Photo: AP
Ivan Schneider, a young lawyer in the Big Apple at the time, left his New York apartment in 1968 only to realize his beautiful Jaguar E-Type 1.5 Series got stollen. 46 years later, U.S. authorities identified the car as part of a routine check on vintage vehicles being transported to Holland. Not only has he probably became the happiest driver, the man claims he’ll even restore the car to make it look like he remembers it.
The car was found back in June, just two days before it was supposed to be shipped to the Netherlands, where there is a high demand for vintage cars. California Highway Patrol authorities arranged to have the ship operator to transport the car back to Southern California in August. The Jag still hasn’t been reunited with its original keeper yet, which is why a U.S. customer operative was kind enough to walk Schneider around the car literally using a laptop and a video link connection.
Unfortunately the car was not really well preserved, as now it is rusty in places and has big scrapes in the paintwork. According to MSN, in its current state it’s worth around £14,000 (around €17,700 / $22,770) – which is about a quarter of the value a mint example would cost. But the sportscar enthusiast obviously won’t give up his beauty, stating he’ll restore the Jaguar so it can once again shine.
As to the model itself, as far as we can tell, it looks like the E-Type 1.5 Roadster, a model of which only 771 were ever made. The Series 1.5 added many improvements in drivability including a 4.2-liter engine upgrade and improved synchromesh gearbox. The cockpit was enlarged and the convertible top was more leak-proof.
Unfortunately the car was not really well preserved, as now it is rusty in places and has big scrapes in the paintwork. According to MSN, in its current state it’s worth around £14,000 (around €17,700 / $22,770) – which is about a quarter of the value a mint example would cost. But the sportscar enthusiast obviously won’t give up his beauty, stating he’ll restore the Jaguar so it can once again shine.
As to the model itself, as far as we can tell, it looks like the E-Type 1.5 Roadster, a model of which only 771 were ever made. The Series 1.5 added many improvements in drivability including a 4.2-liter engine upgrade and improved synchromesh gearbox. The cockpit was enlarged and the convertible top was more leak-proof.
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