Jaguar EType S1, 1960

PT Automotive LTD ©

JAGUAR ETYPE, S1, 1960 FLAT FLOOR

Car was delivered to Sweden Bronze with a special order Black Leather interior.

PT Classics collected the car from the owner in Norway, vehicle had been stripped down, engine and gearbox had been removed, the bonnet was completely stripped, and the engine frames had been removed.

All of the original date stamped Lucas parts have been restored and most have 1960 or 1961 date stamps. The only two parts that have a different date stamp are the fuel pump and the screen wash motor. Both have a date stamp of 1963 but both parts have been restored and remain working on the car.
The original wheels with correct manufacturer markings have been restored and stove enamelled.
The main body work was paint stripped then soda blasted, this revealed the metal issues and showed the extent of previous accident damage and the car being used most weekends for fly fishing and driving through the shallow but very rocky stream.
The original floors have been saved along with chassis and 80% of the outer body work.
The engine frames were saved, checked for alignment. The cracks to the right side frame had to be replaced due to internal corrosion.
Repair panels were made in house for rear wheel arches and A and B pillar repairs.
Both outer sills and kick panels replaced with genuine new old stock Jaguar parts.
All the original hardware has been blasted, checked and, where possible, chemically blacked and reused, 80% is original Besco or GKN parts.
The engine was stripped down to find it had never been stripped in the past and was completely standard. It was bored plus 10 and new old stock Hepolite pistons were used in the rebuild. Cylinder block was acid cleaned.
Crankshaft was lapped and polished, cylinder head was rebuilt.
Transmission was stripped, inspected and rebuilt with new bearings.
Front and rear suspension stripped, blasted, crack tested and replaced or powder coated to correct finish. All rebuilt with new bushes and bearings.
Brake system was stripped, cylinders bored oversize and stainless-steel liners were used with new pistons and seals but all original parts to the car remain on the car.
All clocks and gauges were serviced.
All the original glass in the car was repaired, polished and reused.

In carrying out the restoration of this unique two owner car it came to light that this vehicle has a very early body shell with many pre-production parts and pre-production assemble techniques, that have been carefully preserved.
The roof has a reinforcing strut missing that was later installed in production.
Many of the inside reinforcing panels were riveted before welding.
The rear window glass is smaller than production cars.
The left rear quarter window is smaller than production cars.
The window screen is different than production cars.
The gutter chromes are different to later cars.

We spoke to several specialists, and it was later confirmed by Michael Turley and Jim Pattern that this was a pre-production body. This started a long investigation in to why a pre-production body was used. We believe this is because in 1961 Sir William Lyons took a large order at a motor show for E-Type’s to be delivered to the USA and the body supplier Abbey Panels could not cope with the demand, so some work was sent out to Pressed Steel. In September 1961, Pressed Steel had a metal workers strike so delivery and manufacture of the parts were stopped. This meant that completed bodies were not ready and so the few pre-production bodies in the proto shop were used to keep orders flowing.

The vehicle was finished in Opalescent Bronze with Black leather interior as it left the factory in 1961.

This vehicle was a 100-point restoration, that was to restore the vehicle and not recreate.
In our opinion, this is one of the closest build restored cars to how it left the factory and with the pre-production body makes this vehicle very special and unique.