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A meticulously documented 1975 Jaguar E-Type V12 Roadster crossed the block for £73,125 at H&H Classic Auctions' recent sale at Pavilion Gardens in Buxton, Derbyshire. Offered from a deceased estate with just two owners before its late custodian, the drop-top Jaguar came with a thick history file and more than £70,000 of documented recommissioning work behind it.
By the early 1970s, tightening American emissions rules were squeezing the life out of the E-Type's six-cylinder engine, so Jaguar reached for something bigger. Engineers adapted a 5.3-liter V12 originally developed for the abandoned XJ13 Le Mans prototype and slotted it into a revised E-Type chassis with a longer wheelbase, flared arches, and vented disc brakes. The resulting Series III V12 roadster made roughly 272 horsepower and could still see 150 mph, trading some of the earlier six-cylinder car's rawness for a smoother, more effortless character. Right-hand-drive V12 roadsters like this one are particularly scarce, with fewer than 1,900 ever built.
Chassis 1S2739BW left Coventry in January 1974 but didn't find a buyer until August 1975, when Bristol resident Malcolm Bayliss took delivery and registered it as KUL 850P. Bayliss kept the car until his death in 2009, after which it passed to enthusiast Alan Auty, who spent the next decade and a half returning it to the condition it wears today. Auty's team stripped the body to bare metal for a color change to British Racing Green in 2016, preserved the original leather interior, fitted wire wheels and SU carburetors, and later completed a full engine rebuild and transmission overhaul. The car now shows just under 46,500 miles.
For buyers weighing whether that £73,125 result represents good value, Hagerty's valuation tools offer a useful gut check. Hagerty currently prices a Series III V12 roadster in #3 (Good) condition at around $76,600, up 13.1% over the past year, while its auction database shows results for the model ranging from bargain-basement projects up to $357,500 for the finest examples sold over the past three years. Nearly 500 Series III E-Types have changed hands at public auction in that span, a sign of how actively the model still trades. Against that backdrop, a heavily sorted, well-documented roadster like this one landing in the low-to-mid five-figure sterling range looks like a reasonable trade for a car that shouldn't need meaningful work for years to come.
The V12 roadster's blend of usability and its status as Jaguar's last true E-Type flagship keeps demand steady, and cars with paperwork this thorough tend to command a premium over needier examples. For more on how the model's later, V12-powered generation stacks up against its six-cylinder predecessors, see Motorious's coverage of this restored 1974 Series III V12 roadster and a refurbished 1974 example, both of which found buyers on Bring a Trailer. Fans of the earlier cars can also look back at how a 1970 Regency Red roadster performed at auction, while those seeking a cheaper way into open-top British motoring might consider our look at a no-reserve 1972 MG Midget.
