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| Jaguar E Type Series 3 Roadster |
In this classic car archive two marques are most frequently associated
with the word “beautiful”. One of them is Ferrari, thanks to the work of
Pininfarina. Another is Jaguar. Jaguar did not produce many sports
cars, but nearly every one of them was regarded as the most beautiful
car of its time. This observation applied to the SS100 of 1930s,
XK120/140/150 of 1940-50s as well as the one we are talking now, the
E-type of 1960s. They occupied a golden era spanning across 4 decades.
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| Jaguar E Type Series 1 |
If you are familiar with me, you must know Jaguar E-type is one of my
three favourite designs of all time. My love with this car started in
the mid-1980s when a E-type roadster used to park nearby my home. I
guess I am not alone. Enzo Ferrari, for example, was quoted as
describing the E-type as “the most beautiful car ever made” – although
he must have said that before launching his beloved 250GT Lusso. The
E-type consistently ranked at the top three of many polls. It was also
one of the two road cars permanently displayed at New York Museum of
Modern Art – by the way, the other is Cisitalia 202, mainly chosen for
its influence to subsequent designs.
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| Jaguar E Type Series 1 Roadster |
Surprisingly, this masterpiece was not penned by Sir William Lyons, who
designed all Jaguars until then, but by his aerodynamicist Malcolm
Sayer. No wonder it looked so sleek and windcheating. Air flowed gently
from the oval nose over the curvy fenders towards the slim tail. Quite
different from contemporary sports cars and even its predecessor XK150,
the new Jag appeared to be much longer, lower, slimmer, smoother and
therefore faster. But the most impressive of all was its purity.
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| Jaguar E Type Engine |
Like the previous XK150, the E-type was powered by the well-known
3.8-liter twin-cam XK6 engine. It produced an impressive 265 hp and 260
lb-ft of torque at the flywheel. The engine was mounted completely
behind the front axle to achieve 51:49 weight distribution. In the early
tests conducted by Autocar, Motor and Road & Track in 1961, the
pre-production E-type topped 150 mph, a first for production cars.
Although the subsequent production car failed to repeat this, it was
still comfortably the fastest production car in the world and ran
remarkably close to the exotic Ferraris and Aston Martins that cost
several times its price.
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| Jaguar E Type Blueprint |
However, the biggest advancement from XK was chassis. E-type employed a
semi-monocoque structure, i.e. the central section was monocoque while
the engine, front and rear suspensions were mounted on tubular subframes
bolted to the monocoque. This was much lighter than the previous
body-on-frame structure, thus the E-type could undercut XK150 by some
200 kg ! The new car also bettered the old car by introducing
independent rear suspensions and all-wheel disc brakes as standard. As a
result, it provided much better handling and exceptional ride quality.
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| Jaguar E Type Dashboard |
During its 15 years life time, the E-type evolved several times. The
original Series 1 was available in 3 body styles – roadster, fixed head
coupe or later on a long-wheelbase 2+2 coupe. In 1965 the engine was
enlarged to 4.2 liters to improve torque output, while the 4-speed
gearbox was upgraded to fully synchromesed. Series 2 was launched in
1968, which was mainly redesigned to cope with new US safety
regulations. It introduced US-compliant bumpers and headlamps, which
lost the transparent plastic covers.
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| Jaguar E Type Series 3 Roadster |
Series 3 from 1971 saw the biggest change – a new 5.3-liter SOHC V12
engine replaced the old straight-6. It might be not as powerful as
Italian V12s, but it delivered exceptional smoothness and quietness that
not even Rolls-Royce ever did. It was also the first mass production
V12 in post-war era. To accommodate the V12, the Series 3 chassis got
longer wheelbase, accompanied with wider tracks, wider tires, better
equipment and a restyle with more chrome. However, the extra weight and
drag offset most power gain, thus it wasn’t much faster than the early
cars. Nevertheless, Series 3 and Series 1 had very different characters.
One was an effortless high-speed grand tourer. Another was a true
sports car. Like apple and orange, it is hard to say which one was
better.
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| Jaguar E Type Series 3 Coupe |
Specifications :
| Model |
E-type S1 3.8 |
E-type S1 4.2 Roadster |
E-type S3 V12 |
| Year of production |
1961-64 |
1964-68 |
1971-75 |
| No. produced |
All: 72,500 units |
All: 72,500 units |
All: 72,500 units |
| Size (L / W / H / WB) mm |
4453 / 1656 / 1220 / 2438 |
4453 / 1656 / 1220 / 2438 |
4684 / 1678 / 1220 / 2667 |
| Layout, Gearbox |
Front-engined, Rwd, 4M |
Front-engined, Rwd, 4M |
Front-engined, Rwd, 4M |
| Engine |
Inline-6, dohc, 2v/cyl |
Inline-6, dohc, 2v/cyl |
V12, sohc, 2v/cyl |
| Capacity |
3781 cc |
4235 cc |
5343 cc |
| Power |
265 hp (gross) |
265 hp (gross) |
314 hp (gross) / 272 hp (DIN) |
| Torque |
260 lbft (gross) |
283 lbft (gross) |
349 lbft (gross) / 304 lbft (DIN) |
| Weight |
1226 kg |
1293 kg |
1502 kg |
| Top speed (mph) |
150 / 149 / 150 |
140 mph |
146 mph |
| 0-60 mph (sec) |
6.9 / 7.1 / 7.4 |
7.4 |
6.4 sec |
| 0-100 mph (sec) |
16.2 / 15.9 / 16.7 |
17.1 |
15.4 sec |
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