The accompanying Heritage confirms that BDJ 420H was dispatched from the factory on 13th August 1969 to Henlys of Manchester and then sold later the same month to Mr J. L. Samuels.

From the history file one can deduce that there was one further keeper until 1976 when it was purchased by a Norwegian, Einar Aarnes, who expatriated it to Norway. It was used extensively until 1980 when the mileage was a smidgeon was over 60,000 miles, whereupon it was put into dry storage and only saw light of day again in 2016 when it returned to the UK.

It was quickly snapped up by a long term Jaguar enthusiast and former E type owner Ian Manson. Although remarkably well preserved, he decided to carry out a full nut and bolt, bare shell restoration.

A meticulous two thousand hour restoration ensued over three and a half years, whereupon every component was either restored, rebuilt and or replaced.

His endeavours were recorded via a fabulous photo album showing each stage of the process plus substantial self-editorial under the heading "For the love of an E Type", in seven special feature issues in the Jaguar Enthusiast magazine, where his painstaking progress was detailed.

The magazines and photo album form part of the extensive history and Ian wisely took time to write a complete narrative of all the actual work undertaken, so happily I can elaborate on this.

There's an array of workshop manuals, including historical documentation from its time before and whilst in Norway plus a huge array of documents relating to the restoration and paperwork from more recent expenditure.

Once the work was completed Ian decided to offer the Jaguar for sale, given his dedication to the task, it must have been a huge wretch. A long standing client decided it would make a lovely addition to his small Jaguar & Bentley collection, quickly made a dash to see it and without hesitation, snapped it up.

His circumstances have recently changed, so with deep regret he's made a decision to relinquish a few cars, thus we have just handled the sale of his rather beautiful 1989 Bentley Continental, with evidently this Jaguar following swiftly on its heals.

I would say with absolute certainly, this Jaguar ranks amongst the finest restored Series 2 OTS and given the bias towards Series 1's, really only due to superior values, this restoration and its sale represents an important Jaguar milestone...a mightily impressive feet of dedicated engineering.

It would be a pleasure to answer any questions you might have. However, to really appreciate this remarkable E type, it needs to be seen “in the flesh”, so do please call me directly on +44(0)7788 865700 to arrange a viewing.

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