eBay Find: A Fairly Clean 1972 Jaguar XKE

This Series III E-Type on eBay has a V12 and looks like a runner. Where’s your sweet spot on its price?

In some circles, Jaguar’s legendary E-Type is the pinnacle of classic luxury. When it came to the United States in the mid-’60s, Jaguar had already cemented its sports car legacy on this side of the Atlantic with the high volume of XK120 sales. But nothing at the time had quite the same sexy curves as the Le Mans-inspired XKE. Certainly, those early cars have tremendous value still, but what of the later V12-powered Series III XKEs? Does this ‘71 2+2 Series III on eBay for a price in the low teens—albeit with a few days left at auction—have the same appeal?

Jaguar retained the basic shape of the earlier-Series Jags and the biggest revision was the all-aluminum, 5.3-liter V12—lighter than the outgoing iron-block six—for the ‘71 model year. With healthy competition in the grand-touring market from the R107-chassis Mercedes 450SLC and 3.0-liter BMW E9, the Jag needed something to set it apart and that thing, it turned out, was nearly 300 horsepower. Only the smaller-volume Jensen Interceptor could come close to the output of a ‘71 XKE.

However, Jaguar eliminated the smaller two-seat XKE from the Series II and sold the Series III only as a convertible and a 2+2 car, whose roofline some might find divisive. The unfortunate downside for all British cars of this era is that it was built during a tumultuous time for automakers in that country. Build quality and reliability suffered, although the upshot is that most remaining cars should have had most of the bugs worked out by this time.

Convertibles still bring a premium, although the fastback tin-tops can still fetch good money. Hagerty gives the price range for a Series III from around $24,000 for a “Fair” example up to $73,000 for a “Concours” car. The photos for the ad—shot in a gas station at night—don’t tell us much about the car’s real condition, but it at least appears to be running without any major damage to it.

That said, the Jaguar V12 is a particularly sonorous engine and the seller claims to have had the entire carburetor system rebuilt along with a suspension refresh. The seller claims no rust, which is believable if it’s lived its entire life in Tennessee where the seller is, but a good photo or two of the underbody would go a long way to reassuring a buyer that the 45-year-old British steel hasn’t wavered any.

Overall, it looks like a decent entry into the E-Type world if you don’t mind the bigger grille and the four-seat hardtop with the Lotus Elite-esque roofline. Where will bidding end up no this one, do we think? Find this E-Type on eBay right here.