Built-in 1968, this left-hand-drive Jaguar E-Type series 1 4.2 roadster has been stretched by four and a half inches during a major restoration carried out by CMC.

The Restoration Process

On April 17 1968, this Series 1 4.2 litre, left hand drive, open 2 seater Jaguar E-Type rolled off the line at the company’s Coventry works. The car was shipped immediately to Jaguar Cars in New York, USA, but the receiving dealer is not known.

The car was purchased by CMC’s client and sent to the company after being involved in a heavy front impact.

During the rebuild the owner, a client in the United States who intends to travel widely in country, requested a trailer to be built. CMC built this from two E-Type rear ends joined together.

The trailer is ingeniously connected to the car via a removable tow hitch, which locks into position through the revering light aperture. The reversing light hides the hitch mechanism when the trailer is not in use. This is another first for CMC and the world of Jaguar.

Our client wanted the interior leg room of a Series 3 V12 E-Type but the aesthetics of a Series 1 car.

We have added four and a half inches to the floor pan, which will give the leg room of the V12 plus an additional one inch if required. The V12 was actually nine inches longer than a Series I but a lot of the additional room was behind the seats as storage and was not required on our project.

“As an idea, the Kaizen E-Type was a conceit of the imagination but the car itself has now become a reality by taking advantage of modern material and component technologies provided by CMC.

“With nine inches more wheelbase, the 2+2 was too long to be beautiful, but the four and a half inches added to the Kaizen E-type could make the car even more beautiful than the original Series I edition.” – Paul Branstad, Owner