A few weeks ago, my wife and I headed to lunch at a restaurant in Whitehouse Station (NJ) that we hadn’t tried before. It’s about five miles from our house, and it’s one of those places that we’ve driven past a thousand times, always saying “hey, let’s try that sometime”, and finally we did.

For 1pm on a Friday, the place was quite busy, and since their primary parking lot was already full, we had to park a half block further away. No big deal, as the day was sunny if a bit cool. Our parking spot ended up being closer to the back, not the front, of the restaurant.

Approaching the restaurant from the rear, my wife was already several steps ahead of me, when my eye caught a glimpse of an interesting shape in the yard next door. The adjacent business is an auto repair shop, and as is typical, there are always a number of semi-repaired cars strewn about. But this was no recent “we’re just waiting for that replacement oxygen sensor to come in” type of vehicle. No, this one had been there a while.

At first glance, it looked like it was covered by a tarp.  I walked closer, and as my vision began to focus on said tarp, I saw that it only partly covered the car. “What is it?” I asked myself. The shape was so familiar, yet I still didn’t know.

I didn’t want to get too close (I haven’t had my tetanus shot), but as I walked from its rear to its front, I recognized the unmistakable XKE shape. It’s as if it were wearing a disguise: vehicle partly covered, headlight removed, and both doors missing! By now, my wife was on the porch, wondering just where I had gone.

Out came the cell phone to fire off two quick snaps. I rushed inside so as to not keep her waiting any longer. My attention was directed to the menu, but it was hard to stop wondering how this Jag ended up there, in that condition.  Was this a barn find? (There’s no barn.) And just when you think that all the Jag project cars have been found, this pops up 5 miles from me. Somehow, I avoided the temptation to make an inquiry.

It wasn’t until I got home to study the photos that I saw that it’s a Series II OTS (Open Two Seater). These 2^nd-generation E-Types still used 6-cylinder engines, but had exposed headlights, a larger grille opening, and larger tail lights mounted below the bumper. While not as pretty or desirable as Series I cars, they still have a commanding presence, and are still coveted among collectors of European sports cars.

My CPI (Cars of Particular Interest) price guide for Nov.-Dec. 2016 puts such a car at $97,000 in “excellent” condition. Keith Martin’s Sports Car Market Price Guide for 2016 assigns a median value very close to that, at $91,000. This example, as the pundits would say, needs everything, so even if the car were free, you’d spend more than you could earn on resale. Perhaps it’s best to let this one return to earth from whence it came.

All photographs copyright © 2016 Richard A. Reina. Photos may not be copied or reproduced without express written permission.