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A 1961 Jaguar E-Type is hardly a rarity on the auction circuit, but one the seller says has had only two owners in 65 years is a different kind of story. This Series 1 3.8-liter "flat floor" roadster is live on Collecting Cars, where the bid stood at €45,250 at the time of writing. It was delivered new through Jaguar Cars in New York to a first owner in Virginia, and it is now being sold from Limburg, Belgium by the family that, in the seller's words, are "only the second owners from new." The auction is scheduled to close Monday, November 9.
From Virginia to Belgium
According to the listing, the car was first registered in October 1961 and shipped to the U.S. market, where Jaguar Cars in New York supplied it to its first owner in Virginia. In a comment on the listing, the seller says that owner bought it in Lynchburg. The sellers say they acquired it after that first owner bought it new, restored it in 2011, and have maintained it since. The listing says only that the car was imported to continental Europe "in more recent years," without saying when.
The restoration story comes from the seller's own account. The seller says her husband, who at the time ran a garage specializing in classic-car bodywork and restoration, carried out the 2011 work. The listing says the engine, transmission and rear swingarm were rebuilt at a certified Belgian repair shop, with a major engine and gearbox overhaul in 2012. It also notes that a previous online listing for the car stated the engine was rebuilt by XKs Unlimited in the United States in 2008. The listing does not reconcile that with the timeline above, so bidders will want to ask in the comments how the ownership and the work fit together.
What "Flat Floor" Means
The "flat floor" label is a retroactive nickname for early E-Types built before Jaguar redesigned the footwells. RM Sotheby's, citing Jaguar records in the catalog for a comparable car, says 1,581 left-hand-drive roadsters were built with the flat-floor design and that a May 1962 service bulletin introduced the change. Chassis 875621 sits in that early run. If left-hand-drive roadsters were numbered from 875001, as RM's note that 875195 was the 195th suggests, this car would be roughly the 621st one built. That figure is arithmetic from the catalog's numbering, not a claim from the seller.
The listing says the car is a matching-numbers example confirmed by its Jaguar Heritage Certificate. That is the sort of documentation that matters on a car whose appeal is built on early-production details.
What You Are Bidding On
The car is finished in Opalescent Silver Blue over a retrimmed black leather interior, with a black fabric soft top, 15-inch wire wheels, a wood-rim steering wheel and Smiths gauges. The 3.8-liter inline-six drives the rear wheels through a four-speed manual. The odometer shows just under 57,000 km, roughly 35,000 miles, though the listing says that figure is not warranted. The seller notes a small stone chip on the bonnet and a small dent at the front of the nose, and the car comes with one key. The most recent maintenance listed was in June 2025, carried out in the seller's own workshop.
Because the car is in Belgium, a buyer outside the country will need to work out import duties and taxes before bidding, as the listing's own notes point out.
More E-Type Stories on Motorious
If the E-Type is your thing, we have also looked at Jack Lemmon's 1969 roadster and its Hollywood history, a Regency Red 1970 roadster, and a documented 1975 V12 roadster that sold at H&H's Buxton sale.
The seller says what makes the car special is the combination of the early flat-floor specification, matching numbers, and the care it has received over the years. All ownership and restoration details above are the seller's statements unless noted, and buyers should verify them before bidding. You can see the full photo gallery and bid on the original Collecting Cars listing.
