The First Ever Right-Hand Drive 1961 Jaguar E-Type Could Sell For $1.7 Million

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Each and every Jaguar E-Type is special but a particularly special right-hand drive example is heading to auction this Friday, September 1. It is expected to sell for between £1 million ($1.2 million) and £1.4 million ($1.7 million).

This E-Type is chassis 860001 and is a 1961 model. It’s important that this is a 1961 model as E-Type models built that year are the most coveted and valuable; these feature bonnet latches on the outside, rather than bonnet latches relocated into the passenger compartment in later model years. Just 24 examples of the E-Type were ever built with these latches and of these, only four of them are right-hand drive. This is the very first.

Gooding & Company is selling the car and notes that it was finished on July 10, 1961, and painted in opalescent dark blue. It was initially used as a demonstrator by a Jaguar distributor in the UK and featured in many publications during the 1970s. It was then sold to a Jaguar historian in 1977 who kept it for more than 20 years before selling it to the current consignor.

The car underwent a restoration shortly after being added to the collection of the current seller which took years to complete. He has driven it frequently over the years and even completed two 17-hour drives from Coventry in the UK to Geneva, Switzerland in 2011 and 2021. The car was also featured prominently in the 150^th issue of Octane magazine from December 2015 and was tested all the way to 146 mph (235 km/h).

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The listing notes that the car will be handed over to the winning bidder with copies of articles and magazines it has featured in, archival photographers, copies of factory records, a Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate, and information that details the restoration and maintenance performed on it.