A CHANGE OF PACE

Back in 2012, Mark Wanstall heard about a Series 2 E-type Jaguar project for sale. As he explains: 'I heard about it fourth-hand, and bought it from a chap who owns a body shop. I particularly wanted it because E-types seem hard to find as restoration projects, most of them having been done up already.'

The car Mark found was a UK-spec 1968 Series 2 with the 4.2-litre (4235cc) XK in-line six-cylinder engine. When Mark bought it, the car was a rolling shell. It had been partly dismantled in 1982 and had sat around since, but thankfully it had retained the vast majority of its parts, and those were all included as part of the package.

With the Series 2, the E-type got amendments to lighting to conform with the then current regulations, and Mark’s car is an early version of this series. 'This is the 20th righthand-drive UK Series 2 E-type,' he explains. 'Details were still changing at that point, so things like the seat flutes on this are smooth rather than perforated which