Can you imagine the euphoria in the motoring world when Sir William Lyons unveiled the stunning Jaguar E-Type roadster and fixed head coupe (FHC) at the 1961 Geneva Salon? Not only was the media going wild about its styling and performance but so was the public. Banner headlines about the E-Type were in every newspaper and magazine for months after the release. Here was an affordable British sports car that would do 150mph off the showroom floor!
It was an exciting time for the British motor industry which was showing the world that it was an innovator with the release of the Triumph Herald and Morris Mini in 1959 and then the E-Type that arrived two years later complete with Jaguars first independent rear suspension. Exciting times indeed!
In so many ways the E-Type was a road-going production version of the famous D-Type racing car that had been so successful in long distance races internationally, in particular at Le Mans where it was victorious for three consecutive years. Many would describe the D-Type as Malcolm Sayers masterpiece when it came to aerodynamic racing cars and the E-Type was his road-going encore. From a pure styling point-of-view in 1961 the Jaguar E-Type was at the pinnacle, there was no other car that generated so much emotion without even moving!
Having got it right, Lyons quite rightly basically left it alone save for infrequent minor upgrades that accompanied engineering upgrades that were often as not demanded by legal requirements. The E-Type adopted the 4.2-litre version of the famous XK DOHC six-cylinder engine together with an all-synchromesh manual gearbox in 1965 and then followed the 2+2 in the Spring of 1966.
It was upgraded to Series II status in 1968 to meet new US requirements and then came the Series III early in 1971 that became the definitive Jaguar E-Type powered by the companys completely new 5.3-litre V12 engine. In this form it remained in production until the end of 1974.
Performance was what the E-Type was all about, today the media would call it bang for your bucks. On a price-for-performance basis there was no sports car anywhere in the world that could touch the E-Type. The 3.8 roadster was timed at 7.1 seconds for the 0-60mph dash and 149mph for its maximum speed, the FHC was slightly faster (more aerodynamic) at 6.9 seconds and 150mph respectively. The heaviest E-Type, the V12 2+2, was timed at 6.8 seconds and 142mph but it was strangled by emission equipment.
With the E-Type the company was able to set new standards in price and performance that were unbeatable in the 60s and interestingly set a benchmark that it was to have difficulty meeting with subsequent sports models. It was one of those unique landmark automobiles that comes along every so often and is quite rightly treasured by collectors all around the world today.
Models reported on are the Series 1, 2 & 3 in roadster, coupe and 2+2 form and powered by straight six 3.8 & 4.2 & V-12 5.3 litre engines. Included are road & comparison tests, owner survey & advice on acquiring a good used E-Type.
