Just a nonsense exercise for the winter stove league. Looking at ebay, bring a trailer, hemmings, Craig’s list - you name it, what is the best possibility you folks see in the for sale E-Types at this time?
Now this would include the $ 100 k + usd down to the $17 k parts cars - just pick maybe what would be called the best “value”. Imagine a buyer who will live long enough to either enjoy it or wait out a restoration. Assume normal mechanical ability in the buyer.
I don’t really have a dog in this fight as I haven’t looked at every one. A red coupe with Illinois plates seems like it might be “king of the rougher ones”, but of course we all can’t see them in person.
Just a bench racing winter exercise.
In my opinion a well-restored one should be a better value that a restoration candidate - but the problem there is that there are plenty of not-so-well restored ones out there and they may be hard to spot with the cursory information sometimes available.
The other major factor is how the car will be used - it possibly makes poor economics to buy a 100-point car then drive it on the next 6 Oil Leaks.
For best value I would use again the approach I used before - seek the best all-original example I could find (including original paint). Very hard to conceal the sins of past owners if the car is mostly unmolested. Budget for an engine rebuild and a respray… then drive the piss out of it.
Body type (FHC, OTS, 2+2) is more a personal preference, e.g. I never considered anything with a roof.
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For me the body would have to be in very good to excellent condition. I don’t have enough years left in me to attempt to learn how to do it right. I’ve done restorations before and have never been happy with my body work ability. I can paint good enough but that’s it. Mechanical repairs are another thing. I enjoy them but would rather be driving. I would rather put 30 grand in mechanical repairs and interior work if I could get the car 30 grand cheaper. That way I know what has been done and I know that there should be a lot of years before those problems crop up again. I would not want to put 30 grand in getting the body back to where it should have been in the first place.
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Yes and yes. The '55 - '57 TBirds are so a victim of poor years ago restorations. I guess I was interested in what members thought about those on the market right now - using their criteria to evaluate the candidates.
I want others to do the work, as I haven’t done a real good survey myself of the candidates. I did think the red FHC with the Illinois plates on e-Bay seemed a god balance between not too messed with and reasonably priced. Not really sure, but an observation to start a discussion.
Geo says: " The other major factor is how the car will be used - it possibly makes poor economics to buy a 100-point car then drive it on the next 6 Oil Leaks."
Yes, I know an idiot who took a 9.97x point third place national winner and drove it on eight Oil Leaks.
I can’t imagine how economically unsound that is unless he plans on keeping/driving it for twenty five years.
LLo… ummm, Schmedley, Joe Schmedey
Don’t you just hate those who live in the US for ten years and never bother to learn the language?
I think no one should graduate from grade school without learning either Cherokee, Apache, Ute or Arapaho.
LLoyd July, 2014
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Rust and rust. Mechanical issues are usually obvious and repair cost can be estimated most of the time but rust is another issue altogether. IMHO not being a body guy nor wanting to be the best value is the car with the least rust and your best estimation for its mechanical and cosmetic condition. As the others have said, also to get the end result you want.
pauls
Okay - so a thread of ‘Good deals on nice E-Types’…
Here’s one that could be a good buy if the claims made are true. Since the claims include ‘all original’ and 'driven just 9,612 miles from new’ they should be verifiable.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1969-E-Type/163389248893?hash=item260ac2157d:g:hyQAAOSwarlb9i4l&vxp=mtr
It is an automatic and appears to be a 2+2 despite the ad calling it a ‘Coupe’ (which is literally correct but misleading).
I’ll admit I liked it better before I scrolled thru the pics and saw it was not a FHC. Still, it may be a joy to drive with few really bad surprises.
That’s what I was hoping we’d see in this thread. That one sure seems like a candidate for a nice deal. It has the sloped windscreen and does seem like a fair starting price. I’m no expert to start with and I’m even less adept at 2+2’, but it does look pretty good.
My primary enjoyment comes from doing good bodywork. Maybe coach building is closer. Finishing is also right up there but it’s knowing what’s under the paint is 100% that makes it so. It’s sometimes difficult to assess the quality of bodywork after the paint’s been applied. Though there are proxies that you can use in a close inspection they won’t tell the whole story. I would not consider a restored car without extensive photo documentation, which all of the very best shops do as routine, but then again they command top dollar for what they do. The best value E in my estimation would be a tatty, unrestored original 2+2 with no rust or collision issues. Probably becoming a rare find after half a century.
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That example is a classified with the option to make an offer – so it is easy to assess the price.
The problem with evaluating many cars for sale is that you are looking at an auction, usually with an undisclosed reserve, so it is impossible to know what they will ultimately sell for.
Were I to ever get another E Type, I’d certainly not mind one of these: the automatic is “easily” converted to a better, modern auto, or into a decent 5-speed.
WAY more comfy to drive, and though I hated the 2+2, when it came out, I find it OK, enough.
I think the Series 2 cars are the best deals right now. The S1 is still priced pretty high, especially for the project cars. On the other hand, I’ve seen quite a few S3 cars lately that have sold for much more than I would be willing to pay. In all honesty, I don’t follow the prices of the most pristine examples very closely, so my observations may not apply to those, but for project or driver quality cars, I think the S2 is where its at right now.
You’ll not get better value than a S1 2+2. No one likes them, they are every bit an E-Type when you are sitting behind the wheel, joe public (if he knows you are in an E-Type) can’t tell the difference from the outside.
Over this side of the pond, S1 2+2s are a fraction of a similar date and condition FHC and an even smaller fraction of a similar date and condition OTS. Less than half price E-Typing, 100% of the fun. And for those long winter evenings when you need an excuse to get out of the way of SWMBO, you have an extra 9 inches of bodywork to polish. (That last bit could have gone very wrong).
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I’d especially like a ‘66, with the less-steeply raked windscreen.
Having owned both a Series II FHC and a 2+2, built within a month of one another, I’d have to argue the 2+2 is a better automobile, with the Series II being the best of them The fully recessed floor is more comfortable, the rear seats offer additional space for young or smaller people for short trips, or lots of additional luggage space.
The negatives are the 2+2 is a bit heavier and a few tenths of a second slower 0-60 mph.
Styling is subjective. After looking at a 2+2 in my garage for over 15 years I still find the shape of the FHC looking a bit mis-proportioned, but I guess I can live with it.
And if you ever have to replace a windscreen washer nozzle you’ll thank your lucky stars for the bonnet mounted squirter on the 2+2.
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As a guy who was originally shopping for a Series 1 4.2 FHC I certainly am glad I came across a completely rust free pretty original '68. With their twin fan cooing system I think it much better for me in hot Houston. If I were starting over a '68 would be my first choice since is a nice combination of Series 1 and Series 2 and I think a good value.
David
68 E-type FHC
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I had one of those, auto to manual conversion with an overdrive, for over 16 years and 67.000kms. A 1966 2+2, 1E76372BW.
FWIW the factory called all Series 3 2+2’s coupés, as there was no longer a SWB model in production to differentiate,
Cheers!
The devil is in the details, of course, but this might be a decent buy at the “Buy It Now” price.