Barn Find 1968 Jaguar XKE Series 1.5 Roadster
The other day I was reading an article about the Sunbeam Harrington, a small-production car based on the Alpine. The author noted that every Harrington known had been restored. While Jaguar XKEs are far more numerous than Harringtons, I sometimes feel as if there simply cannot be any more unrestored XKEs remaining. Yet, here is one on eBay, a 1968 XKE Series 1.5 roadster in barn find condition but running and driving. This car is represented on behalf of its third owner by a dealer in Villa Park, Illinois. The bidding has reached $35,100, reserve not met. Detailed photos support the seller’s claim of no rust. Another bonus is the hard top, though this item is not shown in the listing. More problematic is the 50,000-mile odometer reading, which may or may not be original.
The “Series 1.5” designation was not assigned by the factory but was created in retrospect as Jaguar advanced the XKE through two engines and a host of safety and emissions regulations promulgated by the US. Changes from the Series 1 include open headlights, rocker switches as a replacement for toggles, two Zenith-Stromberg carburetors in place of three SUs, black rocker covers with brushed aluminum ribbing, hexagonal knock-off nut rather than the older winged version. Most of these changes only robbed the car of a measure of its vintage charm – except for the carbs. The detuning of the 4.2-liter DOHC in-line six-cylinder motor knocked horsepower back from 265 hp to 245; torque also declined. But when these cars were new, the XKE was a brilliant performer for the price. A video showing this car running is included in the listing.
The interior is serviceable as is. XKE neophytes will be surprised at the narrow doors and the wide sills, a geography that necessitates something of a clamber to enter. The listing includes several photos of the convertible top which needs replacing. A luggage rack is installed on the trunk lid – what do you think about luggage racks? I never use mine, and on the XKE, I don’t like how it interrupts the flow of the car’s lines. Someone also installed dual exhaust tips on each pipe, an element of excess that doesn’t suit the car.
Several underside photos reveal the copious grease that keeps the rust at bay on many a British car. Surface rust affects the less oily real estate. The seats have probably been out – those fittings are relatively unblemished. The seller doesn’t mention documentation, manuals, or a Heritage certificate, all of which would add a few bucks of value here. Elevating this car to show quality will be expensive; if that’s your goal, buying an already-completed car may be the better proposition. But this example offers the DIY-er a chance to drive a truly iconic car while gradually restoring it. What’s the right price to pay for that privilege?
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Comments
This is the kind of E type you want if driving is more important to you than driving your jacked up Bro truck pulling your enclosed car trailer. If you want the “English Charm” of driving this roadster sell the hard top, install toggle switches, put knock offs on it and enjoy the view.
This is a general reply, not a reply to Slomogee, for some reason I don’t get a general reply option many times on this site.
Anyway, it is kind of rare to see these cars for sale, but they are definitely out there, generally sitting in someone’s garage for decades getting little attention. I think in the next ten years we will see more for sale as owners age out.
This is a very nice write up. This has been one of my favorite cars since I was very little. My Dad bought my older brother a red Jag XKE convertible pedal car in the early to mid 60s which I inherited used in the early 70s. From then on I always loved these Jags. These truly were among some of the most beautifully designed cars in their time, and even now. I dont know what I would do with this if money were no object. Half of me would restore it to its former glory, the other half would just maintain it and get anything mechanical that needs to be addressed safe so that it is road worthy and drive and enjoy the living daylights out of it. Thank you again for finding this and the nice write up. I really enjoyed it with my Sunday morning cup of coffee.
Jolly nice comment yourself. Nice to hear normal humans with good memories of worthy topics. My dad had at different times the predecessors XK 120, 140, and 150. We were just toddlers to early elementary school. We didn’t yet appreciate Dad’s garage piddles. Of course as adults, parents gone, you remember those top down chilly rides with two of us in the passenger seat dad smiling while wresting the big Jag steering wheel through the turns, downshifts and then pedal to the floor going through the gears in the less curvy stretches. We at times were missing our cartoons and comic books while this is going on. Dad knew what he was doing. I’d do anything to have those rides back. I mean those Batman reruns and comic books are still available. They just aren’t as good as they once seemed.
Nice to see a decent driver grade XKE. The world has plenty of trailer queens. At my age I’ll pass. These were hard enough to get in and out of 35 years ago,
re pictures? Was red the original color? Compression or leakdown available?
Nice car to restore. Have you identified any rust areas? Do you have air cleaner or spare parts that might go w car? Top bows all there? Pictures of hard top? Sorry to ask so much but my Tar Heels WON again yesterday!!!!
Drop a small block under the hood, that way when trouble arrives it can actually be fixed for a reasonable sum of money, and drive it like you stole it.
Nice car to enjoy the road any day of the week.
“Drop a small block under the hood”?
This is why all comment sections still need to have the thumbs down option.
Greg: why do you say unequivocally “when trouble arrives?” If the Jaguar engine has not been abused and been maintained per the owner’s manual and by mechanics trained in Jaguar engines from this era, as opposed to American V-8 mechanics who wouldn’t know a Zenith-Stromberg carb from a fruit fly, there is no “trouble” other than that of competent regular maintenance. Jaguar’s very long-lived overhead twin-cam six cylinder motor from 1948-1994 with hemispherical combustion chambers, is renowned as one of the world’s best six-cylinder engines ever. Jay Leno, who knows a thing or two about cars, calls this powerplant from Coventry “bulletproof”.
Greg: when you talk about just “dropping” in a small-block V-8, you make it sound like a ten-minute back-yard job. An E Type is not a big, traditional American land yacht that can take different engines while not having to change too much else. Being a smallish, very purpose-built two-seater, a lot of professional engineering involving most components would be needed to not produce a coffin on wheels. Then, after hundreds of hours of work, you would end up with nothing but a devalued, bastardized, desecrated E Type worth–at BEST–35-40 per-cent of what you paid for it originally.
This guy gets it! And if he’d just put that much effort into fixing/maintaining the original Jag engine, it would run very well and be more than adequate for that car.
When I was a kid I wanted everything to have more power. Then when I got older and had the opportunity to drive a lot of different cars, I realized that not every car needs big power. Some cars’ charm lies in their other features and abilities. These Jags do NOT need big power to be great drivers.
They are well-respected and loved, and their values high BECAUSE they’re fairly well sorted drivers of the era. Drop some other random V8 in there and you take away a lot of the soul of the original car. Who wants Cindy Crawford with the personality of a goldfish? Maybe some guys do, but real men want the whole package.
Ok lots of guys aren’t going to like my idea, great body style superb design EXCEPT for the disastrous Lucas electronics & wiring harness attached to that slug of an engine.
JZ2 swap take your pick of Horse Power 400 600 1000+ modern wiring harness drop in vintage look dash gauges radio etc
Upgrade your rear gears to handle HP increase Borg Warner Trans
Swap out your shock assembly
Replace all bushings w/race grade pieces.
Etc etc
Resto mod vintage look modern power & ride.
That’s just me.
Guy on Tiktok Aero Kitty page has one of the rarest Jags on the planet we chat on this subject every once in a while.
Great idea! Turn a $150k car into a $50k car … genius!
Great Ideas. Zo3!w harness, plug&plan. Tremec5 speed. Weigh all going out and coming in. More weight to middle. Chassi engineer to help. Lighter, more power, balance, reliable. Sell off old stuff
There is NOTHING
better then a new 4.2
Jag,,,1965,,,66,,,67,,,!!
I know,I had a new one
myself,,had it for 25 yrs,,
You MUST take good care
of IT,,to maintain its looks,
and proformance,,mine had 2 paint replays, new Leather interior,new weather stripping,1rechromeing,
and much TLC,,!!
Lester, you nailed it.
I spent at least $25,000, and many hundreds of dollars, not to mention my friends’ time, over the years, on exactly this car. Starting in 1967 or so,
Car and Driver convinced me that it would be worth more than $100,000 in the year 2000.
It was only one of my lifetime endeavors that didn’t work out as well as I had hoped.
Still, the prettiest car that I ever owned.
The ignition system and brakes were pure garbage.
I miss the car.
Michael: you could have had a fantastic E Type had you upgraded your ignition and brakes to Series II E Type standards. My Series I that I once had didn’t have wonderful brakes, despite them being disks all-around. However, my Series II that I currently own has MUCH-improved brakes, as the October-’68 onwards Series II cars had the world’s first stainless steel callipers and three of them in the front…as well as wider braking surfaces. Something else that is an easy/straightforward switch for a Series I is the Series II bigger radiator with powerful (for their day) twin electric fans. The Series II rad was the world’s first crossflow radiator in a production car and its twin fans were also a world first! These are proven changes that can turn a Series I car into a really pleasant car to drive.
All that said, it is just an old car to many people, and I include myself in that category. I had five of these cars over the years, and all of them needed something done to them all the time. The looks drew people to these cars, and not necessarily the performance or reliability. They have become collectors, and that kills it for so many who would like to own one and tinker with it like the old days. I can see a lot of the remaining cars coming up for sale by older owners who seldom drive them and may be motivated by the high prices they are bringing now.
Nobody drives classic cars for the performance and reliability. That totally misses the point. Yes, desirable classics have gone up substantially in value. That is simply supply and demand at work.
It’s possible to keep classics mostly original and make original engine more reliable with what’s been learned since. But you’re correct especially regarding this XKE. Brand new in stock form the XKE was no slouch and possessed a sound, motion and vibrant experience a ‘muscle car’ just doesn’t offer.
Greg: why do you say unequivocally “when trouble arrives?” If the Jaguar engine has not been abused and been maintained per the owner’s manual and by mechanics trained in Jaguar engines from this era, as opposed to American V-8 mechanics who wouldn’t know a Zenith-Stromberg carb from a fruit fly, there is no “trouble” other than that of competent regular maintenance. Jaguar’s very long-lived overhead twin-cam six cylinder motor from 1948-1994 with hemispherical combustion chambers, is renowned as one of the world’s best six-cylinder engines ever. Jay Leno, who knows a thing or two about cars, calls this powerplant from Coventry “bulletproof”.
Greg: when you talk about just “dropping” in a small-block V-8, you make it sound like a ten-minute back-yard job. An E Type is not a big, traditional American land yacht that can take different engines while not having to change too much else. Being a smallish, very purpose-built two-seater, a lot of professional engineering involving most components would be needed to not produce a coffin on wheels. Then, after hundreds of hours of work, you would end up with nothing but a devalued, bastardized, desecrated E Type worth–at BEST–35-40 per-cent of what you paid for it originally.
Michelle: believe it or not, the twin Zenith-Stromberg carbs did not bring power down. Yes, they look punier, but they actually do the job of the triple SUs. What causes the 19 bhp power drop in American Series 1.5 1968 cars and American 1969 Series II cars is the cross-over pipe from the rear exhaust manifold, that enters the inlet manifold to WARM the air/fuel mixture so that it will combust enough to meet tailpipe emissions for those years. As you know, heat is an enemy of performance in an internal combustion motor. The 1970 and 1971 Series II cars saw further power drops due to increasing strangling to meet even more stringent tailpipe numbers.
My 1969 Canadian version Series II did not come with the cross-over pipe because Canada had not yet adopted American safety and anti-pollution laws. That happened in June of 1970. The Canadian Series II is rated at 255 bhp at the crank–only ten ponies less than a triple SU Series I or non-North American Series II, which retained the triple SUs. The Canadian Series II, however, actually produces a couple more horsepower at the rear wheels than a triple SU counterpart. How can that be? The Zenith-Strombergs atomize the fuel more finely than the SUs. Don’t forget, the SU carb was patented over a century ago in 1922!! The ONLY reason E Types were ever given triple SUs was for those very hot summer days when twin HD8 SUs would not supply enough oxygen. The twin Zenith-Strombergs have thermostatic valves that open in hot weather to allow in extra oxygen, allowing the car to run nicely on two carbs…while not ever losing power. A more powerful distributor than the Series I unit zapped the air/fuel mixture in those hemispherical combustion chambers with gusto–acting as an early form of high energy ignition. Thus, the more-finely atomized fuel burned a lot cleaner than in a Series I or European Series II with triple SUs. This cleaner/more efficient burn caused a serious drop in exhaust back-pressure, actually causing a gain of a couple of ponies at the rear wheels on the Canadian ’69s. The engine was now getting just the right amount of fuel that it needed, whereas a triple carb car is, overall, inhaling more gasoline than it needs…causing the excess pollution that by 1968 American law had become illegal.
As you know, Michelle, if an engine is not getting enough fuel to keep up with its compression and cam lift, it will cause misfiring. The Canadian ’69s and 1970 cars up to the end of May of that year, kept the original 9:1 compression and same cam lift, while keeping Series I performance but with cleaner emissions and better fuel consumption. Zenith-Strombergs are maligned by mechanics in the U.S. who only know about American carburettors, because they are “alien” to them and without training don’t know how to work on them, but they certainly allowed MANY cars to meet anti-pollution standards… while getting what Americans call “a bum rap”!
Ended:
Oct 17, 2023 16:41:01 PDT
US $51,025.00[ 47 bids ]
Reserve not met
*****Not sold on Ebay
Any idea where and when the XKE would be listed
Fantastic Jag. Says bidding ended at over $50k. But doesn’t say it sold. I can’t them. I don’t know what I’d let it go for, for someone low on cash, that’s tempting to let it go.
Jaguar inline 6 is one of the best once the Lucas, fuel and wiring issues are addressed.