1962 Jaguar E-Type
VEHICLE DESCRIPTION
The Jaguar E-type was a performance landmark during the 1960s and even a standard car still feels fast today. This particular example, however, has been beautifully upgraded throughout and now offers an even more impressive driving experience.
The Heritage Certificate in the history file confirms that chassis number 886653 was built at the Browns Lane factory on 21 August 1962. It was then dispatched on 30 August to Jaguar’s Swedish distributor, Fredlund in Stockholm, finished in Carmen Red with a Beige interior.
More recently, the E-type returned to the UK in need of a complete restoration. Its owner commissioned a rebuild that would turn it into a comfortable, reliable and fast long-distance tourer, and its huge specification is testament to how every detail was considered.
Having been completely stripped down, it was converted to right-hand drive and gained alloy doors, boot panel and bonnet. New rear wheelarches were fabricated that were wider than standard, in order to cover the more substantial 245/60 rear tyres. At the front, 225/65 tyres were specified, and all round the E-type now sports split-rim alloy wheels in the style of the famous Dunlop rims used by Jaguar during the 1950s and ’60s.
Extended louvres were let into the aluminium bonnet in order to improve cooling, and work in tandem with an alloy radiator, electric cooling fan and a high-flow water pump.
The engine bay is dominated by a straight-six that has been enlarged to 4.7 litres from the standard 3.8. It’s running on fuel injection with Jenvey throttle bodies, with a tubular stainless-steel exhaust manifold, an upgraded alternator and electronic ignition. A spin-off oil filter has been fitted, too.
The braking system features four-pot calipers front and rear, with Aeroquip hoses, while the standard gearbox has been replaced with a five-speed unit – a popular E-type upgrade. An alloy fuel tank was installed, while the suspension is adjustable and a rear anti-roll bar has been fitted.
The quality of the interior matches the specification elsewhere. Upgraded seats have been installed, along with a DAB radio and a smaller wood-rimmed steering wheel. The windscreen is heated and LED lighting was fitted.
The finishing touch was a stunning respray in the modern Jaguar shade of Portofino Blue, and this spectacular E-type is being offered for sale with a photographic record of its painstaking build. It comes with a car cover and represents a brilliantly individual take on this ever-popular classic.
MODEL HISTORY
When it was launched in 1961, the Jaguar E-type offered an intoxicating blend of performance and elegance – and at a much lower price than the equivalent Ferrari or Aston Martin.
Aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer came up with one of the most beautiful automotive shapes ever realised, and the lithe Jaguar boasted 150mph performance from its triple-carburettor, 265bhp, 3.8-litre straight-six engine.
Beneath the skin, it owed much to the Le Mans-winning D-type. The E-type used a monocoque centre section with a subframe carrying the engine and front suspension. At the rear, independent suspension was fitted at a time when many of Jaguar’s rivals still employed a live axle, and disc brakes were used all round.
‘Driving the car is more like flying than motoring,’ wrote John Langley in the Daily Telegraph. ‘On the M1 I found the car would cruise smoothly and quietly at 110-120mph. Bursts of acceleration rushed it up to just over 140mph on two occasions.’
In Autosport, John Bolster added the following: ‘It has a sheer beauty of line which easily beats the Italians at their own particular game.’
There was motorsport success to go with the glowing road tests, and the E-type became one of the defining automotive symbols of the Swinging Sixties, coveted by the rich and famous. It was offered as both a roadster and a fixed-head coupé, and in late 1964 the 3.8-litre engine was enlarged to 4.2 litres. A long-wheelbase 2+2 model was added in 1966, before the heavily revised Series 2 was introduced in 1968.