Jaguar E-type 2+2 Series 1.5
I bought this car in the mid 80s from an ad on Craigslist or Trading Post – not sure. The owner had it up on blocks in his garage (apparently for a long time) and his life circumstances were forcing him to liquidate. I don’t remember what I paid him, but it wasn’t much, as the car was in need of some TLC to get it running and make it roadworthy. Suffice it to say, I did that and only that. It was a very solid car, ran well and I just wanted the E-type ownership experience. The stepchild 2+2 model was the perfect way to achieve that on the cheap even if it meant settling for the slushbox BW automatic transmission and the diminished sexiness of the four-seater body style.
The Mystery Sunroof
When I bought the car, I just assumed I was lucky to get one with the electrically-operated sliding metal sunroof option. It never occurred to me that it was not factory. It worked fine, and sealed well when closed so I just enjoyed it. Until it quit working. When it gave up the ghost, you could hear the motor running, but nothing happened. The motor was located in the headliner above the rear-view mirror and I was able to delicately disassemble things to uncover this:
The driveshaft was a 5 inch piece of rubber hose with a female hex drive fitting swedged onto each end. Having removed it, I was able to close the sunroof manually while I went off in search of a replacement part. I remember the frustration of searching for an obscure part for a nearly twenty year old Jag in the days before internet. Nobody had any idea what I was talking about and I soon decided that Jaguar never produced a 2+2 with electric hardtop. I was visited by inevitable European buyers looking to send these cars back overseas and they acknowledged they had never seen one of these. Through the magic of the internet, I have since learned that you could order the e-type with a sunroof that was installed by third-party installers to Jag standards.
I didn’t hold on to the Jag for long and, for the life of me, I can’t remember why I sold it, and I have never seen it since. I guess I couldn’t conceive of it as daily transportation, unlike my TR6 which I have owned, off and on, for 30+ years.