1972 Jaguar E Type Coupé 5.3 V12 Auto

Still finished in the same shade it left the factory with in December 1971, this Pale Primrose Yellow Series 3 E Type fixed-head coupé is fitted with the V12 engine and automatic gearbox and, to complete the Grand Touring trilogy, power-steering.

A genuine right-hand drive, UK-spec car, MBD 173K’s first role was as a company car for a plant hire firm in Lincoln, presumably for the boss.

Being offered for auction by the owner’s niece as part of its owner’s estate, it is fresh from a restoration that set him back more than £20,000. He owned it for four years and was as meticulous in maintaining the paperwork as his was his beloved car’s maintenance, so there is plenty of information to hand in the history file – but if you’d like to see it in the flesh, we’d welcome the opportunity to show it to you.

The bodywork was restored at great expense in 2022/23 but it was worth every single penny.

And not just in the condition of the metalwork; while that would be hard to beat given its excellent shutlines and dent- and ripple-free panels, it’s the Pale Primrose Yellow paintwork, the same shade it left Coventry in back in 1971, that’s the real star of the show.

Wonderfully of-the-period without being anything close to garish, this rare and understated colour adds an elegance we adore. The recent restorative work included having both door skins replaced followed by a combination of fresh paint and machine polishing. The result looks a million dollars, which isn’t a bad return on a £20,000 investment.

The colour also works brilliantly with the (very good) chrome, too. While one rubber sealing strip has come adrift on the nearside front bumper, everything else is both beautifully aligned and in a fantastic condition – but then that’s what careful curation backed up by a solid five-figure investment leaves you with; light pitting on the odd piece, plus the odd surface scratch, but no more.

The 15-inch wire wheels are chromed too, and they’re in a similarly impressive condition being free of corrosion and damage. The tyres are a pair of Pirelli P5 Cinturatos on the front and a pair of Pirelli P4000s on the rear.

As for flaws, the exhaust tailpipes show a little light corrosion, and the nearside rear window seal has seen better days.

The black leather interior provides a no-nonsense foil to the pastel coachwork. Again, it’s in a very good condition, albeit slightly patinated.

But then this patination only really makes itself felt by way of slightly crumpled front seats. They’re still comfortable though and look terrific – and if you agree that part of the appeal of owning a classic car is being able to curate its past, with all the romance that involves, you’ll love ‘em.

The rear seats are in an even better condition with nothing more than a few creases to betray their age. Legroom back there is more generous than you might think, making the back seat able to accommodate adults for short journeys, and children for full-blown road trips.

The wood rimmed Moto-Lita steering wheel looks as good in here as they always do, something its stunning condition helps.

Lifting the (good) carpets shows nothing other than nicely painted and seemingly solid metal underneath. The front carpets are also protected by a pair of heavy duty, Jaguar-branded rubber mats.

The door cards, instruments, and controls and switches are all in good shape, and the top of the dashboard is in a very good condition with only one small split in it near the curved air vent on the offside corner.

The presence of the Borg Warner automatic gearbox not only helps the E Type fulfil its role as one of the most civilised grand touring cars of its time, it also frees up a fair bit of space in the footwell which enables those large of feet and long of leg to drive one, something the manual car’s three-pedal arrangement makes much harder.

A retro-esque Calibre headunit is fitted.

The boot might be a bit grubby but if you can see past that you’ll find more solid metalwork plus some decent trim. There’s a full-size spare wire wheel and tyre in there too, plus the tool kit.

As for things you might like to tidy up, there is some damage to the trim on the armrest near the handbrake pivot, marks to the trim on both A-pillars and the offside sill cover, and the driver’s left foot has worn through the carpet on the side of that footwell.

The headlining, while it looks to be in good shape, is also a bit grubby.

The bonnet is held open by recent struts, revealing a mighty V12 engine that received an awful lot of attention back in 2016. G. Grace & Son documented the rebuild in great – and expensive! – detail and you can read about their struggle in the ‘Documentation’ section.

We haven’t totted the bills up and we suspect the owner didn’t either; suffice it to say it was a Proper Job that cost many thousands of pounds.

And, as you can see, it’s still running well five thousand-odd miles later.

The 266bhp V12 engine starts on the button, idles and revs as it should, and shows very good oil pressure. It also makes a lovely rasp through its four carburettors, and while the exhaust note is generally civilized, it has a rather very nice edge to it under acceleration.

None of this is a surprise though because the Jaguar’s owner was a real car enthusiast: he worked in the motor trade; started the Kimbolton Classic Car Club; and this was just the latest in a line of classic Jaguars, including a previous E Type.

His niece told us he was always happy to invest in his classic cars, acknowledging that every hobby has a cost and it was important to him that his cars were always on the button and available to drive whenever the urge struck: “he was never afraid to spend money on it!” she laughed.

And it shows. The underside is finished in a combination of Pale Primrose Yellow paint and black underseal. It’s a neat job that seems to have been applied to preserve rather than disguise and is holding up well with no obvious problems apparent.

A few spares are included: please see the photos for details of what is included.

With 220 pages of photographs, the E Type’s history is clearly too voluminous to document in detail here.

The headlines though are a Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Production Record Trace Certificate confirming its original build specification along with plenty of recent paperwork.

This includes receipts from 2024, along with some detailing the work that was carried out in 2021/22. There are also some hefty bills from 2022/23 for the work by Brownings Restoration we talked about earlier.

All the work between 2005 and today has been neatly catalogued for easy assimilation, and there are many period photos of the car being worked on.

The rest of the history file comprises expired MoTs, books on the model, and even a jigsaw of this very car!

Despite not needing one, the E Type’s MoT certificate is valid until January 2025. It was also nissued with no advisories, just like every single one since 2014.

As we mentioned earlier, the seller’s uncle was a bona fide car enthusiast, one who understood the importance of spending the right money with the right people, something the MoT record makes abundantly clear.

Interest in the Jaguar E Type shows no signs of waning, so we expect this one to be very popular, and not just because of its unusual, and unusually attractive, colour scheme.

And the automatic 2+2 models make very fine grand touring cars, not least because the absence of a clutch pedal opens them to taller drivers for whom the three-pedal cars can be all but undriveable.

And yet, old habits die hard and cars fitted with an auto ‘box sometimes struggle compared to their manual siblings, which is why this one, with an estimate of between £35,000 and £40,000, offers such outstanding value.

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