You are probably right. I just don't personally care for the Series II changes to the engine (mostly the same as a lowly XJ6) and of course the US mandated open headlights.
I understand your thoughts. The series l's and the enclosed headlights has got to be the pinnacle of the design. But a series ll is a nice way to get into an etype for less money.
http://www.anamera.com/en/detail/car/27836/index.html?no_cache=1&ret=144 While all the Jag lovers are here...looky looky
I have a 1971 4.2 Roadster one of the very last 6 cylinder E-types ever built, I bought the car about 7 years ago with 12,500 original one owner miles. The car had been sitting for a very long time so I did a complete pebble beach quality 3 year body restoration, the body had never been hit anywhere, it had absolutely no rust, when the car was finished the mechanics started giving problems, the car overheated did not run well etc.. so I decided to restore all the mechanics, and did some upgrade on the way, the car has 3 weber 45's, 5 speed gearbox, aluminun cooling system, modern A/C system on the original A/C unit, spax suspension, engine lost some compression so I had it rebuilt for the first time in its life and it proved to be in perfect condition although the rings, gaskest, etc had been worn due to age. It is a great car and it is very fast with the upgrades I did to it.
Digging through the old threads....... I don't know of any production E-Types that have made this sort of money, but quite a handful of nearly 100 point late Series I (1966-7) brought $135-155K in 2006-2007. That was then.....we'll see where this market goes in the 2009 auctions, but "up" doesn't look likely at the moment.
I disagree with your comment of "so many" built. There were 72,515 units built from 1961 - 1974, split as follows: 1961 - 1964 3.8L (Series 1): 15,498 1965 - 1967 4.2L (Series 1): 16,195 1967 - 1968 4.2L (Series "1.5"): 6,726 1969 - 1971 4.2L (Series 2): 18,809 1971 - 1972 5.3L V12 (S3): 15,287 Not exactly MASSIVE production, but certainly more than the contemporary Ferrari. However, FAR, FAR less than the comparable Corvette of the time. For purposes of discussion, let's ignore anything from S1.5 on. That's not to say they aren't desirable, but most collectors gravitate to the 3.8L flat floor (as someone stated), and secondarily, the 65 - 67 models, which have the 4.2L with synchro tranny. So the most desirable years are 1961 - 1967, of which there were 31,693 cars built. For a car that was considered revolutionary at the time, and as iconic in terms of design, I wouldn't call that a large production number. By comparison, 142,756 Corvettes were built from 1961 - 1967. Have you priced out a 1967 Corvette lately? And although a $125K+ Jag IS all the money, it's on par with it's contemporaries. Granted, the prices will fall in a down economy, but most "experts" see the E-Type as a decent value, especially the FHCs which are 1/4 - 1/2 the price of the OTS. Of course, you should not be buying a car like this for investment - buy it because you want it and enjoy it. The general rule of thumb, for any marque, is buy someone else's restoration as you will RARELY re-coup that expense!
http://www.barrett-jackson.com/application/onlinesubmission/search.aspx?st=1&aid=283&d=01%2f16%2f2009 What appears to be an Identical car to mine has just auctioned at $107,000.00 double what I paid... search for Jaguar on that page
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Cars-Trucks___1962-Jaguar-E-Type-Series-1-Exceptional-Quality_W0QQitemZ290296068983QQddnZCarsQ20Q26Q20TrucksQQddiZ2282QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUS_Cars_Trucks?hash=item290296068983&_trksid=p4506.c0.m245&_trkparms=72%3A317%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C240%3A1318
