 |
Welcome to Xclusively Jaguar For all things Jaguar - Across the globe |
 |
|
|
|
|
Jaguar E-type (XK-E) 1961 to 1975
1. JAGUAR CELEBRATES 50 YEARS OF ICONIC E-TYPE
This year (2011) marks the 50th anniversary of one of the most famous and desirable cars in automotive history - the Jaguar E-Type. So, Jaguar will be celebrating this special anniversary year at high-profile motoring events throughout 2011.
The company will mark the anniversary at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show and go on to celebrate at Goodwood's Revival and Festival of Speed, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, the Nurburgring Old Timer Grand Prix and a host of Jaguar customer, dealer and lifestyle events worldwide.
When it was launched in 1961, the appeal of E-Type transcended the automotive world. Such is the inherent rightness of its proportions, stance and purity of line, that it is a permanent exhibit in New York's Museum of Modern Art.
The now iconic E-Type set new standards in automotive design and performance when it was launched in 1961. Its influence is still apparent in Jaguar's modern range: cars that offer a peerless blend of performance, comfort, cutting-edge technology and award-winning design.
"Half a century of progress has not diminished the significance of the E-Type," said Mike O'Driscoll, Managing Director Jaguar Cars and Chairman Jaguar Heritage. "It was a sensation when it was launched, and remains Jaguar's most enduring and iconic symbol. The E-Type is simply one of the most exciting cars ever created and a legacy to the genius of Jaguar's founder, Sir William Lyons."
E-Type owners included celebrities such as George Best, Brigitte Bardot, Tony Curtis and Steve McQueen and the sports car became as synonymous with the Swinging Sixties as the Beatles and the mini skirt.
"It is impossible to overstate the impact the E-Type had when it was unveiled in 1961," said Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director. "Here was a car that encapsulated the spirit of the revolutionary era it came to symbolise. The E-Type is a design that even today continues to inform the work we do in styling the Jaguars of the future."
Unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961, Jaguar's E-Type caused a sensation. Capable of achieving 150mph, but costing a fraction of the price of rivals with similar performance, it was the affordable supercar and became an instant icon.
Presented to the world's press at the restaurant du Parc des Eaux Vives in Geneva on 15th March 1961. Such was the media excitement and clamour for demonstration runs up a nearby hillclimb that Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons instructed chief test driver Norman Dewis to drive through the night from Coventry to bring another model to Switzerland.
The E-type's straight-six engine had powered Jaguar to five Le Mans victories in the 1950s and by 1961 in 3.8-litre form produced 265bhp and 260lb ft of torque, making the car a genuine 150mph proposition and, like its XK120 predecessor, the fastest production car in the world.
It's perfectly proportioned bodywork was the work of Malcolm Sayer, an aeronautical engineer by training who also applied his aerodynamic expertise in shaping the earlier Le Mans-winning C and D-Type racers.
At launch the E-Type cost £2,256 15s, including purchase tax and the all-important optional wire wheels, the equivalent today of just £38,000.
It remained in production for 14 years, selling more than 70,000 units, making it Europe's first mass-produced sports car.
Even Enzo Ferrari admitted it was "the most beautiful car in the world!"
2. E-type Jaguar DIY Restoration & Maintenance - A Kind of Loving
By Chris Rooke, published by Porter Press International at £29.95 (£22 + P&P to E-type Club members).
Restoring an E-type is a lengthy process, and this soft-back publication is suitably detailed, running to an impressive 347 large-format (28cm x 22cm) pages. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the book is that it isn't written by an expert but by someone who had only a passing knowledge of E-types when he embarked on restoring his newly-acquired Series 2 fixedhead coupé. Under the shiny paint it turned out to be a bit of a dog and this, combined with what Chris readily admits was a severe lack of knowledge on his behalf, resulted in a restoration that took nine years to complete and caused many a hard lesson to be learnt.
But this is exactly why the reader benefits from Chris's steep learning-curve (and, as he also admits frequent mistakes). An expert tends, probably without thinking, to gloss over various aspects of restoring an E-type because to him the correct procedure is obvious. But to the home restorer it often isn't, a problem compounded by the fact that rusty old cars don't come apart just like the manual says they should - though Chris stresses that his book should be read in conjunction with the workshop manuals (Jaguar's and Haynes').
Based on a long series of articles written for the E-type Gazette, the journal of the E-type Club, A Kind of Loving really does get down to the nitty-gritty of restoring an E-type and the detail it contains is enormous. Almost every component and stage in the restoration is clearly photographed (in colour, of course), and along with Chris's lucid explanations all contributes to making this book indispensable to any amateur restorer - and I'm sure that the more experienced would benefit too. Even E-type owners not contemplating a rebuild would learn a very great deal about how their car is put together after reading this book.
 |
The book is laid out in 12 sections, these being:
|
Nicely designed on good paper and with excellent print quality, this book is pleasant to handle as well, so all in all it's a product that can be confidently recommended - and the price won't exactly break the bank either.
Obtainable from specialist motoring book suppliers or from the E-type Club
For more information please visit either of the sites below
3. All about the E-type
published by Paul Skilleter Books (PJ Publishing Ltd)
Another couple of books I would like to mention this month are in fact also published by me via Paul Skilleter Books. You may or may not know that I started Jaguar Quarterly magazine back in September 1988, which (after undergoing several title changes) is still published today as Jaguar World Monthly. Now I often refer to the older issues in the course of my work, and recently I decided that because there had been so much good material published in the magazine over the past 20 years, it would be a good idea to choose certain key articles and reprint them in book form.
So this is what is happening, and two titles have just been published in a series we are calling ''All about...". The first is All About E-types. This has ended up being well over 300 pages as even I was surprised at the rich variety of E-type articles we have published over the years. The history of the car is covered in some detail, including the inside story by Lofty England who alas is no longer with us, and reprinted in full is the ten part nut-and-bolt series we did on the restoration by Martin Robey Engineering of 77 RW, the earliest surviving E-type roadster. The restoration by CMC of the sister fixed head, 9600 HP, is also covered in several parts, written by its owner Philip Porter. These should be of particular use to those with an interest in early E-types and all the differences there are between them and later cars.
The E-type in racing is also covered, including the story of Peter Nocker and Peter Lindner's lightweight, and a great two-part story by John Wilson on racing a mod-sport E-type in the late 1960s - a wonderful period in the E-type's competition career that is seldom mentioned these days. Finally, there are articles by Jim Patten on the Series 2 and Series 3 (V12) cars, with much useful 'buying' information which is still very valid today - even if the prices have altered a bit!
All about the E-type, published by Paul Skilleter Books (PJ Publishing Ltd)
ISBN 978-0-9550102-8-6
Soft-bound, A4
314 pages
Price: £29.95 inc. P&P UK (+£5 Europe, +£13 RoW air)
To order using credit card or PayPal please visit the website below
Copyright © 2009-12 Xclusively Jaguar