BrandonS

I'm highly considering a nicely but not perfectly restored e-type as my next car, either in the 2 seat coupe, or convertable setup. I know its a 5 liter v12 putting out over 320hp, and is suppose to be able to be tracked all day. Also, i here the care is good for 170mph in the straight..... not bad for 1972! My thing is this. A car is more than statistics. On paper the vette is better than the S2000 in everyway, but behind each car is a feel unto itself. The s2000 simply feels so much more refined, and part of the road. Has anyone ever had the opportunity to take a ride in one of these cars? Thnx,

Brandon

CG

Brandon, E Types are wonderful drivers cars and in 1972 it was a drive in a 1967 E Type that got me hooked on sportscars. I've driven many happy miles in both 6cyl and 12 cyl E's. They remain one of my all time favorite cars and IMO one of the top 5 styles of all time. With that said it would not be a good daily driver and would likely cost you a small fortune to keep running well. If you want a Sunday driver that you will drive less than 5000 miles each year and you can pay to keep it up go for it. Otherwise a more modern car would be better.

Now if you're looking at one with all the bugs worked out and nothing by Lucas left in the car things may be different.

steve c

I'm a big fan of the E-Type. To this day my father still uses his 63 3.8 as the benchmark for all of my cars that he gets to play with.

CG makes some good points regarding the ability to drive the car on a daily basis. What's more, searching for parts can be a pain in the ass, and many cars have areas of corrosion that are not easy to find without tearing into things.

That said, there is a reason the ealier I and II cars are demanding a premium over the V12 cars, and it has to do with more than age. The cars grew bigger and heavier as time progressed, and IMO the V12 cars are more like a BMW M roadster if you are to consider the first cars to be like the S2000.

If you can find a good I or II example and keep it running you stand a good chance of not losing much if any money over the next few years. Making one a track car on the other hand could reduce it's value and honestly, vintage cars are great toys, but they are after all old and often don't make for the best track cars.

If I was going to look for a good "old" car for track use I would spend my time searching in the Porsche 356 and early 70's 911 arena. More parts, lot's of knock-off's and very, very easy to tune and fix.