I’m not sure what I think of this. I’m glad Jaguar is issuing something for the 60th anniversary, but this isn’t what I had in mind. A matched pair of cuff links, maybe. A matched set of his & hers watches, ok. A matched set of Pilsner glasses, fine. But a matched pair of perfectly redone E types to mimic 9600HP and 77RW? I’m sure they’ll be offered for a nice bargain too.
They can’t really offer perfect copies of those two cars as they were prototypes with hand made parts. These are going to be restored 3.8 cars painted to match the originals. OBL, flat bulkheads, prototype parts - I don’t think so. These are, by their own admission, tribute cars which you must buy as a pair.
Nice but …
I hope they do a better job duplicating the originals than they did duplicating the tool kit.
Wonder what the asking price will be. I’m guessing $1.25M for the pair? Shouldn’t be that high, but they’re not selling just a pair of perfectly restored (we hope) vintage E’s, but a special factory very-limited edition.
More I should think. Weren’t the continuation models over a mill each?
I think they were, but I was figuring that those were emulating the Lightweight, XKSS, and D Types, all multi-million dollar cars, so the continuation versions could be priced higher and someone would still think they were getting a bargain compared to the real thing.
But you very well could be right, and I guess I wouldn’t be shocked if Jaguar asked $1.5M. Any higher than that and I’d say they’re nuts. Of course if they got that much, I’d say Jaguar is smart as hell and it’s the buyers that are nuts.
Had to go look it up. They were about $1.3M to $1.6M.
They will not be drivable/useable on public roads - legally - in any auto-regulated country - so must be looking for Museum, Private Collection, or Middle-East sales…
Europe, North America, Australasia, Japan, and many other countries now require NEW cars made by Car Manufacturers - even if replicas of pre-regulated models - to fully comply with current (2020) safety and emissions standards which a 1961 E-type replica does not come close to either. No loop holes as exist for a private individual who chooses to do the same, thus the many one-off Lightweight E replicas…
Are you sure about this? I thought I read that they are “restoring” cars to mimic the two early ones, not building replicas from scratch (as they did with the lightweights & XKSSs). Thye’ve been restoring other E-Types for a while, and as far as I know, those cars are street legal.
That’s my impression. One of the pressers said “fully renewed” and another spot indicated they have secured the 12 donor cars in preparation for March production start.
If these were being built privately, as a one off, then you would get away with these being ‘restored original’ E-types, so straight forward.
But for a established new car manufacturer such as Jaguar Cars, then no - they would be seen as what they are, newly manufactured cars. Legal Position is very clear in Australia, maybe shades of grey and backdoor deals in other countries are possible, I don’t know, but would depend a lot on just how much is newly made, and how much is actually original parts restored…, so maybe lessons learnt from the D-type/XKSS exercise…
If they start with existing, titled, registered cars, there should not be any impediment to legal use. In the US you can build an entirely new car around a rusted hulk with a clear title.
Roger, how would this be any different than buying a used car from your Jaguar dealer and having the service department fix it up before delivery? In this case the “fix it up” is a lot of work, but it isn’t being sold as a newly manufactured car. It is just a restored car. Or is it that the Australian law is so restrictive that a manufacturer is not allowed to restore or significantly rebuild a car?
All they would have to do is subcontract the labor out to a noteworthy restorer. Jaguar provides 12 E-Type carcasses plus a couple of truckloads of new sheetmetal stampings, wiring harness, etc. Datsun (Nissan) did the same thing with 240Zs 20 years ago.
They did… and the program fell flat on its $24k (1998) face.
Most enthusiast marques do remanufacturing services. Porsche, BMW, Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston, Lamborghini, and more all do essentially the same thing as what Jaguar is doing here, except that they aren’t marketing a limited set of tribute vehicles.
This is all certainly fine in North America and the EU. If the Australian law is so restrictive, I imagine Jaguar could get around that by having the buyer do two transactions: one where he buys the used car for $X, an one where he buys a restoration for $Y.
Pretty sure they would get registered in NZ. Lottery up to $50 million this Saturday. Will let you know Monday.
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I’ll have some of that action. Paul.
Yes, the are just restorations (a service which Jaguar currently offer) but painted and trimmed in Silver/Black and BRG/Suede Green so perfectly road legal. The previous ‘continuation’ cars (LWE, D-Type’s etc) used un-allocated VIN’s and are classified as new so not eligible for registration in most countries. There are ways around that and once the car has a registration number it can be re-registered in any country. But these 12 are six his and her’s colour coded restorations.
Were the continuation Cobras offered a few years back able to be registered for the street in the U. S.? If so would this be any different?
And it can be what is essentially an entirely different car. IIRC, Factory Five Cobra replicas are titled as the Mustangs that were the donor cars. for the mechanical, suspension and electrical bits.
The Eagle Speedster, Low Drag GT and Spyder GT are notionally brand new cars but they retain the bulkhead of some poor deceased E-Type and the associated VIN. Road legal.