Jaguar Land Rover continues the Reborn initiative with the next chapter to involve the legendary Series 1 E-Type.
Following the same path with Land Rover’s Series 1 and Range Rover Classic, JLR’s Reborn programme now focuses on restoring 10 carefully sourced examples of the E-Type back to their original 1960s specification.
The first example of the Reborn series is an Opalescent Gunmetal Grey Series 1 4.2 Fixed Head Coupe which was originally exported to California in May 1965.
The car itself had covered 78k miles before being stored in 1983 and it’s a lovely, all-matching numbers example. The technicians over at Jaguar Classic retained as much of the original vehicle as possible, while replacing any safety-critical parts with new ones from the Jaguar Classic parts catalogue.
These include some new body panels, which were originally reverse engineered, in order to remove corrosion and restore the sexy shape of the E-Type with the best fit possible. Jaguar Reborn team’s attention to detail even includes recreating the correct type of spot-welding when refitting these panels.
“The launch of E-type Reborn is a hugely exciting development for Jaguar Classic,” said Tim Hannig, Director, Jaguar Land Rover Classic. “The E-type is the most iconic sports car of all time, so we are delighted to be able to give new life to expertly selected examples for discerning customers around the world to own and enjoy.”
Jaguar says that a range of “sympathetic upgrades” from later E-Type models can be included in the restoration process, if the customer wishes to, including better cooling, an all-synchromesh gearbox or Series 2 front brake calipers.
The first Reborn Jaguar E-Type will make its debut at the Techno Classica Essen Show on April 5-9, with the company saying that prices start from a cool £285,000 ($356k on current exchange rates).
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