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E type
First of all, I must apologise for where we’ve shot the walk around today. The bank holidayers just like me, are enjoying the New Forest and there’s not much open/available space to film external shots.
Now back to the car, because the E Type isn’t just a sports car, it is according to Enzo Ferrari ‘the most beautiful car in the world’ - now that is credited to Ferrari but whether those words were uttered or not, the title has stuck and the E Type is known worldwide as so much more than just as a Jaguar.
The story of the E Type could warrant hours in its own right, so here we touch upon it briefly. There’s a great book by Philip Porter called The Most Famous Car In the world - which I found hugely helpful in doing research and is great for additional reading if you feel inclined to do so.
The E Type was born into a world where things were changing: Britain had in the 50s been concentrated on rebuilding after the war and the swinging 60s was a world away. Cars were finished in muted tones by and large and the arrival of the E Type was absolutely breathtaking in a way we just cannot fathom nowadays.
The car was designed by Malcolm Sayer who had come from a slightly different background than most car designers we talk about, he’d even an aircraft engineer in the war and later on an automotive aerodynamist - which meant he had some great insights from elsewhere when tasked with the body development of the E Type. It’s the curved style which is credited to him and whilst the car might have a distinctive styling; it’s said this contributes to the car’s performance.
Although a win at Le Mans might’ve been his early driving ambition for the car, it was said the E Type was partially influenced by the Alfa Romeo Disco Volante show car of 1952 - there were photos of the car in Sayer’s office and when you put them side by side, you can certainly see some influence coming through.
The beautifully head turning sports car was released at Geneva Auto Salon in March 1961 and it was THE car everyone wanted to see and everyone wrote about - there were two cars on display for the visitors to see - but the second was ordered so late in the day it was driven from Coventry to Geneva with only 20 minutes to spare before the grand unveiling. A cool 700 miles and it didn’t skip a beat.
However, it was totally worth the nail biting efforts, because 500 of the new E Type were ordered at this show alone.
At launch, the car was sold with a 265bhp 3.8 litre engine paired with a 4 speed manual box. The top speed was quoted as 150mph and the price for the roadster was set as £2097 and the Coupe was £2196; which priced it well below its competitors in the market.
I’ll also add in here one of my favourite bits of trivia I found whilst researching, Jaguar used the newly built M1 Motorway which was only a few miles from Coventry, home of Jaguar, as a test track of sorts and reached an impressive 120mph on the motorway. Sadly due to motorway speed cameras, it won’t be possible for us to replicate that in 2023!
However, the car we’re testing today is a slightly later car which means it’s the 4.2 XK engine - they fitted that from 1964 and you’ll note it’s still down as the 265bhp as was the 3.8, but the 4.2 comes with more torque. At the same time, they put synchro across all gears and in 65, they introduced the 2+2, which is of course, the car we’re out in today.
Production ran until 1974 whereby the car finished with the Series 3.