Wood - Jaguar E-type: the complete story

First published in 1990 by The Crowood Press Ltd, Ramsbury, Marlborough, Wiltshire, SN8 2HR

www.crowood.com

This e-book edition first published in 2011

The Crowood Press Ltd 1990

All rights reserved. This e-book is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

ISBN 978 1 84797 360 3

The photographs in this book were kindly supplied by The Motoring Picture Library, Beaulieu.

The line drawings on pages are reproduced courtesy of Paul Skilleter.

Early E-type: a 1961 3.8-litre roadster, fitted with the optional hard-top that subsequently became available, from May 1962, and endured throughout the production life of the Series I and II cars.

The majority of the original black and white photographs in this Crowood AutoClassic comes from the National Motor Museums Beauliu photographic library and I am also grateful to Jaguar Cars and Paul Skilleter for providing additional pictures.

My thanks are due to Bob Murray, editor of Autocar & Motor, for his permission to reproduce E-type road tests from past issues of Autocar and Motor magazines. I am also grateful for the assistance provided by Arnold Bolton of Jaguar Cars.

Also the clubs, namely Rosemary Hinton (Jaguar Drivers Club) Gordon Wright (Jaguar Enthusiasts Club) and John Bridcutt (Jaguar Car Club) kindly provided information about their respective organisations. Thanks are also due to Colin Ford, E-type technical adviser to the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, for advice on some of the practical aspects of E-type ownership.

If youre a past, present, prospective E-type owner, or just like classic cars, I trust that youll be interested in what follows.

Jonathan Wood

There is nothing more typically English than the Jaguar and Sir William Lyons is the typical Englishman.

The Motor, 15 March 1961

There are few who would argue that the E-type Jaguar is the most significant British sports car of the post-war years. Derived from the Le Mans winning D-type, it was also the fastest road-going Jaguar of its day and the firms most numerically successful two-seater. Not only was the car competitively priced but, above all, the E-type could only have been a Jaguar, such was the sheer beauty and assurance of its unique lines. The E-type was a head turner when it was new. It still is today.

Yet, ironically, this most memorable car was one of the few Jaguars not to have been styled by the companys shrewd, talented chairman, Sir William Lyons. That accolade must go to the firms aerodynamicist, Malcolm Sayer who also has the Ds lines to his credit while chief engineer William Heynes was responsible for its sophisticated and unique mechanical structure. When Jaguar introduced its E-type in 1961, it represented the ultimate expression of a line that had begun, back in 1934, when the newly formed S.S. Cars introduced its first sports car.