1961 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 FHC

• Incredibly early Flat Floor E-Type Coupe. The 249th of just 399 left-hand drive cars built in 1961
• Completed in November 1961 in left-hand drive and despatched to California
• Retains all the important early production features including welded louvres, number stamped bonnet and Mk2-type round tin tool kit
• Just 49,319 miles from new and two previous long-term owners
• Remarkably well preserved
• Part of a matching Roadster/Coupe pair of Cream 1961 E-Types
• Just selected to be featured in the new, vastly expanded 'Original E-Type' book by Porter Press

Here at Silverstone Auctions, we are delighted to offer an incredible pair of matching-number, 'time warp' survivors of the earliest E-Types, cherished in a museum together for nearly 20 years. They are for sale separately and with the E-Type's Diamond Jubilee next year, this is an appropriate time for these significant cars to become available. From a respected private collector, both these cars are, remarkably, being offered at No Reserve.

In 1961, it was almost impossible to be able to actually obtain Jaguar's 'Supercar', which was so closely related to their triple Le Mans-winning D-Type racer, but with legendary comfort and practicality, offering perhaps the ultimate road car.

The E-Type itself needs no introduction and it is no secret that company founder and chairman, William Lyons, desired to add a supremely elegant coupe to the original roadster in development and their combined launch literally stunned the world, at Geneva back in March 1961.

For both the enthusiast and the dedicated collector, the desire to obtain the 'first of the breed' in its most original condition will always be the 'Holy Grail'. The problem with actually achieving this goal is that those first E-Types were seriously flawed. The body structure was never built with any intention to make it last and indeed many were succumbing to rust issues when just a few years old. The majority of worldwide climates did not offer the kind of conditions in which an E-Type might thrive and Jaguar themselves often cited that, with such a low purchase cost,