This 1963 Jaguar E-Type Could Be 2016's Greatest Barn Find

This newly-discovered Jaguar E-Type is perhaps the greatest barn find of 2016. One of only 1799 right-hand drive two-seater fixed head coupes ever produced, this 3.8-litre, 265bhp Jag is an extremely rare machine. With Carmen Red paint, aluminium interior panels and optioned bucket seat, it would have been stunning in its day. But what makes this car really special isn’t the specification, it’s the vehicle’s history.

The car was first purchased in May 1963 by Ivor Arbiter, founder of Drum City and Sound City in London. Now, for those clued up with their musical history, you’ll know that Arbiter was a key-figure in the 1960s music scene, famously designing the iconic dropped-T logo for The Beatles. As a result, this car is a big deal for Beatles fans.

Unfortunately, Arbiter only owned the car for a brief two years, passing it on to motoring garage SB Cain of Greenford, where it sat for some time. But that wasn’t the end of the story. The car eventually got sold to enthusiastic garage owner Howard H Measham, who drove it rather enthusiastically while it was in his possession. In fact, Measham, now 85, remembers one particular drive when he got a bit too greedy with the throttle, promptly spinning the car on the spot. Measham described the car as a “phenomenal sports car” - he clearly wasn’t wrong.

Then in December 1967, the garage sold the car to its final owner, Frank Riches. Riches was a seriously cool guy, who regularly drove the car - along with his MGTF - to motor racing circuits around the country. He used the Jag as the towing vehicle, with the MGTF being pulled behind. He would race both cars across the course of a weekend, and then drive home in the same vehicles.

To hone the car for racing, Riches made some minor modifications. He fitted an upgraded brake servo, fitted a US-style grille bar to the radiator and removed the E-Type’s classic centre bar to fit a spot lamp. These modifications would usually lower the value of such a rare machine, but Riches retained all the original components so that the car could be put back to factory specification. Which makes it all the more surprising that Riches ended up effectively abandoning the vehicle.

The story goes, that after two years of racing, the Jag’s clutch finally died. Instead of fixing the ailing vehicle, Riches elected to put the car into a lock-up, where it remained until the 1980s. Some years later, he eventually moved the car to his garden, where it then sat untouched.

The car certainly requires a full restoration, but everything is 100 per cent original. And it comes with an original brown log book, V5 and V5C, and its last MOT certificate, dated November 1968. If you want this piece of history, it will be offered at the 2016 Spring Classics Auction which takes place at the Royal Horticultural Society, Lindley Hall, London, on 8 March.