Hi all, for some background my uncle has asked for my help selling his Jag and everything I know about the cars, I've learned in the last couple days reading through this forum. So I'm hoping to get some advice from folks more knowledgeable than I.

The car is a 1965 Jaguar E-type/XK-E coupe with a 4 speed manual trans and a small block ford 302 V8 swap for the engine. 42000 original miles and to my knowledge the car has not been restored and has been preserved very well. No rust, no dents, glass intact, all trim present. Wire spoke wheels in good shape, tires are up but im sure they could use replaced due to age. Has not been driven in a while but he starts it monthly. Only known issue is it needs a brake booster.

I know very little about these cars but it seems like a pretty specialized niche to me, are there any sites specifically for selling vintage Jags? Where do folks go to look for these cars for sale? Id like to do some market research on values but i really havent found much in the way of V8 converted examples. Is there anything that should be done outside of the brake booster prior to sale that would significantly add to the value? Thanks in advance for any and all information.

 

Well, this isn’t something I’d buy. Jaguar ‘lumps’ are even more specialized and will need to target a specific audience. You can start by searching that term here (and elsewhere).

I’d expect a fairly low valuation and that potential buyers will be doubt the rest of your description given the conversion. So you need an answer to ‘why was the engine swapped’.

 

E-types with a Ford V8 engine instead of the usual XK engine are never worth as much as one as built by Jaguar. However I'm speaking from England where such a car would get a very low valuation, but it may be a bit different in the US, and the value not so much lower It will still be lower, though.

 

By far I believe your best bet to get the best price for your car is probably "bring a trailer .com". Check it out. This is an auction site where owners sell classic, high end and some specialized cars like yours. Its like an on line Barrett Jackson. True Jag enthusiasts are not going to be too interested in a modified Jag so don't waste to much time on Jag specific sites but I have seen some modified classics also sell on this site. This site is highly respected, has very good buyer traffic, and has a very good success rate. Bidders must pledge their credit cards before they bid so winners are charged a % of the sale upon winning and are committed to their purchases therefore also eliminating most scams.. You can also review past sales to get an idea of what your car is worth. Check it out and good luck.

 

Pictures would help a lot in determining value, paint, and interior condition (as well as the condition of the engine bay) can make a huge difference. With the engine swap, the "barn find" uplift is iffy, and, generally, the cleaner the vehicle, the higher the value.

I bought my '70 E-Type with a Chevy in it back in 2017 and paid (overpaid) $36K. Its condition was likely similar to worse than your car. You could put a lot of money into the car, but I doubt you'd get it back on the sale. However, a drivable car will pull more than one that isn't, as long as the related repair is reasonable; making it drivable (changing the fluids, brakes, repairing any electrical gremlins) might give you a decent return, but it would depend on what was needed. You are likely looking at a value between $30K and $40K for the car, but I've seen clean converted cars go for up to twice that at auction. As you might expect, finding the right buyer could be problematic. "Bring a Trailer," as was mentioned above, is a good site for selling cars like this. The last car like this I watched sold at Barrett Jackson for around $80K (it popped up on e-Bay later for around double that but didn't sell), but it was a recent conversion, LS power, and super clean. Best of luck!

The good news is that this is a ford conversion. They do a ton less damage to the core systems in the car than the chevy conversions do (as I found out the hard way), making it easier to reverse the conversion if the buyer wanted to go that route (but unless the original engine/trans can be found it'll never pull top dollar).

 

Appreciate all the responses. I will definitely check out bringatrailer. Thanks!

 

Best of luck!