So...Back in the Spring Blur911 posted a couple photos of a really ratty E-type Jaguar he spotted in Kingston. I PM'd him and got the location with the anticipation of stopping to check it out next time I was in the area, since we do have some close friends in Belleville. I sorta forgot about it, until I came across a similar car on the road a few weeks ago. That motivated me, so I did a bit of sleuthing and was actually able to get in touch with the owner of the car Blur has spotted.
He'd recently moved the car from where it was originally spotted, but he was thinking about selling. I drove out there earlier today, and was greeted by a very badly weathered 69 XKE 2+2. Apparently the car was re-done in the early nineties with the mechanics gone through, a new interior and some fresh body work. The owner was not pleased with the results of the bodywork, so the car ended up sitting around bring started and driven briefly every couple of years until 2004 when it was last run. It's spent the majority of that time outside and the elements have not been kind. The floors are falling out of it and the hood is pretty much toast, not to mention that the paint/filler on the body is falling off in chunks. It is a complete car, and the structure seams fairly sound, the doors all open an close nicely. Most of the interior actually looks salvageable too.
I was able to cut a deal with the owner today, and will work on figuring out how to get it home in the next couple of weeks. The car is definitely restorable, especially since the value of these once done is strong; but this car is a big project and definitely not for the faint of heart. I am anxious to get at it with the shop vac and a garden hose to see what I am dealing with; there are so many leaves, nests, spiders, etc in and around the car right now that I didn't have much interest in getting too intimate with it. Once I assess it a bit more I'll need to decide what I am going to do with it.
Blur911, next time you're in the GTA, your dinner/drinks are on me
