“It’s when you’ve driven a couple of miles down the road in your "brand new" 64-year-old Series 1 Jaguar E-Type that you start saying to yourself: Please don’t let this have been a purchase of the heart over the head.

“Unless you’re a regular buyer of £100k+ cars like this, I’d wager that for nine out of ten of us, it’s the heart that makes the decision. And therein lies the problem. All the alluring photographs you’ve pored over, the reviews extolling the E-Type’s groundbreaking performance and design, its heritage and its beauty—it becomes very difficult to see flaws in what appears to be perfection.

“In my case, I definitely bought this car with my heart, just as I would have bought the five or so others that seemed to fit the bill. The reason that, three hours behind the wheel, I’m smiling rather than fretting is because I let Tim Griffin do the "head" bit.

“This wasn’t the first car Tim inspected for me. From my very first phone call with him last November, he has generously shared an extraordinary depth of knowledge and experience. Tim’s initial email, containing a quote to inspect the first car I was interested in, included more insight and analysis based solely on the promotional photographs than one might expect from a paid for on-site inspections—and I hadn’t agreed to pay him a penny at that stage.

“As it turned out, the car was very good and almost exactly what I wanted. However, armed with Tim’s 10-page report, 400+ photographs, and a works quotation from a reputable classic car specialist to address all of the niggles, I now had both an invaluable negotiating tool and a benchmark against which to assess every car that followed.

“A month or so later, when I unearthed another prospect, I had no hesitation in asking Tim to travel across the country to put it through its paces. He carried out an exceptionally thorough inspection, facilitated by the good people at Hilton & Moss, and a few days later returned a 13-page report accompanied by more than 700 photographs.

“Following this, I had several conversations with Tim during which he drew on his extensive experience with similar cars, providing context and perspective that only comes from years of hands-on involvement. As with the previous inspection, he produced a list of essential and desirable repairs that became an important part of the eventual deal.

“When I compare the cost of Tim’s inspections with the value of the remedial work identified and subsequently carried out, the argument in favour of the expenditure becomes overwhelming.

“Happily, I bought this beautiful car. If I needed any further evidence of the value of Tim’s report and repair recommendations, Hilton & Moss recently sent me a "record only" invoice (which I didn’t have to pay) detailing the work undertaken pre delivery. The retail value of that work was more than ten times the cost of Tim’s inspection.

“The bottom line? If you’re looking to buy a classic car, even if you know a thing or two about them, get in touch with Tim. Either he’ll help you avoid a costly mistake, or he’ll arm you with a very large stick when it comes to negotiating the deal.”