Good as new: Jaguar restores 10 E-Types

Jaguar has revealed the first of 10 E-Types that have undergone a full factory restoration by the British car maker.

The first car, set to be officially unveiled at Germany's Techno-Classica show next month, is a 1965 Series 1 Fixed Head Coupe 4.2.

Restored to "concours-winning standard" by Jaguar itself, the E-Type was rebuilt as part of JLR's 'Reborn' programme that has already seen an original Range Rover Classic undergo a full nut and bolt rebuild.

Claimed to be the first-time Jaguar has tackled a rebuild itself (the million-dollar Lightweight E-Types and XKSS race cars it made in the past were new, not restored), the British car maker says all 10 E-Types have been restored to the exact specification the cars left the factory in.

With prices beginning at around $460,000 - the Reborn service isn't cheap, but for that price Jaguar uses E-Type experts to find the perfect donor car - in this case a Californian export car that had only cover 125,000km before being dry-stored in the eighties.

According to Jaguar Classic team, who undertook the actual rebuild, the body shell, engine and gearbox remain original but have been stripped and rebuilt.

Crucially, to preserve authenticity, the engineers used the same original spot-welding techniques that were used when the E-Type was originally built.

The restoration also includes sourcing difficult-to-find original parts that are out of reach of many restorers - but some concessions to modernity were made when recreating the '65 coupe.

The 4.2-litre E-Type had a subtle engine cooling system upgrade for the Californian climate while an all-syncromesh gearbox and larger Series 2 front brake callipers complete the sympathetic upgrades.