Challenger E-Type interior

[Jukebag]

Hi,

Does anyone know if the interiors of the Triple C Challenger E-Type replica are from an original E-Type, in particular the seats?. I know the mechanical components are Jaguar but I'm not sure about the interior. Some Challenger interiors, from what I've seen, bare only a slight resemblance to an original series 1 interior, though there are some very good examples. I find it hard to imagine that someone building a Challenger either from a project or from a kit is gonna spend upwards of a grand on a pair of original seats (brand new ones from Jaguar specialists are about 3 grand).

[Bronco_jr]

Its a matter of preference really.

Challenger offered seats as an option when there were in production. Some bought them, others went there own way. The challenger transmission tunnel is wider then the E type and this restricted the seats that could be installed. I believe Triumph spitfire seats have been used by some.

I'm in the process of swapping my challenger seats and am installing MX5 ones (as are popular with original E type owners) but I've had to mod the metalwork to make them fit.

Beyond that, all my interior is original E type.

Do you want a pair of E type style seats?

[Jukebag]

At the moment I'm undecided what to do with the E-Type kit car i have, ie whether to install a new engine as the current one is a gone er, or just leave it as it is and sell it for next to nothing (which probably wouldn't cover the price of a new couch from SCS lol; seriously no-one will pay anything for it yet will happily pay 20 grand for a rotten original e type). If I get the engine sorted at a decent cost, I'm tempted to sort the interior out, possibly replacing the seats. There's no way I'm paying anything like a grand though for a pair of seats.

Here's the latest Challenger for sale:

http://www.mattscarsandbikes.co.uk/COC/page3.html

Lovely example, even the interior looks nice, but 45 grand is way OTT imo. Looks like the owner has spent around that figure with all the listed work done to it, so he probably wants his wedge back

I heard that the Wildcats were better than Challengers in certain ways, in what way I don't know as the person who told me didn't clarify.

Edited by Jukebag on Monday 1st April 11:39

[Bronco_jr]

I have no idea how much actual Jag is on your wildcat, but look at the price of E type bits on Ebay. Have you considered selling off the E type stuff and then selling the rest as a project?

The Challengers were around £25K 5 years ago, they've followed the originals in their "value" increase. The challenger was a replica, the wildcat more an "inspired by". I don't understand why the wildcats are such a poor relation in terms of market value, maybe their ford running gear?

The early Ford based Challengers are (usually) substantially cheaper than the Jag based ones.

[Jukebag]

I don't think there's anything Jag on my Wildcat, unless you include the "growler" motif badge bar and the windscreen pillar chrome's which were from David Manners Group. The wires were from MWS (stainless steel) and the bumpers were from Harrington Group based in Taiwan whom make and supply custom made bumpers for the Wildcat. All those parts in total would roughly be around 3 grand, including the windscreen which had to be replaced as the previous one had a crack. So if I sold those parts desperately I wouldn't get much, and what's left over god knows, likely much less than the 5 grand my dad paid for it, which at that time only had a Pinto.

Regarding seats, I've never seen MX5 seats on any original E-Type that I've seen, either in the flesh or on the net. Most of the Challenger's I've seen appear to have seats that came from a 4.2litre E-Type, unless there's another Jag that uses the same or similar looking seats. Yes I believe the early Challenger's had Ford running gear, and some had flared rear aches. I suspect the low values of Wildcats is mainly due to them being Ford based.

Edited by Jukebag on Wednesday 3rd April 11:22