I wish Jaguar had sent even one of those into the US, but unfortunately AFAIK it wasn’t even an option here.
Again, global reply:
Thank you, Kevin, for the clarification and all of the cool information - but I’m interested in an E-Type. Childhood dream, owning and wrenching on cars for decades… that’s what I’d like to end up with as my very last car.
I think I’d like a Series I car. I like the spartan interior and (to my eyes) less cluttered bumpers and overriders, etc. Ideally, I’d like a FHC, but may bid on the gray car linked above (thank you for the info Michael and Nick) on the off-chance there’s no reserve and somebody falls asleep in the final moments today. The car is not ‘correct’ in many regards, so there may be a smaller pool of bidders. Anyway, if I got it for a song, I could adjust to the 2+2–which is still a lovely car.
Mitch, okay - that’s great info on getting my Cannondale into the back of a 2+2 like the gray car. (I’d throw a moving blanket or something back there first). My friend and next door neighbor (and favored machinist for my side business) died at 68 of cancer recently, and although my family history and general health suggest I’ll be around much longer, I’m with you on the carpe diem advice. I can’t really afford to do this as I head into a very modest retirement, don’t have the room, etc., but then…
D. Barnes - thanks for the book recommendation. Just bought it for $10. In the (much more likely) event the gray 2+2’s auction soars far above my anticipated bid, I’ll pore over this book and settle in for a longer FHC-centered search.
The gray car: as I’ve said, my preference would be a FHC sans rust, running, but in need of mechanical work. In NM, a garaged car will… not… rust. So, shiny paint isn’t important to preserve the bodywork.
I’d be willing to bet this 2+2 has had some rocker panel or other lower perimeter work done, and with unknown mileage and a present owner with the evident attention span of a nat who doesn’t care about a working tach or switches (or…?), it’s quite a gamble–and I’m not crazy about the color. But I think it would be worth gambling with a modest bid. Guess we’ll see…
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I’m not clear on the need to recurve the distributer or the part about an igntion box. I installed the optical trigger, hooked up the black box, installed the proper coil, and everything played perfectly…that was more than ten years ago.
BTW, the Summit ad has several comments that the XR700 is the user’s “go to” replacement for failed Pertronix units…
The earlier dizzy has a better advance curve, for power.
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Joel,
As I learned here (i love to learn) wish I could remember to give credit…anyway, someone here has bought 4 cars on bring a trailer (BAT) and after being “taken” on the first…became adamant about the bill of sale saying, AS ADVERTISED vs as is where is…so, on each of the next 3 he was able to negotiate what was not as advertised…
Ah…the “cats meow”. so that’s the way you do it (dire straights)…
I was born in Denver but grew up in Loveland, CO…on my parents car lot @ 1243 lincoln…I learned…
do not buy sight unseen
all transaction have a little larceny
So, normally I would frown…really frown on BAT…as buying…sight unseen…BUT, we are in a falling "price paid’ market…really falling (I think you have an xke on bat lost 15k in a few months…click on… alumni…thanks for transparency). Means in our present situation…BAT is “likely” forcing the market…take it or ??? screwed. I Learned this from YOU…yes Joel, you…the yellow FHC valued at 45k on BAT…you where ready to pay…what? 65K…then the age of info kicked in…"How could anyone pay the 65 when the market spoke 45…
So, that leave us with…“sellers take it” or own it for maybe forever…
And then there is the sight unseen and little larceny…
Again, as you said, “that is the way I am”…YES…go get it…look it over…negotiate… then pay…YES. Now, if its fraud then you are out…say it sells for 40k times 5% of 2k…no biggy…
Why…why all this? I also learned on that car lot (love learning)…EASY TO BUY…TOUGH TO SELL. so, now you have it…
What a journey…I am envious…but I have a couple more E’s to restore
Mitch and Vicki
I’d warn you not to buy an E sight unseen. I know the starry eye gleam of a new toy, but there’s a lot that even photos won’t tell you. These cars often rust from the inside out, and then get bondo’d from the outside in. I’m going to get killed for saying this, but the S1 2+2 is the least appreciated version of the car: they pushed the windshield forward in later 2+2’s to improve the proportions.
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Micheal,
That is the way I see it…both the windshield AND do not buy sight unseen
Mitch
Not for me: Were I to buy another E-type, I would definitely buy 2+2… way more comfortable.
Thanks for pointing out that the windshield was moved forward not for aerodynamic reasons, but for aesthetic ones.
Paul,
Nothing but Supposition…aerodynamics vs aesthetics…who cares? as close to agreement WE will ever get
Mitch
And Paul, Micheal…who taught me (us) about "as advertised’…month or more ago…I would really like to give credit??
Yes: if I were to place a bid on the gray car, it would be very low, in anticipation of having to pay my friend (who runs arguably the best paint and body shop in NM) to weld in new rocker panels and repaint the lower 1/4 of the car. The floors do not look bad on this car, from what I can see. Since the owner has no idea whether he’s over-revved the engine and ruined the temper on a valve spring or two (or without a working odometer when he should’ve changed the oil, and basic things like that…), I agree this would be, as I’ve said, quite a gamble.
My preferred and usual method–as with the one-owner '72 XJ6 I drove back from LA in the early 2000s after paying $2,500 (yes, really)–is to gamble with the price of a round-trip vs. one-way plane ticket for an inspection, and not with the purchase price. I tend to bring along at minimum: multi-meter, magnet and teensy plastic hammer for detecting bondo, leak-down tester (which does compression, too), and handful of basic tools including spark plug socket to see how it’s jetted, burning oil, etc.
Honestly, with my mechanical experience, I can tell within an hour or so spent with a car whether I can risk driving it across state lines–and whether it’s intact along the rockers or had proper replacements welded in, or is bondo queen. But, yeah, the more I listen to this knucklehead, the less confident I become about any of his representations–some of which are self-contradictory re: what he knows vs. what he assumes. (Elaborate history on the PO, points out the valve covers, but purports not to understand what the switches do, etc.)
All that said, if as may be the case, he’s merely a guy whose attention span didn’t allow him to understand much less address a few basic things on the car, and the body is indeed sound (as sometimes happens in CA as with my old XJ6), the less-than-stellar paint job could be merely that: poor taste by a cheapskate owner who knows he’s going to get bored with the car in a few months, as he invariably does. (Sounds like my ex-law ‘partner.’) The engine and tranny didn’t sound bad, and the 4.2L is a tough beast…
Hmmm…
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Whoa, wait a second… are you saying you’d like to sell me your FHC and shop around for a 2+2? I’d be happy to accept a senior citizen discount, for which I’ll be eligible next year… 
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You know, I’m thinking I may not bid on this car. Look closely at this image. The seller calls this a ‘blemish’ but…
To me, together with the lack of depth in the paint throughout, this looks like either a quicky overspray with cheap paint right on top of an OEM pale blue finish–that is, virtually no prep work done–or just as likely given the unevenness of the underlying panel across the cowl, a bondo queen–almost certainly covering up rust here and everywhere else.
Gotta think carefully about the ‘what if I win?’ scenario, here…
Nah… I know what I’m looking at and am going to trust my instincts. Too bad, as the engine and tranny sound nice. But, heck, if I’m going to buy the last car I’ll ever own, I might as well wait for the FHC I really want…
…hey, Paul, what about it? 
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I couldn’t possibly agree more!
I cannot overemphasize the value of a pre-purchase inspection… PPI… even if that costs you a couple thousand dollars.
Usually, there’s somebody within a reasonable distance of almost any Jaguar that’s for sale that’s willing to do that. If you find one in the Denver area, I will happily take a look at it for you!
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Well, you would have to talk to its new owner, who lives in Zürich! As for looking for a 2+2? I don’t think it’ll fit in my RV… 
Oh, I agree, which is why I have an S2 2+2. But the S1 2+2 was sort of a marketing test. Aside from the upright windscreen, it didn’t have the access ports for the rear brakes. The design wasn’t fully developed.
Please explain the access ports. Was this a feature of Series I FHCs?
The 2+2’s, at least the Series II 2+2s had two removable panels behind the lower part of the rer seat backrest that could be removed from inside the car to facilitate servicing the rear brakes.
You removed the rear seat cushion and the lower hlf of the rear seatback and the eight self tapping screws that held each metal panel in place. That takes maybe 10-15 minutes. This allowed for easy replacement of the rear brake pads and brake bleeding. You can bleed the rear brakes while sitting in the front seat and depressing the brake pedal yourself.
Here is a not so great picture of the access panels as seen from outside the car.
The access port problem is easily cured with a Sawall: I actually preferred the steeper raked windshield.
Reading reading further comments on down, I realize that once again I made the error of assuming that everyone knew what I was talking about: I would only make holes to access the brakes on the early 2+2.
As far as I know, there would be no structural damage done to the car by doing so, certainly no more than on the later ones that Jaguar made the access panels on.
I was curious about the issues of fitting into the cars. I made some measurements on my OTS and FHC. The real difference is the height of the windscreen - that is the clear glass between the rubber and moldings. It’s 17.25" on the FHC and 15" on the ots. Interestingly the height from the place your butt would occupy and the roof on each is more or less the same at 33: and 32.5 respectivly. The seat was not depressed by body weight on either. The major difference for long waisted folk is that, on the ots. your eyes may be level with or over the edge of the windscreen. Not good for visability.
As you may know 2+2’s have a deeper floor under the seat than do the earlier cars - by about 1.25 "
If you are looking for an E Type to buy I’m helping with an estate sale here. 1970 FHC multiple JCNA winner and regional champion in concours and autocross, plus many non JCNA awards. You take a sharp breath when you first see the car. Drive anywhere. Primrose over black. $72K. PM me if you are interested.
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So in that case buy the best you can afford now and do it as a “running resto” …. I did that with my first car …… during its journey …… engine rebuild, bits of paint and body work , refurbished interior upholstery , upgraded front brakes, air conditioning install, new carpets etc all while being a “running resto “
Became a very nice car …… problem was it wasn’t “running” whilst each step was done, and it certainly wasn’t my daily driver!..…looking forward to seeing what you do !