Jaguar E-Type Driving Experiences

There are few British cars that you can say are recognised the world over, but with the Jaguar E-Type, it is really in a calibre all of its own. Based on Jaguar’s own D-Type car, that had clocked up a record hattrick of consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 1955 onwards, it was something special from the moment it was launched in the summer of 1961.

The first thing that made it distinctive then, and which is still the case today, is its wide but streamlined front end design and suspension, which means the E-Type weighs in at a very light 1224 kg.

It also boasts some of the most finessed and revolutionary engineering in motoring history, with rack and pinion steering, and a front sub frame that eradicated the need for a ladder frame chassis that was common in most cars of the time, but which Jaguar ushered in the change for.

It’s lightness, design and engineering all added up to a car that was as synonymous with the swinging 60s as Beatlemania and Carnaby Street. Kitted out with a Straight 6 engine powering out 265 bhp, it accelerates rapidly for a car of that era from 0 - 60 mph in 7.1 seconds, with top speeds achievable of 150 mph.

Everyone knows the Jaguar E-Type is what Enzo Ferrari once declared ‘the most beautiful car in the world’, but the roll call of A-list owners of this prime king of 60s motoring is as famous as the car itself.

Legendary swing king Frank Sinatra was said to have been overheard shouting “I want that car and I want it now!” at the New York Auto Show in 1961. Other famous E-Type fans included Carry On film star Sid James, The Beatles’ George Harrison and Hollywood actor Tony Curtis.

Such is the continued appeal and beauty of the E-Type, it has been declared as art - by the New York Museum of Modern Art that is. They had a 1963 Roadster model of the E-Type installed in their gallery in 1996, one of only three cars at the time to be exhibited there.