Though I’ve not seen a wrap on an older classic car, I’ve seen many on newer cars that look fantastic, no way to tell it’s a wrap.
So he wrapped every nook and cranny, bolts, inside of picture frame mounts, complex contours on the bulkhead, etc? Uh, no way. Maybe he just wasn’t communicating clearly that the car was originally yellow, but now that it is grey he put a paint protection wrap over it. That I’d believe. But color change from wrapping? No way.
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Agreed. Look at the welds on the frame. No way those were wrapped.
Interesting how we recycle topics.
I will let you guys decide, here is factory color (Green Sand) on the left and the color I changed it to (Jaguar Dark Blue)…
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Wow–that must have been a great paint job!
It’s a well established fact that >90% of a paint job’s quality is what’s under it. That’s likely a conservative percentage, though whoever shot that car is an artist extraordinare, as were those who worked on it before it was placed inside the spray booth. That particular car was made super straight with virtually perfect lines, contours, elevations and symmetry. Very well suited to triple black and highly accentuated light lines. It would have been a terrible waste of a virtually perfect body to have returned it to its original pale primrose.
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I had the complete tub (outside, inside and underneath soda blasted). Was very fortunate that the car had never been hit (2nd owner, been in my family over 40 years). Also I had a very dedicated painter who was willing to take the time to do it right. Jeff S. Atlanta, GA
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Slightly off topic but I am reminded of a fresh restoration of a black XK150 that was at Little Switzerland a few years ago. These 2 pictures tell the story.
Top photo aint a 150…
Hi,
My opinion, and pretty much all opinions are irrelevant, they all change over time.
I think it’s a great shame we can’t see these original colours anywhere anymore. Green sand, Turquoise, Heather, Sable, Ascot fawn, Fern grey, Willow green, Sherwood green, Sand, Beige, Dusty orange, etc to name a few.
I have owned an E-type that is white and has a black interior now for almost nine years. In my opinion those are the mist boring colours that exist.
Would I change it? Why? Of couse not. Who is interested in my opinions? No-one! What matters is that those are the original colours, that’s how it looked back in 1972. That matters even when I’l gone, YMMV.
Cheers!
Uh, err, 120???
Here is the full article;
OK mystery solved, you E-Type experts are correct again.
Who did I run into today but my old Jaguar mechanic who also works on the E-Type in question.
The answer is this car was always this colour and never was a wrap. It had a freshened up paint job prior to the current owner purchase.
I’m surprised the owner wouldn’t know that, but who am I to judge.
I will never doubt you E-Type masters ever again!
I considered changing the factory color, sable, for about 3 seconds. That was nearly 30 years ago, and I’ve never regretted that decision.
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Salvete Amatores Catorum Velocium,
Here is my OPINION for value/investment/originality…
Best: Restore it to the exact original color it came with as listed on the heritage certificate.
2nd Best: Choose an exact color that came on THAT YEAR THAT MODEL.
3rd Best: Choose an exact color that came on a close-year for that model.
4th Best: Choose a color that is appropriate to the marque
5th Best: Choose a color that belongs to the era
6th Best: Choose whatever sparkly metallic carnival-ride hue you like! 
Now, there are lots of exceptions, all of which I feel have at least some merit…
A. It’s your car. This is a hobby. This is for fun. If it floats your boat, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with your preference. I’ve seen stunning classics in wholly “incorrect” colors. Just don’t expect your penchant for orange to maximize the value of your e-type (value equates to selling price which is directly related to appealing to the highest number of buyers.)
B. There are plenty of other aspects to a car’s value chief among them is condition.
C. It’s hard to go WRONG with the original color painted well. It’s part of the charm of the “original experience.”
D. Good paint inside and out costs a LOT, especially if you don’t do all of your own tear-down, prep and reassembly. You are unlikely EVER to change it again. It’s one of the few things you can do to the car that really can’t be easily or cost-effectively reversed. An informed decision is prudent.
E. Certain colors (even if original) are sometimes considered “hard to sell” such as sable brown, while others such as black are popular. I’m sure there are plenty of dealers who can tell you the colors that sell best and those that sell worst.
F. As cars get more valuable, originality and condition become more important. Your concours 300SL three-year resto would be best served by the correct original color and your driver-condition “big-rim” Caprice Classic would probably not be overly hurt by its being lime green.
G. Even “goofy” colors somehow work when they are original and “correct.”
H. Someday someone is going to sell your car. Color is going to factor into the value.
So, bottom line, for me I would paint it the original color as listed on the heritage certificate. If I really hated the original color, I would probably choose black because its awesome, it’s popular, and it was apparently available on every year.
Here is a reference for e-type colors…
Andrew
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I’ll always choose “A” for the following reason(s).
- It’s my car that I bought to satisfy my requirements. I’ll do with it what pleases me most and not be critical when others do the same with their cars. My first E-type, a series II 2+2 went the concours route and was fairly successful; I greatly enjoyed doing that. My current E-type, a series II FHC is being maintained and enjoyed as a pretty car to drive and I’m greatly enjoying doing that too.
- I’m not worried about the resale or investment value. I bought it for its car like attributes, not as an investment or retirement nest egg. It will be worth whatever it will be worth. It’s not necessary to turn every human endeavor into a cost benefit analysis excercize
- When I’m done with it and sell it, I don’t really care what the next owner does with it. It will be his car then, not mine.
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One more consideration…
I’m told e-types could be ordered also in literally any custom color if desired. A lot of these cars were customers’ pride and joy. And from what I know the early ones especially were hard to come by suggesting many could have been ordered.
Getting the heritage certificate to confirm your original color would seem wise before spending big money painting your car.
When looking to buy an E-Type, I wanted the best I could afford but with a colour preference in mind. That was opalescent blue preferably, and as it turned out that is what I ended up with.
We touched perfection today 3/25/22 Friday…painting our 2+2 black (Bobby’s Oklahoma E) Base coat…House of Kolor 25 clear Matrix MS-42. The doors and Hatch painted …will not need to be buffed…PERFECTION. Painted outside, Wayland…Phoenix…dry… temp 75…Devilbiss FLG5 1.4 base 22 psi clear 35 psi . Vicki, gave all the help …putting aside her own interior art on the E in Black. She is Perfection…always knew this.
Mitch
PS. Written today as a marker for Vicki, myself and family…no comments would be appreciated
^^ What Walker said!