I have a series I coupe with a factory installed Webasto sunroof. I was told that by the previous owner of 20 years it was a factory installation, but until we were doing the cosmetic restoration on the car & actually saw how it was installed,(plus it had the original factory paint under the runners), I wasn't quite sure this was true. I'm wondering if anyone else has one of these on their E-Type. I've seen pictures of cars in the UK & Europe with these, but not in the US.
Thanks

Submitted by mbandarra3@cs.com on Sun, 05/11/2008 - 17:50

William,
Many thanks for the information on Webasto facilites concerning the how, when & even where they were installed. You've been a great help on what has been, at least for me, a bit of a mystery surrounding the origin of my Webasto. In the US this option seems to be excedingly rare, and in fact I've not heard or seen of another here, although I'm sure they are out there.

Best wishes

Submitted by bonnettoboot@e… on Sat, 05/03/2008 - 11:19

The Webasto roof you have could easily have been fitted new and virttually all of them were. It was an option offered at the time of order -remember, other than the USA- cars were ordered months in advance and could have any number of "extras fitted" including custom paint. Webasto had a main facility in West London but they also had a plant in Derby as I went there with my Uncle to check on the progress of his 1962 Mk 2 which was being fitted with a gold coloured roof to match the car. He collected the car at the dealer some time later. Many of the higher quality car manufacturers "sublet" custom fitting. Mercedes had a Webasto installation plant on the factory grounds. The term "factory installed" is over used. Sometimes upgrades were done after the cars was sold, a good example is the air Cond fitted to E types at major dealers in the USA. The "factory" sent a team of installers to various locations (Hornburg in LA was one) specifically to retrofit air conditioning. These were NOT factory installed but fitted by Factory Trained technicians to new cars! Are they original? Far too much focus is placed upon originality in production built cars. Virtually all high quality British cars were custom ordered (bespoke) as owners wanted their car to be personal.

Submitted by mbandarra3@cs.com on Sat, 05/03/2008 - 08:42

George,
You are a wealth of information on the sunroof on my 66 series 1. I've had no luck at all finding this info on my own. The car is finishing the last phase of restoration and I read concours judging criteria took 6 points deduction for a sunroof. This is of course seems harsh considering this car was delivered to the dealership new optioned like this. (Plus it's such a great period option.) So , thanks to appendix E, & your info, I'm hoping for a fair score when I enter it in it's first concours, perhaps at Little Switzerland NC in Jjune if completed in time. (It's almost there.) I will also follow up on sending photos to the RC.
Thanks
Mike Bandarra

Submitted by SE98-32482CJ on Wed, 04/30/2008 - 08:35

Michael there is sufficent documentation to "prove" that your car could have been ordered with the Webasto and delivered as such but the "factory" installed is a misnomer. The cars would have been sent out after completion to a "Webasto" fitter and the work done there. The quality was high in these fittings and the paint would be under the runners. There will be an appendix to the rules book next year (see appendix E posting) and all authorized options for NA will be addressed. In the time between then and now could you provide some pictures of the details to the JCRC? Good luck! BTW it is likely your car was purchased under the "Overseas Delivery" program. The cost for the Webasto option in 1965-66 was $ 367.40.