March 2011 makes precisely 50 years of the Jaguar E Type. This icon car still in our day attracts attention and wishes of desire! The Jaguar E Type was unveiled to the public in the Geneva Motor Show in Switzerland in March 1961. Enzo Ferrari called it; “The most beautiful car ever made!”
1961 Jaguar E Type Unveiling
On its research and development, William Lyons demanded that he wanted to launch a car that would mark automobile history! The E-Type is the direct descendant of the XK150 but the only thing that resembles between the two is the XK engine! The XK 3.8 liter 6-in-line engine. The XK150 was manufactured on a chassis whereas the E-Type, on a revolutionary monocoque! The Coventry plant kept secret their developments and soon enough a prototype called the E1A that ran for racetrack tests in 1957. This prototypes engine had a 2.4 litre and it looked similar to the lines of the D-Type! After the tests it was dismantled for scrap!
The E1A
Jaguars’ extra development ended up building the E2A in 1960! The E2A raced at the Le Mans the same year only to be out of the competition due to cylinderhead gasket failure! Today the E2A is worth over 4 million.
The E2A
The Jaguar E Type is designed with a long engine hood to hold its powerful XK engine and with fluent aerodynamic lines throughout!
Malcolm Sayer, an aerodynamicist that designed airplanes before, applied aerodynamic principles in the design of the E Type. The result was a very futuristic looking car for the era! The first model were flat-floor underneath the pedals that gave restricted foot room, later models had split level floor that increased foot space. Maneuvering in and out of the car required a bit of getting used to!
1961 Jaguar E Type
The engine a 3.8 liter, 6 cylinder in-line, double camshaft with 12 valves, triple SU carburetors delivering a whooping 265 hp at 5.400 rpm acceleration from 0 to 100 km/h in just 7.1 seconds and with a top speed of 240 km/h
Just a few weeks later, the E-Type was on the racetracks totally unchanged as it came from the Coventry factory and winning races!