MODEL HISTORY
When the Jaguar E-type was launched in 1961, the breathless press coverage concentrated on two things: the achingly pretty Malcolm Sayer-designed bodywork and the 150mph top speed. Then there was the fact that Jaguar was offering both of those things at a price considerably lower than rivals from Aston Martin and Ferrari.
Beneath the skin, the E-type owed much to the Le Mans-winning D-type. It used a monocoque centre section with a subframe carrying the 3.8-litre six-cylinder engine and front suspension. At the rear, independent suspension was fitted at a time when many of Jaguar's rivals still employed a traditional live axle. The marque had pioneered the use of disc brakes in the 1950s, and the E-type featured them on all four wheels.
'It is an outstanding example of the racing cars of yesterday becoming the production car of today,' wrote Basil Cardew in the Daily Express.
When John Bolster tested a Fixed-Head Coupe for Autosport in 1961, he wrote that it was 'capable of whispering along in top gear at 10mph or leaping into its 150mph stride on the brief depression of the pedal. A practical touring car, this, with its wide doors and capacious luggage space, yet it has a sheer beauty of line which easily beats the Italians at their own particular game.'
The E-type was offered as both a Roadster and a Fixed-Head Coupe, and in late 1964 the 3.8-litre engine was enlarged to 4.2 litres. At the same time, Jaguar's own all-synchromesh four-speed gearbox replaced the original Moss unit. A long-wheelbase 2+2 model was added to the range in 1966, before the heavily revised Series 2 was introduced in 1968.
The E-type soon became a cultural icon as well as an automotive one, and a symbol of the Swinging Sixties. Little wonder that its appeal remains as strong as ever, even 60 years later.
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