We recently purchased a 67 e-type with 49K miles, we are the third owners and have all receipts since new. She is in beautiful original condition, except she was repainted a period correct red and the entire interior was replaced with period correct materials, tan(based on the receipts). All Numbers are matching and she runs wonderfully. In her first and only car show, with us, she won best foreign car. She has the 9 to 1 compression engine with 3 SUs and was purchased without a radio. We love to drive her but feel guilty about putting on the miles, and sometimes think that she should be in a museum and not on the road. Nothing is missing and she appears to be very original. When we purchased her we were thinking of having a car for sunny weekend drives, but now after giving it some thought, maybe we purcased the wrong car, sometimes we wish she had 200K on her. What should we do? Does the fact that she does not have a radio have any consequence?

David and Vickie Walters
1967 e-type fhc

Submitted by dmartin@coinstar.com on Thu, 11/03/2005 - 10:13

Drive it !

David, the joy of looking at it in the garage can't compare to driving it around town, or on trips. We take ours everywhere, and as a result we meet the most interesting people. Don't forget to let your wife drive it too!

Submitted by jerry@moutons.org on Wed, 11/02/2005 - 23:27

David and Vickie,

There are plenty of pristine original E Types to fill all the required places in museums. Just drive it.

Trust me, if you don't drive it it will deteriorate as badly or worse than if you drive it hard but carefully. My '64 was repainted in 2000, engine in 2001, interior in 1993. I drive the heck out of it, compete in autocrosses and drive on track as often as I can. Still, I won (JCNA) driven class at the Palo Alto concours this year.

Remember, if you keep it up well, you can actually restore it to the condition it's in now pretty reasonably whenever you like. You really have nothing to lose.

Jerry Mouton '64 E Type FHC

Submitted by malow1@aol.com on Thu, 10/06/2005 - 11:44

I have a 1973 Corvette "454" 4-speed a/c car with 42,000 miles, and my 1974 XKE is also all original with 54,000. What fun would it be to not drive them? As far as values are concerned, I have seen some XKE's with less miles that were not in as good condition, so it is all relative. Unless you had a Yenko Camaro or Shelby Mustang with 200 miles on them I don't see your point.
1974 E-Type
1996 Vanden Plas
1973 Corvette (454)

Submitted by dvwalt@aol.com on Wed, 10/05/2005 - 23:01

Thanks for the input and your generous offer to drive her however being an old muscle car guy I just can't help but image what a 67 camero or mustang with low mileage and orginal condition would be worth if they were kept in that condition. Maybe we're just not in the right frame of mind for this jag thing, she seems to be so exotic to us. Vickie often gets jealous of the time I spend cleaning and caring for her. David and Vickie Walters
1967 e-type fhc

Submitted by deadliftr20@aol.com on Wed, 10/05/2005 - 21:47

I understand your concern regarding driving such a great example of a 67.....however, I agree with the guys above.....it was made to go down the road

Where are you two located.....

If your really that concerned about driving the car, I could drive it for you :-)

Submitted by pascal@jcna.com on Wed, 10/05/2005 - 07:53

i agree with Doug... if it was a very low mileage car, all original, then there would be a case for not driving it too much.

otherwise, Drive it! that's what it was designed for... we are lucky that parts for our e-types are all easy to get, from wearables to sheet metal in case of an accident.

the more they are driven, the better they run anyway... i drive mine on average 10k a year, sometimes more like in 2003 when i did 10k in a single month...

Pascal Gademer
72 E-type 2+2
00 XKR Coupe

Submitted by dougi@shaw.ca on Wed, 10/05/2005 - 03:08

David and Vickie,

All E-Types are special, and all should be in the hands of caring owners, as you so obviously are. They were made to be driven and I believe they should be, with a very few exceptions. If yours was all original, unrestored, and in pristine condition, it might be one of the exceptions. With a respray and a replacement interior (the two most visible things on the car), it really is a partially restored car, and you should relax and enjoy it, and let others enjoy seeing it on the road. All this IMHO, of course.

Doug Ingram
Victoria BC Canada