My dad bought a 1967 2+2 in 1983 (with 82,500 miles on it) and I inherited it in 2005 (with 87,500 miles on it). He did whatever was needed to keep it going and since I got it, I have spent $20k over the past 15 years on brakes, clutch, rear seal, steering column, speedometer, water pump, transmission, oil pressure sending unit, tires, and a few other smaller things. It now has 90,000 miles on it. According to my repair shop, its a 2.5 on the Hagerty's scale. It's been driving great, but my wife doesn't want to drive it and has always wanted a convertible. So we just bought a new Miata. I have a feeling it is going to see fewer miles going forward. It may now finally be time to pass it on (of course, I have been thinking that every time I saw it hoisted up on a flatbed for the trip to British Auto Specialists).

The car has no rust (spent life in So Cal from 1967-1973, then Phoenix form '73-'83. My dad when he had it. I'm in Dallas, and same here.

At the moment, the biggest issue is that the "Interior" light switch is failing, the center "Panel" dim works, but not the bright. The "Fan" switch does nothing. The "Map" switch does nothing, and the lights for the speedo and tach seem to be getting dimmer (you can still read the gauges at night, but it's not easy).

First, so assuming it is a 2.5 Hagerty rated car, it is worth it to get the electrical stuff sorted out before a sale or not? Anything else I should do to make it more sellable?

Second, some guys I know say sell on bringatrailor, some say enter in into an auction, others say I should list with the local Jaguar owners group. Any suggestions?

Third, why do people call it an XK-E when the rear hatch clearly says "E-Type"?

And since we all love pics...

 

If you want to get top money everything needs to work.

 

I'm not so much looking for top dollar as whether these repairs would pay for themselves. I tend to think they might, but I am so ignorant about all of this that I thought I'd ask for opinions.

 

In almost all cases, unless it's a project car, the fewer the stories the better. I'd pop for a couple of hours of a good mechanic's time to fix as much as possible. Your issues look to be mostly electrical and probably not expensive fixes. Next get the car detailed and have someone who knows what he/she is doing take good photos. With Covid you'll almost certainly end up selling it on the web one way or another so the photos are what will sell the car. As to the "E" question, it's an E Type with an XK engine so often called an XKE. In the UK though most just refer to them as E Types.

 

For top dollar right away, don't fix anything (unless it would show up in a picture at laptop screen resolution) and put it on one of those online auction sites with a cleverly written description. With only seven days, most people who are interested can't actually travel to inspect it in person but they will feel the urgency to bid and "not let it get away." From the buyer's perspective tho, the online auctions are a menace. I'm not a gambler, I always have to inspect, almost always find expensive problems and except for one time, usually get way outbid by people who haven't a clue of the hidden problems. Right now I don't think I'd get on a plane to go inspect a car on an auction site. If I knew there was a reasonable chance that I could negotiate a price with a seller while standing in front of the car I might risk travel, but knowing I'd likely find problems, have to fly back home and bid against people who are assuming that its in absolutely perfect condition, I probably wouldn't bother. Unless its local or I know somebody near the car that I can trust to inspect it for me, I cringe every time I see something I might want on an auction site. So if I were a seller, I don't particularly like the idea of making other people cringe the same way I d

An option that I have used with success is a consignment dealer, particularly Streetside Classics here in Fort Worth, but there are others. I like it because they do everything, even handle the shipping when it sells out of state. You just drop it off and sign some papers. And they take the risk of bad checks and such too. You give them a price you want for the car and they try to get 10 or 20% over that. The manager admitted to me that most of their inventory, the consignors want way too much and they wind up calling them with lower offers, but I gave them a reasonable price they could make a profit on and my 68 Mustang was sold in two weeks. A friend of mine just sold an 85 Toyota Supra through them last week and he was very happy with the result. And another friend of mine bought a 69 Impala SS from them last Summer and felt it was a good experience from the buyer's perspective. Buyers might have to pay a little more but at least at a consignment dealer you can actually inspect the car (they'll even put it on a lift if you want) and take a little time thinking about how much you should offer, plus you can go anytime during business hours and not have to mess with trying to coordinate schedules so there's value to the buyer as well.

But I think the suggestion to talk to the local Jaguar owners club is a good one. I don't know what they've been doing during this COVID pandemic, but they did before usually meet for dinner once a month somewhere in North Dallas generally. If they are still meeting monthly, I'd drive it there, let them look it over and get their input. They're a good bunch of people. I know a few of them have E-types and one of them owns a shop that works on E-types.

 

Based on your description and with the things that don't work, you are currently somewhere between a #3 and a #4.

If you get everything working, and if the cosmetics are presentable, then it would be a #3 car.

 

Reading the Hagerty's descriptions just now, I think you may be closer to right than my mechanic. He has driven it, but not at night and I bet he hasn't tried the ventilation stuff. So I bet he is unaware of most of the issues I mentioned.

 

My 2˘ - Contact your local chapter of the JCNA club. Any of their officers/judges will be helpful and direct you to your local E-Type expert mechanic. Pay for a complete top to bottom inspection with pictures. For my ‘70 E-Type this happened at Classic Showcase in Oceanside, it was 4 hours, cost $600. You’ll have a laundry list of things to correct from their suggestions. They should also be helpful in advising you on what will give you the most bang for the buck for a resale. At the very least you’ll change fluids and inspect all safety items including suspension items, tires & brakes.

Some buyers will be looking for a “project” and will be more price sensitive since they will need to do any repairs, other buyers will be looking for a car recently brought up to snuff with the recent service records to prove it. They will be more willing to pay top dollar for a well-sorted car. The more service history you have from the past, the better. Has the car been repainted? Is the interior original? Is it the original engine & transmission? Have they been rebuilt? Do the body, engine, trans and chassis numbers match? Do you have a Heritage Certificate (easy to get)? if the car is mostly original in good condition you’ll get a great price if you decide not to just keep it yourself! I’m a big fan of Bring a Trailer, you’ll reach the most potential buyers that way. Best of luck, I’d like to see 100 more pictures! It’s a beautiful color.

 

Thanks Bruce! Yes, it was repainted with 1974 Cadillac Firemist Blue paint at some point. My dad (because he was bored, I think) had the interior redone in light grey. I wish he had redone the seats instead as the Vinyl is just beginning to give out. I have a lot of records going back to 1967, but who knows if that is all of it. I know my dad did not ever have the engine or transmission pulled out of the car, but I have twice, once for the clutch and rear seal and once for the transmission. Yes, it certainly is a beautiful color on the car. I'll look into the Heritage Certificate. Thanks!

 

Time for an update. I took the car in and asked for a complete accounting of the issues. Basically, for $1,000 they fixed almost everything. The replaced the broken windshield washer pump. The steering wheel was not properly centered so the turn signal wouldn't go off automatically after completing a turn. Now works. A couple of the light switches just needed to be "exercised". The brake lights weren't working (I didn't even know!). The ventilation fan didn't work. This one was a partial win. The good news is that it was just a loose wire. The bad news is that someone replaced the motor long ago with a one speed fan. It would have been $600 to replace that (it would require a new heater box too), so I passed on that upgrade.

I'm in the process of getting a heritage certificate.

As you can see from another post, paint bubbles are the next question. Always something! (It cold use some new seat covers too, Vinyl is wearing out). Ug.