Browsing the Collecting Cars site today I saw that there is currently a live auction for an E-Type and I thought that it would be interesting to dig out some research I started on the E-Type market earlier this year.
Back in February 2019 I collected classified sales data for 40 E-Types that were for sale with dealers on a particular site. I’ve repeated the exercise for September 2019 and now also added auction house sales data for the 2019 to date. Ignored are POA cars and restoration vehicles.
As can be seen below, the average asking price has fallen and more cars have moved into the lower price bands. The top end of the market has mainly remained unchanged in terms of asking prices, however this will realistically only relate to restored Series 1 cars – the only model to have asking prices in excess of £190,000.
| February 2019 (n=40) | September 2019 (n=35) | Difference | |
| <£100k | 17.5% | 20% | ▲ 2.5 pts |
| £101k – £150k | 25% | 31% | ▲ 6 pts |
| £151k – £200k | 27.5% | 20% | ▼ 7.5 pts |
| £200k+ | 30% | 29% | ▼ 1 pt |
| Average Asking Price | £166,000 | £160,010 | ▼ 3.6% |
Asking price movements for each Series;
| Average Asking Price | February 2019 | September 2019 | Difference |
| Series 1 | £194,417 | £190,694 | ▼ 1.91% |
| Series 2 | £110,800 | £103,700 | ▼ 6.41% |
| Series 3 | £132,609 | £132,605 | – |
The softening of E-Type prices isn’t news – but what is I think interesting is the disconnect between the asking prices of classifieds and the prices achieved at auction so far in 2019.
| 2019 Auction Prices n=41 | |
| <£100k | 93% |
| £101-£150k | 5% |
| £151k-£200k | 2% |
| £200k+ | 0% |
| Average Auction Sold Price | 2019 To Date |
| Series 1 | £72,662 |
| Series 2 | £50,648 |
| Series 3 | £60,267 |
It could be argued by some that only sub-standard, non-retail cars would go to auction, but I don’t think that this holds weight when you have seemingly good quality UK RHD drive roadsters selling for under £70,000.
Series 1 cars dominate the £200k market, mostly fresh restorations but I can’t see that these will shift quickly in the current market, especially with Jaguar Classic now competing in the same space, indeed it would be interesting to log the turnover rate of the top priced cars to see if they are moving at all.
Taking the auction sales data and laying it next to advertised dealer prices from February in the form of a bell curve highlights the difference in actual sales prices versus advertised dealer pricing – the two bear no relevance to one another.
There are no doubt stand out examples that warrant market leading prices, but it would appear that in the current market there is still ample opportunity to catch a cold when buying an E-Type.
Mark Tofts 