"By the mid-1960s, the Jaguar E-Type was appealing to the man with a young family but who were restricted by the size of the current Jaguar E-Type coupé and its open topped sibling. This prompted Jaguar to offer a third option in the form of a 2+2 coupé. By adding nine inches to the wheelbase and two inches in height, it was then possible to fit a rear seat capable of seating two adults in tolerable comfort. Of course, the rear seat was more suited to children or, as 'The Motor' put it at the time, the car could 'extend Dad's youth for another seven years'. Robert Bell in Motor was quoted as saying at the time that all we expected to try was a new engine but what in fact we drove was a new car. Not a yowling, aggressive Ferrari-like machine with which, perhaps, most people associate a V12 engine but a very smooth, quiet and refined grand touring sports car.
This truly unique original right hand drive matching numbers series III Roadster, presented in its original colours of red with cream leather trim was initially purchased from H.R.Owen in 1973 by the first owner who had purchased it for his wife, however his wife refused the car and thus the purchaser traded it into E.P. Bowler Audi with less than 300 miles on the clock. Mr. Leftley took his Audi 100 in for a service a week later and he decided that he just had to purchase the Jaguar and did so on 15th June 1974. So little had the car been appreciated by the original purchaser that Mr. Leftley was registered as the first owner in the Jaguar passport and he remains the first owner on the V5 registration document, this leads us to believe that the car was not actively registered before our vendor purchased it and it has remained with him until this very day, some 47 years later.
An extensive history file is complemented by the original book pack including the original Jaguar service passport showing the PDi inspection from H.R.Owen Ltd and a number of service stamps from Henlys Jaguar in Hendon who cared for the car until 1976, servicing it four times until 18,589 miles. In 1976, shortly after a service with a Rolls-Royce and Bentley specialist the speedometer broke and was replaced at 23,000 miles in December. Hughes of Beaconsfield saw the car three months later in March 1977 and recorded a mileage of 923 on the new odometer. At this point the owner was experiencing some mechanical issues with his E-Type after having used it as his daily driver, this culminated in a local automotive engineer, Monorep Ltd, removing the engine and gearbox to perform remedial work in November of 1978. While the engine was out Mr. Leftley decided he would keep the car as his collector vehicle and asked for all parts necessary to be replaced and renewed. The car remained, from that day forth, as his third car covering circa 1600 miles a year until 1988 when it was treated to a respray and new hood but has remained completely original. Since its refresh, the car looked after by specialists AWB or Hays, Middlesex had become more of a true classic and continued to have money lavished on improvements and maintenance, in 2001 some corrosion in the sills was correctly seen to and new shock absorbers fitted before, in 2003, Mr. Leftley invested in some new chrome wire wheels, the original wheels remain with the car should originality be preferred but the car certainly sits handsomely upon the chrome spokes. Since 2004 and until recently our vendor has used the Jag Workshop in Ealing for servicing and further works included a reconditioned steering rack in 2018 with the most recent bill for a service in January of this year. The history file boasts every MoT test certificate since 1982, tax discs, workshop manual and even an original first aid kit.
This is as close to a one owner car as you can get, every sales receipt, invoice, MoT test certificate and even tax disc accompanies a truly wonderful example of the E-Type. This is a unique opportunity and one not to be missed."