Rare Series III Jaguar E-type for sale

One of the rarest E-types ever built is up for sale. The car is the first left-hand drive Series III 2+2 made and the only example fitted with a 4.2-litre XK engine. It has been in the collection of music producer Pete Waterman since the 1980s.

Now it will be offered without reserve at H&H’s Duxford sale on 15 November. Damian Jones, head of sales for H&H Classics, says, ‘This car is rarer than any other E-type variant, including the fabled 'Lightweight'.

‘Marque authorities suggest that just four or six Series III cars were factory-fitted with XK DOHC 4.2-litre engines. These were never made available to the general public,’ Jones said. Chassis 1W70001 has been recommissioned and repainted in recent years but remains notably original.

This particular example is often referred to on various websites as chassis number 1S70001 or 1W700001 – but the number stamped into the 2+2-seater's original chassis plate reads 1W70001, while its body and engine numbers are recorded as 4W50001 and 7R39503-9 respectively.

Jaguar Heritage says the first left-hand drive Series III 2+2-seater as being chassis number 1S70001 with body number 4S50001 – but experts say 1W70001 would most likely have been identified as such if it hadn’t been hidden away in a private collection.

Built to obtain US EPA certification for the 4.2-litre XK engine ahead of the 1971 model year (which began during the fourth quarter of 1970), chassis 1W70001 was dispatched new to Jaguar Cars North America in Leonia, New Jersey.

Rumoured to have been used by a female member of the Whitehead family thereafter - Graham W. Whitehead was President of Jaguar Cars North America for several decades and his involvement might well explain why the E-Type wore the distinctive New Jersey-issued registration plate 'JAG UR'. 

For more information on the car, visit handh.co.uk.