The Jaguar XKE is said by many to be the most beautiful and best driving sports car ever produced. The cars were produced in three different variations. Series 1 cars were produced from 1961-1967, Series 2 from 1968-1971, and Series 3 from 1971-1974. The most desirable and rarest of all the cars produced are the early Series 1 cars that were equipped with the 3.8 liter inline 6-cylinder engine. If you are a collector of rare automobiles, this is the car you want and if you are lucky enough, you might even find what they call a “flat floor” car. In 1961, right when the XKE came into production, the first few hundred cars came with what is known as a flat floor, making them very rare and very collectible.
Several weeks ago we were visited by a little old lady who just happened to walk through our front doors. She said that she was the owner of an early Series 1 car and that for over ten years, she had been storing it about ten miles away from us. The reason for her visit was that she wanted to sell the car because she needed the room. Several days later, we made arrangements to go and see the car in person. When she opened the garage door, we were blown away by what we saw! The car was a rust-free, accident-free California car that was indeed the rare and desirable flat floor model. We do not see many good, solid, rust-free, accident-free XKE’s these days so to see one that is also a flat floor car and just ten miles away from our shop is unbelievable. As you can imagine, we quickly made a deal and got the car back to the shop.
We photographed the car the next Monday morning and sent it out in our e-mail newsletter. We quickly had three buyers for the car, but one buyer stepped up to the plate a little quicker than the other two and gave us a deposit right over the phone. The car will be going to England where we hope it is subject to a full restoration. A car like this is perfect for restoration and will always appreciate in value. We would love to hear what you think, so please do not hesitate to ask questions or leave comments.
