Barn Find Hunter: On the Trail of a Decrepit E-Type

“I chase stories. I’d rather have one car with a great story than a field full of cars that are just rusting and inventory and nobody knows anything about them.” So begins the latest episode of Barn Find Hunter with Tom Cotter. And if you’ve watched the show long enough, you know what Tom means when he says that. He’s darn good at it too—finding those great stories. 

Today, Tom is joined by Tim Leonard, whose Michigan garage is stacked with a curious assortment of cars. Hey, it’s a trio of Audis: S4, S6, S8. So, he’s a German-car guy, eh? But what’s that up there on the lift? Oh, just a clean ’81 Chrysler Imperial. “The only good year,” says Tim. OK, we’re getting a bit eclectic now  . . .

“But we’re not here to talk about Audis, and we’re not here to talk about Chryslers,” Tom says. No, they are not. Instead, Tom really wants to get to the heart of whatever Tim’s got stashed in that enclosed trailer out front. 

And there, past another Audi, past a fossilized mouse on the floor, waiting for its moment, is a black-over-red 1967.5 Jaguar E-Type convertible. “A tweener,” Tim calls it. 

The Jag, we come to learn, has been a mainstay in Tim’s life since his days in high school, and it was actually his second E-Type as a freewheeling Lansing kid. Teenaged Tim simply wanted to have the Jag ready to go by senior prom, and, rightly or wrongly, figured that Jaguar ownership would give him his pick of the ladies.

[Insert raucous laughter from Mrs. Leonard here . . .]

“Did you break some hearts?” asks Tom. “No,” Tim says. “Never.”

And, sadly, Tim never got the Jag up and running, either, for prom or any other event. Clearly, the car means a great deal to him, and to his wife, Laurie, who shares Tim’s dream of seeing it on the road. Some day. 

Who among us hasn’t got a “some day” car? But will this Jag ever see sunlight again? Tune in and find out.