1965 Jaguar XKE
Your worst nightmare just happened; you were having a good time driving down memory lane in your classic car when disaster strikes and now you have the joy of dealing with the insurance company and finding a shop that understands your ride & has the skilled staff to repair it correctly.
This 1965 Jaguar E Type Series 1 is a special car that has been taking top honours at the Western Canada & Pacific Northwest Concourse Car Shows so it needs skilled craftsmen to repair it to the level it was before the incident took place.
Working together with the insurance company, the appraiser & the customer, we were able to come up with a game plan to bring this Jaguar back to its former glory.
The car was coach built from the factory so there are many inconsistencies from one vehicle to the other. Combining that with a replacement bonnet that is a good “fax simile” at best, makes the fitment of the bonnet a chore.
Bob, the lead man on this project, is a metal crafter who came to us from the UK so he has done a number of these over the years. His 24 years of expertise on exotic vehicles along with the correct tooling allows us to perform this repair in-house.
Issues we deeded to deal with included a bonnet that was 3/4″ too long with the incorrect contours all around the cowl, headlight placement and shapes being incorrect, curvature of the front corners differing from one side to the other, etc. These are not abnormal to this type of car but they do add to the excitement & time factor of the restoration.
The final product is a gem and the owner can enjoy it for what it was when it was new.