It was 1996 when the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired the third of a planned twelve automobiles, with the car being a 1963 Jaguar E-Type Roadster. As undeniably lovely as the E-Type Roadster is, it was the Fixed Head Coupe that started it all, for that was the car that debuted at the Geneva Motor Show. Interestingly, it was the American arm of Jaguar that started the E-Type/XK-E confusion, as Coventry badged it as the E-Type, but it was exclusively marketed in America as the XK-E, to draw a line between it and the XK120/140/150 cars.

Late in 1964, the original 3.8-liter engine was bored to 92.07 millimeters, giving the car 4.2 liters of displacement and a large increase in torque. Along with that change came a new fully synchronized transmission, Lockheed brakes, more spacious seats, and other minor improvements.

For obvious reasons, covered-headlamp, 4.2-liter E-Types prior to a 1967 redesign are highly sought after. Jaguar built a total of nine variants of Series 1 E-Types in this period, and among those, 4,429 (or so) are left-hand-drive fixed head coupes. That is a healthy number for a small carmaker, but it is barely more than 1,000 per year. This exclusive number has resulted in this series being widely considered the most desirable of all E-Types.

Prior to its sale in 2008, this car received a dramatic, complete restoration of such quality to win back-to-back First Place awards at judged JCNA events. As a show car, it was never properly run in, and after its acquisition, the consignor spent two years ensuring that it operates at the same standard. A Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate verifies the 1E chassis number, marking it as a Series 1 4.2-liter E-Type, and a DVD of the restoration and a binder of subsequent receipts documents that the car was completely disassembled and rebuilt as new.

More recently, in preparation for the 2014 Monterey auction, the Jaguar was sent to marque specialists at Classic Showcase, of Oceanside, California, where it had a complete and extensive engine-out service. This E-Type has been both mechanically and cosmetically freshened to a high standard, and in a recent road test, the car performed admirably and without fault.

“There is not a better looking car in the world,” laments the consignor, and there are few under seven figures that could offer a comparable driving experience. Since it is well sorted both mechanically and cosmetically, a long road trip to the next JCNA Concours should be on top of the next owner’s agenda.