Got this as part of my Hagerty email:

I will drive a manual until my right arm and left leg give out (not likely anytime soon!)

https://www.theatlantic.com/technolo...4d2ece6857c4f5

 

My brother would proudly demonstrate shifting gear without using the clutch at all. Matter of matching engine revs.
(this is different from double-declutching)

But he couldn't do it on our jointly owned E-Type 2+2 ... it was Automatic.

 

I have to say that now I'm in my mid-70s, I prefer automatics, as the modern ones are superb in selecting the right gears. My MB SLK has 9 speeds, my XE, eight, and wife's New Beetle, six. As a result of three of our four cars being automatic, I struggle a bit with my MG TF !

 

Great article Valerie. Thanks for sharing.
I feel the same as you.I will drive a manual till they become illegal. And then I will become an outlaw.
I ordered my Cayman S with a 6 speed manual and a short shift kit. The short shift kit makes for faster shifting, and it makes the shifting feel more mechanical.
Manuals rule!

 

"Real cars don't shift themselves". I have it on a t-shirt.

Herb

 

Great article Valerie; I feel the same way. And (unfortunately) my Jaguar E-Type Series 3 OTS has the auto tranny.
I'm thinking about converting it to a manual (5-speed) and wondered whether such a conversion could be supported by the market.
So I scraped the BaT auction results for all S3 E-types from 2016 through the most recent auction.
The median sale price of a roadster with a manual transmission is $14.5k higher than with an auto transmission.
So (assuming I can do the conversion for less than $14.5k) the BaT auction data would seem to support the idea of a transmission conversion.

Other findings in the data:

• The median sale price of a roadster is approx. $32k higher than a 2+2
• Sale prices have been increasing at an average 12% per year.

Of course all of this has to be taken with a grain of salt - there are so many other variables (tangible and intangible) that influence the results of the auctions that it's impossible to isolate the effect of these two variables (transmission and body style) on the sale prices.

If you're interested you can see the data in this shared google sheet (there are 3 tabs in the spreadsheet)

Rick

 

Glad you enjoyed the article... sure did stir up the pot!

I'm sure others will weigh in on your conversion plan. I know you did the research for selling prices of the manual vs the automatic, but you may want to take a step back and look to see if a NON-OE transmission makes a difference.

We had a 67 Corvette and I know that in that world, matching numbers everything is a big deal. On the Mecum auctions, matching numbers is a big deal. I don't know how the market views or would view an E that no longer has its original transmission. If anything, if you do the conversion, you may want to ID, take photos, bag and save all the AT parts, so if any future buyer wants to put it back, s/he can.

 

Oh yes - agreed. I would definitely retain the original. Although I doubt anyone would ever actually restore it...

 

All that Valerie said, plus one more comment.
If you look at the history of sale prices on BAT for the series1 cars that have had the gearbox changed to a 5 speed (So no longer the original box), I think you will find that the upgrade has been well received by the bidders, and with no adverse effect on the selling price. In fact, many comment on how good of an upgrade it is. I have a 1968 FHC that I am restoring and I am installing a 5 speed along with some other upgrades. But as Valerie commented, I am keeping all the original parts for the next owner just in case s/he wants to return the car to original spec.
In a series 1 the change to a 5 speed does not require any modifications to the body. I don't know if that is the case with a series 3.
Having said all this, I don't know how the series 3 folks feel about a 5 speed change/upgrade. If it was my car, and I wanted a series 3 with a manual, I would do it.
Good luck with your project, and let us know what you decided to do.

 

Some thoughts on "upgrades". First let it be known that I believe if it is your car, you should be able to do anything you want to it that makes you happy no matter how much it makes me cringe.

That said I see three types of upgrades - those that were available at the time the car was produced, upgrades that can be reversed and those that cannot be reversed.. For example, instead of installing a 5 speed, my choice is to change the ring and pinion from a 3.54 to a 3.07. (The 3.07 was the standard gearing for the S1 in Europe. In the US we apparently wanted to drag race and pull stumps.) My rationalization is that I will be able to cruise the highways and get better gas mileage without questioning Sir William's design. Changing an automatic to a stock four speed or painting your car a different Jaguar color fall into the same category. Changing to a 5 speed falls under the second category.

I just had to make one of these choices. I have a '67 with open headlamps. I'm doing a full rotisserie restoration so changing them to covered wouldn't be that big of a deal and would actually increase the cars sale ability. I've decided to stick with the open headlamps because that's what it had when Jaguar kicked it out the door and it's not easily reversed. It's also what my wife told me to do. Chip Foose's abomination is the extreme.

All of this is pure rationalization on my part and you are perfectly welcome to disagree with me. It's your car.

OCD Herb

 

I'm not 100% sure about body modifications yet, but I think not. Still researching.
There are too few data points to be 100% sure about how the S3 folks feel, but I think things generally point to 5-speeds being a value-add. And in any event, I'm not planning on selling it (I've got a young grandson who just loves it); just don't want to do anything dumb.
Early stages still on the project. The hardest part is finding someone to do the work who has actually done it before. I think such a person(s) exists, and I'm not willing to be a complete guinea pig. Experience counts...

 

Interesting analysis Herb. Worth keeping in mind. Hoping to have my cake and eat it too by retaining the ability to reverse the change (at least in theory).
Rick

 

Do you frequent the Jag lovers website? There is one and maybe two active discussions on the forum regarding upgrading a series 3 E-Type to a 5 speed gearbox.

 

Ah thanks for that tip - I haven't been over there in a while and those threads look very helpful!