Buying Privately

Buying a car from an enthusiast who has some history with the car, who knows what's been spent on the car and where it's been for a number of years, can be a safer road to follow. You still need to be careful for this may be an owner who has devoted hundreds of hours of loving care and attention on his car or lavished thousands with genuinely good companies, or he may not fall into either of those categories.

He may be a DIY man who has rather more enthusiasm than experience and skill. He may have had to take short cuts to save money on parts, or he may have been the victim of one or several of the many rogue restorers. So, care is still needed but there is no substitute for personal contact. This will allow you to build up a picture of the sort of person you are dealing with and how he will have treated his car.

Obviously, the greater the history with the car the better, including invoices, MOTs and suchlike. A full photographic record should be very helpful. Photographs will not necessarily tell you the work has been done right, but will certainly illustrate the level of work undertaken. You should be careful of comments about a car being restored by a particular firm, whom you have established are reputable. It is possible they may have only done part of the work, and yet their good name is being applied to the restoration as a whole. These comments also apply to buying from a dealer or an auction house.

Conclusion

A lot of my comments might seem very negative. They are designed to make you be very careful in the hope that you will avoid the pitfalls that many have fallen into. I want you to enjoy your E-type. They are fabulous cars that can give enormous pleasure and be very practical but you must buy the right car for you.

As with any major purchase, do your homework, speak to experts, talk to owners at E-type Club events or via the web site. Read all you can. Become an expert and if we, at the Club office, can help we'll be delighted to give advice. We want you to not only enjoy your E-type initially but to keep using it for many years to come and, depending where you are in the world, take an active role in the E-type Club.

The real joy of ownership is driving the cars.