HISTORY
We catch up with a remarkably original Series 3 E-Type in that rarely seen ’70s hue of Heather
STRIKING. That's the only word to describe this 1974 t-type Series 3 open-two-seater. Although Heather {that's pink to you and me) was never a popular colour at the time, especially for a supposedly ‘masculine’ sports car, it still results in an eye-catching sight.
It was mainly because of the colour that the car’s original supplying dealer didn’t want to sell it and why its first owner kept it for almost five decades, only deciding to sell his pink pride and joy earlier this year.
The E-Type was first registered on 8 April, 1974 by a Cheshire-based British Leyland dealer. Wood Lane Garage in the village of Timperley, a few miles to the south of Manchester I he tat was untidily to be the garage's demonstrator but Robert Stott, son of the former managing director Ian Stott, admitted in a recent letter to the current vendor it was mainly for his father’s own use. “I suspect he intended to keep the car due to its striking and rare colour,” he wrote.
Only arriving in 1973, Heather was one of the many garish hues Jaguar was offering at the time that also included Green Sand and Turquoise. It’s not known how many E-Types were ordered . When the chance came to sell the car six months later, the dealer took it. “Profit is always a temptress,” explained Robert in the letter. Mr Stott senior apparently replaced the E-Type with another, a blue convertible, which this time he kept for over 35 years, only selling in 2008.
The buyer of the Heather-coloured OTS was a local businessman we’re calling Mr S. With he and his family wishing to remain anonymous, there’s little to say about him except he obviously loved the car because he kept it for 48 years. Yet in that time, the car covered a mere 23,000 miles resulting in an annual average of just 480. To put that into perspective, that’s like driving the car from the Blackpool Tower to the Tower of London and back again before leaving it in the garage for the rest of the year.
Poor health saw the V5 later transferred to his son but Mr S remained the car’s custodian and the only one to drive it. He took what must have been the hard decision to sell his beloved E-Type earlier this year and it’s currently available through a specialist, Car-Iconics, based in Rutland.
Although Mr S has confirmed to Car-Iconics’ Dan Gannon that the E-Type is still largely unrestored, the huge amount of paperwork that comes with the car proves the continuous maintenance it has received
