The Jaguar XKE or E-Type, as it became known, was unveiled by Sir William Lyons at the Geneva Show in March 1961. In its original form, it came with a 3.8 litre 265 bhp engine which was enlarged at the end of 1964 to 4.2 litres when the bore was increased from 87mm to 92mm. At the same time, the gearbox was upgraded to a 4-speed all synchromesh type and the clutch certainly had enough bite to get the E-Type quickly off the mark with a 0-60 time of just 7.4 seconds.

The other major upgrade that came at the same time as the new engine was the new suspension. The front suspension was fairly standard for its time, but at the back the E-Type was the first car to use the four coil independent system designed by Bill Heynes and Bob Knight. The system they designed had parallel lower links each side and utilized the half shaft as the upper suspension link. It was this new suspension that set the E-Type apart from its more expensive competition, allowing the drive to remain smooth even at high speeds. This suspension was so successful that its basic principles are still in use today at Jaguar. Brake discs were brought inboard at the rear and the footwells were deepened to increase ease of access and comfort.

The E-Type body was designed by Jaguar’s aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, as a longer, finless road going interpretation of the D-type racing car. He drew the designs for his cars on 20 foot lengths of paper pinned to the wall, creating curves from which three dimensional coordinates could be worked out. Drawing on the valuable experience acquired through his work at the Bristol Airplane Corporation, Sayer tested everything in the wind tunnel at RAF Farnborough to optimize high speed stability and minimize drag.

Aircraft principles were used to make the stressed and welded steel monocoque style main tub which contains the passengers and forms the major part of the body. The body is braced by ox sections along the door sills, around the scuttle, along the driveshaft tunnel and across the car in the form of cross members. The engine, front suspension, steering and hood are mounted on the narrow tubular front subframe.

The most distinctive feature of the E-Type is its remarkable nose which hangs a long way out from the 96″ wheelbase. The E-Type is not only fantastic looking from every angle but was the fastest production sports car of its time. The styling made little concession to fashions of the time, yet it is very much of its time. No other car reflects the UK in the 60’s as much as the E-Type, for as little as £1500, people could buy themselves an extraordinary sports car and drive up and down the newly opened and as yet unrestricted motorways at the E-Type’s stunning top speed of 141 mph. The Series 1 4.2 open top was produced for four years with a total production of 9,540, of which 8,490 were exported, mainly to the USA.