Fully restored with recent £25,000 of mechanical and body work
- Original Opalescent Green metallic over Cinnamon leather
- Retains its early flat floor features
- Rare, desirable and beautifully finished E-Type
The Appeal
Certain cars cross the threshold between vehicle and work of art. The early ‘flat floor’ E-Type is one of them, a rarified group of only 1,583 models that are revered as the purest iteration of these beautiful cars.
The key with any ‘flat floor’ is originality, namely that the car retains its distinctive factory features. This very early LHD OTS does exactly that thanks to sparing use and a sympathetic high-end restoration. It was built in October 1961, a few months after the E-Type was launched, and is car number 722 of the LHD open top two cars.
The enthusiast vendor acquired the car in 2004 from Oregon, subsequently investing over £25,000 in 2018 across the bodywork. During this work the car was refinished in fetching, factory-correct Opalescent Dark Green and the engine was rebuilt.
The condition is a testament to his exacting standards, the car presenting very well inside and out and said to be running very well. The ‘flat floor’ is, for many collectors, the ultimate E-Type and this one, with its comprehensive factory specification, looks very tempting.
The History and Paperwork
- Acquired by the seller in 2004 from Illinois
- Various Oregon Certificate of Title and Registration documents
- Importation documents confirming correct and legal arrival in UK
- Chassis number 875722
- One registered keeper in the UK since first registration in June 2019
- Original tool kit, jack and hammer included
- Body, chassis and cylinder head are matching numbers according to JDHT certificate
- Speedometer replaced in 1966
- Vendor believes that the displayed 14,932 miles is in fact 114,932 miles
- E-Type enthusiast keeper who is only selling due to mobility issues
- Restored between 2016 and 2019 by owner with professional repaint and engine rebuild
- Invoices for over £25,000 covering the respray and engine rebuild
- Further invoices documenting parts and other maintenance work shown in photos
- We are told that the bonnet is original
- Fitted with replacement engine block from a pre-November 1961 E-Type with scroll type main oil seal
- Matching hard top available by separate negotiation
- Factory maintenance and servicing handbook
Factory specification recorded on Jaguar Daimler Heritage Certificate number:
- Opalescent Dark Green
- Car 722 of the first LHD OTS examples
- Built on 6th October 1961
- LHD car despatched to USA on 28th October 1961
Retains the following flat floor features according to seller:
- Flat front floor pans
- Welded bonnet louvre panels
- Straight rear bulkhead behind the seat
- Double boot lid hinges because the singles were very weak
- Slightly different profile to bonnet power bulge
- Bonnet inner ducting is spot welded to centre panel rather than bonded
- Early bonnet support frame with stud hinge pivots rather than removable bolts
- Bonnet ‘bump stops’ on bulkhead like the earlier outside lock cars
- Mounting points for the outside lock catches but later internal lock flat floor car
- Door tops are separate spot welded panels
- Early steering wheel
- Thin dash top
- Moulded fibreglass glove box
- Early A post top chrome trims with rubber pads
- Early dash grab handle without chrome mountings
- No chrome moulding between lower A post trim and dash
- Large diameter hollow rear driveshafts
- Early three piece throttle linkage
- Smooth plenum chamber on air filter
- Round hydraulic fluid reservoirs
- Boot seal attached to underside of the boot lid
- Short exhaust tail pipes
- Round brake and clutch bottles
- Interior has early rear view mirror rod, early aluminium trim patterns and early type glove box lid
- Original bucket seats
- No sun visors
- Aluminium floor-hinged accelerator with no rubber trim
The success of the E-Type caught Jaguar unawares. This was a car designed for low volume, crafted construction. Demand led to modification and simplification to speed up production.
All of which makes the early ‘flat floor’ cars very rare. Even amongst this rarified group, changes were underway, which means that the earlier the car, the closer it is to the original ‘pure’ specification.
This car was the 722nd LHD OTS built so retains many of the original features. These are listed above. It was originally supplied new to the USA where it spent much of its life in Oregon.
The current keeper repatriated it in 2004, undertaking restoration work over the next years culminating in a £25,000 professional respray in Opalescent Dark Green and an engine rebuild. He is an enthusiast so was careful to retain or replicate the car’s original flat floor features.
The colour is factory correct and the retrimmed Cinnamon leather cabin close to the original beige trim. The body, chassis, bonnet and cylinder head are also original. The engine block has been replaced with a correct pre-November 1961 E-Type unit and the Moss gearbox is also a rebuilt replacement item.
The car is now only for sale because of the keeper’s mobility.
The Condition
- Factory correct Opalescent Dark Green metallic paintwork in very good condition
- Professionally resprayed costing over £19,000 in 2019 with little subsequent use
- Bodywork presents very well with excellent panel fit and finish and original bonnet
- Retains its original flat floor features which are detailed above
- Modified to European specification lights
- New Beige fabric roof in very good condition with matching new tonneau
- Buyers should anticipate some minor marks or aging due to use
- Chrome wire wheels in good condition with vintage specification tyres of correct profile
- Underside in very good order following restoration
- Wooden cross member fitted to front of car to prevent jack damage
- Retrimmed Cinnamon leather interior in superb condition
- Cabin retains its flat floor features which are detailed above
Such is the trainspotting, detail appeal of this flat floor E-Type that it can be easy to miss the elephant in the room: it looks fantastic. Finished in factory correct Opalescent Dark Green - arguably one of the best colours for these cars - it looks resplendent. That is due to a combination of the seller’s own restoration work and a high end £19,000 respray in 2019.
Inside the appeal continues with a smart Cinnamon leather interior in very good order. The car appears to have been barely used since the work was completed.
But lets return to those details. Armed with the checklist above and the photographs, buyers can tick off all the flat floor features that this car retains inside. It is extensive. Very original and in superb condition, this car is a great example of one of classic motoring’s favourite models.
The Mechanics
- Rebuilt 3.8litre XK engine with triple carburettors
- Engine block from correct pre-November ‘61 E-Type with original cylinder head
- Replacement 4spd ‘Moss’ gearbox rebuilt by specialist
- Reported to hold very good oil pressure
- Quiet engine with no knocks and no transmission whines according to seller
- Upgraded three-row aluminium radiator with multi-blade fan
- High torque starter motor
- Well maintained but sparingly used since restoration
- Said to drive very well with no reported running or driving issues
Tempting as it surely is to simply stand and admire this E-Type, key to the appeal of these early cars - and later ones too, of course - is how they drive. The smaller 3.8litre XK engine is said to be sweeter-revving than later capacities. This car’s motor has been comprehensively rebuilt - there are invoices dated 2019 in the history file - and the car runs a pre-November 1961 E-Type engine block from a different car with the original cylinder head. It retains a Moss box, which has been professionally rebuilt but is not original.
The knowledgeable seller has introduced some useful upgrades to the cooling system as well as a high-torque starter. The car is said to run very well with no untoward sounds and good oil pressure.
BEFORE YOU BUY
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Vehicle specification
- Year 1961
- Make Jaguar
- Model E-Type
- Colour Dark green
- Odometer 14,931 Miles
- Engine size 3800
Listing Details
- Seller Type Private
- Town Templecombe
- Location Somerset
- Country United Kingdom
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