If you are a Jaguar fanatic you will probably agree that there has never been and perhaps never will be a more beautiful car than the E-Type. It has etched its uncompromising cult status into the world’s collective consciousness and has been immortalised in continuation models, reimagined visions, and even in the E-Type Zero.
This month Jaguar Restorations marks the 60th anniversary of its debut at the Geneva Motor Show and it has not lost a single day of its inimitable beauty since. It is a beauty that was said by the Enzo Ferrari to be better looking than his own cars and for a far lower price.
“E-Type Jaguar Special Editions: Limited Production Gems
Almost immediately after the E-Type’s production run ended in 1968 Jag shipped off all of the roadster’s leftover parts to one E-Type enthusiast. Over the years that owner, Parrott, amassed a collection that included 95% of the necessary components to build a complete E-Type roadster.
In 2015 Jaguar Classic utilised those spare parts and the expertise of its craftsmen to hand-build six new Lightweights. These aluminium cars were a worthy successor to the originals and incorporated the knowledge and skills that Jag’s engineers had accumulated in the decade that had passed since the first Lightweights rolled off Browns Lane.
To ensure that the new Lightweights were as faithful as possible to their counterparts they were subjected to rigorous testing at MIRA. Using state-of-the-art scanning technology both the inside and outside of each bodyshell was digitally mapped down to a fraction of a millimetre. This data was used to assess and validate how the originals were assembled back in 1961. The attention to detail was extraordinary and resulted in six new cars that are utterly faithful to their heritage.