Jaguar E-Type 3.8 OTS 'Outside Bonnet Lock'

This is a very early left-hand-drive E-type roadster, completed at the factory on 26 July 1961. It is an 'outside bonnet lock' car, a feature of the earliest production, and it was the fourth E-type sent new to Belgium through the Brussels importer, the Belgian Motor Company. It was finished in Opalescent Dark Grey over red, and it still wears those colours.

The Jaguar Heritage Certificate shows it never stayed in Belgium. Demand took it to New York state, where it is thought to have remained until 1989. It was then imported to the UK and first registered here that year. Its current owner bought it in 2005. He runs a business specialising in restoring Jaguars, Aston Martins and Ferraris.

Between 2014 and 2017 the car was taken to bare metal and restored by R.S. Panels of Warwickshire, and the history files hold many invoices for the work. It has been used sparingly since. It retains its matching-numbers engine and gearbox, and the dealer has just given it a recommissioning service. The odometer reads 36,060 miles.