The Jaguar E-Type came on the scene in 1961 like a cruise missile vectoring into a stone age village, bringing world beating performance and technologies extracted from the rarified realms of endurance racing to the streets for a surprisingly reasonable price. Ahead of its time, it was a truly democratising supercar.
The E-Type’s stunning good looks drew many to the model and it is a car that can still be found in all corners of the world and its appeal remains undiminished. It’s not a cheap car to own though and if you’re looking for one to purchase I would suggest that you enter the market with eyes wide open and in ultra logical Star Trek Mr Spock mode. Being cold and heartless now might save you from having your heart broken later. Go here
Preserving Authenticity: The Balance Between Originality and Modifications in E-Type Builds
It was Jaguar’s racing success with the D-Type in the 50s that led to a project to create a road going version of their race car, dubbed the Lightweight E-Type. This was a car that would be built by hand with aluminium panels spot welded and riveted together along with a dry sumped, 3.8 litre ‘XK’ straight six engine.
Originally 18 were to be built but after Jaguar’s 1956 racing season and the D-Type being sold off to Ecurie Ecosse, six chassis numbers were left dormant in the company’s ledgers. Now Jaguar Heritage, a relatively new operation opened under the JLR Special Vehicle Operations umbrella has revived those chassis numbers and is bringing the Lightweights back to life.
