This week we secured ownership of a very interesting 1967 Jaguar E-Type Coupe, serial 1E32915.
It had toured Victoria in the 1970s or early 1980s fitted with a Shelby Cobra engine. Fortunately the install was uninvasive, leaving the engine frames and picture frame intact. Futhermore, by some miracle, the original jaguar bits were saved for the XK engine including the harness rolled up near the firewall.
From what we can tell the car was painted from Primrose Yellow to bright red in the 1980s and the car was never put completely back together. So it sat for 35 odd years until just recently.
Upon close inspection this appears to be a Black on Black car from the factory which was somewhat rare. The mileage of 45XXX could be accurate aswell.
Plan is to use our MkX engine for this car and get it on the road. More to come.
***UPDATE*** Sold for £639,900 (CDN$ 1,310,246) inc. premium
This weekend Bonhams will offer arguably the most desirable Austin-Healey ever produced: Donald Healey’s personal 1953 Austin-Healey 100/’100S’ Coupé at their The Bond Street Motor Car Sale in London.
The car was built as a styling exercise executed by Gerry Coker who designed the Austin-Healey 100 and Sprite. In his own words he added “lift the rear deck to make the hard top more proportionate”. Futhermore he also chose the original color scheme of Carmine Red with a black roof.
Inside the car recieved a bespoke interior with a central Becker radio and speaker built into the dashboard. Futher interesting details include rotary A55 heater switches, lockable sliding windows and a locking mechanism for the doors.
Donald Healey took particular interest in the Coupe. He registered it ‘ONX 113’ and used it as a support vehicle at events like the Mille Miglia. Throughout its life it was upgraded by the factory to 100S specification.
Having being owned by the Arthur Carter collection since 1972, ‘ONX 113’ is in remarkably original condition and totally unsymettric like many of the Healeys we see in the shop.
Bonhams will offer ‘ONX 113’ at their upcoming The Bond Street Motor Car Sale on 6 Dec 2015 in London alongside a remarkable collection of British sports cars.
Today Moss Motors released a set of videos called Identifying And Finding A Short Circuit. It’s a good primer for the novice before attempting any electrical work on an old car:
To lighten the mood let’s throw some Lucas bashing in the mix:
Lucas – Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.
Lucas – Inventor of the self-dimming headlamp.
The three position Lucas switch – Dim, Flicker and Off.
Why do the English drink warm beer? Lucas refrigerators.
What is the motto at Lucas Electric? A good day’s work and Home Before Dark
The Original Anti-Theft Device – Lucas Electrics.
Back in the 70′s, Lucas decided to diversify its product line and began manufacturing vacuum cleaners. It was the only product they offered which did not suck.
“I have had a Lucas pacemaker for years and have never had any trou…”
Today the Keno Brother’s will stage their first autmotive auction in New York and offer 40 of the finest cars they could find. One is this first-year 1961 Jaguar Series I Roadster chassis 875323 with an estimate of $390,000 to $590,000USD.
Having just benefitted from a ground-up restoration by Classic Showcase in Califronia, this Opalescent Bronze roadster on white-wall tires really stands out. Classic Showcase are the predominant E-type restorers in America and took special lenghs to ensiure accuracy with the Butler license lights, voltage regulator, generator, starter, Dunlop master cylinders, sealed-beams.
Being among the first 400 E-Type’s produced chassis 875323 has many interesting one-year features such as the outside bonnet latches, a pumpkin-colored cylinder head and black-oxide fasteners.
Once our BJ8 project was stripped bare and blasted, we then had a unique opportunity to address the weakness of the original design and deal with any present or future problems.
We trusted Steven Gicas to do the job. Trained by Roy Moore for Jetstream, he has put together several of the Hugh’s brothers Healeys and will be working on more Healeys in the future.
After cutting away the inner, intermediate and outer sills, we decided under Steven’s guidance to replace all 10 floor board pieces. These were simply tacked onto the chassis by the factory with little regard to corrosion protection between the floor and chassis. Steven applied weld-through primer the entire ‘sandwich’ surface which when combined with seam sealer should outlast the intended lifetime of the structure. This also refreshed the flanges that the inner sill attaches to.
We also spent considerable money to get the fenders, doors, sills, shut panels and hinge panels sufficiently lined up. Steven weighed down the chassis to mimic the 690 lb engine and transmission, but I would recommend leaving the engine in for this process otherwise.
This leaves the Healey ready for Trevor Black to do final bodywork and prepare it for one his superb topcoats. It will be going back to its original hue of dark Britsh Racing Green GN25.
