Although there’s no such thing as a cheap Jaguar E-type, it’s certainly the case that the Series 3 offers the best value of them all. With an early flatfloor Series 1 setting you back anything up to a cool quarter of a million pounds in exceptional condition, the final V12 engined version from the early ’70s is relatively affordable by comparison.
It might not be everyone’s idea of the ideal E-Type, thanks to it evolving into more of a grand tourer than the raw and raucous sportster it started out as; but the Series 3 does have plenty to offer, and might just be where the clever money is right now.
Launched in 1971, a decade after the E-type first took a bow at the Geneva motor show, the Series 3 brought with it major changes. It had flared wheelarches, a wider track and an additional two and a half inches in width across its bodywork. The E-type had grown up – in every sense. The front suspension, for example, featured anti-dive geometry to help keep the front end level under harsh braking; the brakes were uprated via a bigger servo and an extended handbrake lever; and power steering also now came as standard.
It was under that vast bonnet, however, where the Series 3’s
