I don’t think there has ever been a car that has captured the public’s imagination more than the Jaguar E-Type. When it first appeared, over 50 years ago, it combined everything that any motorist could possibly dream of in a car. Fabulous looks, magnificent performance and a price tag that left even the motorist on a humble income feeling purchase was somehow achievable—on arrival its cost was approximately half that of an Aston DB and a third of a Ferrari GT.
1961 Jaguar E-Type. Photo: Pete Austin
It was then, and remains so to this day, an ambition to own, or even drive, an E-Type. Born in the Swinging Sixties, the E-Type grew out of Jaguar’s success at the Le Mans 24-Hour Race with their legendary D-Types. Le Mans winners in 1955, ’56 and ’57, the D-Type was a racer, designed to win on the world stage. The E-Type was conceived to follow that lead, but to win on a different world stage—the world marketplace. And succeed it did.
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