The Jaguar E-Type is the rare car that lives up to its own legend. Launched in 1961, it was as fast as anything on the road, cost a fraction of its exotic rivals, and looked like nothing else before or since. More than sixty years later it is still the car most people picture when they hear the word Jaguar, and the one against which every beautiful car is quietly measured.
This is the guide to the whole family: where the E-Type came from, how the three series differ, which of the famous stories are true, and what the survivors are like to buy and own now. The individual Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3 pages go deeper on each in turn.
Where the E-Type came from
The E-Type did not appear from nowhere. It grew directly out of Jaguar’s Le Mans-winning sports-racing cars, the C-Type and D-Type, and out of the aerodynamic thinking of Malcolm Sayer, an engineer who designed bodies by mathematics rather than by eye. Underneath the swooping shape sat a monocoque tub with a tubular subframe carrying the engine at the front, independent suspension all round, and disc brakes, advanced thinking for a road car in 1961.
It made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961, initially for export, with the British launch following that July. The reaction was immediate. Here was a 150 mph-capable car, as Jaguar billed it, with the looks of a competition machine, at a price that undercut Ferrari and Aston Martin by a wide margin. It was the purest expression of William Lyons’ value-for-money instinct, and it caused exactly the sensation Jaguar wanted.
The three series at a glance
Across fourteen years the E-Type ran in three distinct series, plus an unofficial transitional batch that enthusiasts call the Series 1.5.
The Series 1 (1961 to 1968) is the original and the purest, defined by its glass-covered headlamps and slim chrome bumpers. It began with the 3.8-litre engine and gained the more flexible 4.2 in 1964. The interim Series 1.5 cars of 1967 to 1968 dropped the headlamp covers ahead of the full restyle.
The Series 2 (1968 to 1971) answered tightening American safety and emissions rules with open headlamps, a larger grille, wraparound bumpers and better cooling. It is the most usable and arguably the best-developed of the six-cylinder cars.
The Series 3 (1971 to 1974) brought the 5.3-litre V12, sat on the longer 2+2 wheelbase, and came only as a roadster or 2+2 coupe. It is the smoothest E-Type and the most relaxed grand tourer of the three.
The myths, sorted out
Few cars attract as much lore as the E-Type, so it is worth separating the famous stories from the facts.
The 150 mph top speed was real but qualified. The figure came from period road tests in 1961, but those press cars were prepared by the works, with subtle tuning, and ran on racing tyres in ideal conditions. A standard car on road tyres would not see 150, though it would comfortably exceed 140, which was still remarkable for the money.
The line about Enzo Ferrari calling it “the most beautiful car ever made” is repeated everywhere and documented nowhere. It is attributed to him at the 1961 launch, but no recording or transcript supports it. Enjoy it as a story, not a fact.
The power figures need the same care. The quoted 265 bhp for the six and 272 bhp for the V12 are gross ratings by the optimistic standards of the day, and the true output at the wheels was lower. The V12, for all its extra cylinders, was no quicker in a straight line than the original 3.8, being heavier and built for smoothness rather than outright speed.
Engines: the six and the V12
The Series 1 and 2 used the XK twin-cam straight-six that had powered Jaguars since 1949, in 3.8 and then 4.2-litre forms, breathing through triple SU carburettors. The 4.2 of 1964 made no more power on paper but added useful torque and, just as importantly, a far better all-synchromesh gearbox in place of the slow, baulky Moss unit the 3.8 used.
The Series 3 introduced Jaguar’s 5.3-litre V12, a single-overhead-cam engine of remarkable smoothness. It gave the E-Type effortless, turbine-like performance and a soundtrack all its own, at the cost of weight, fuel and complexity. It is a superb engine when healthy and an expensive one when neglected.
The specials: Lightweight and Low Drag
A handful of E-Types stand apart from the production cars. The factory Lightweight E-Types of 1963 and 1964 were aluminium-bodied competition cars with tuned, alloy-block engines, built for racing. Jaguar planned eighteen and completed only around a dozen at the time, before famously building the six “missing” cars to original specification decades later. There was also a one-off Low Drag Coupe and a small number of part-aluminium competition cars. These are collector pieces valued in the millions, and a world away from the cars most buyers will ever consider.
Buying an E-Type now
The E-Type is one of the best-supported classics there is, with a deep specialist trade and almost every part remanufactured, from a complete bodyshell down. That is just as well, because the structure is what makes or breaks one of these cars.
Rust and accident damage in the monocoque tub are the critical concerns. Check the sills, which are complex multi-layer structures, the floors, the rear wheelarches, and above all the front bulkhead and the engine-frame mountings, the most important structural area on the car. The square-section front frames that carry the engine should be sound rather than patched. On the V12 cars, add the cooling system to the list: a silted radiator leads to overheating and serious engine damage, so clean coolant and a healthy system are non-negotiable.
Mechanically the XK six is tough but will show its age through timing-chain rattle, worn cams and tired bottom ends; the V12 needs its cooling and ignition kept in good order. Because the desirable early features, the flat floors, the outside bonnet locks, the covered headlamps, all add value, recreated cars exist, so matching numbers and documented history matter. Verify a car against the records rather than taking the details on trust.
What an E-Type is worth
Values cover an enormous span, and the ordering is consistent even where exact figures move. At the top sit the early Series 1 3.8 roadsters, especially the very first flat-floor cars, well into six figures. Below them come the later Series 1 and Series 2 roadsters, then the fixed-head coupes, which trade at a discount to the equivalent roadster. The V12 Series 3 roadster sits in the middle of the range, while the 2+2 coupes, in any series, are the most affordable way into E-Type ownership. The genuine Lightweights, valued in the millions, are in a category of their own. Auction data and the price guides bear this hierarchy out, though condition, originality and history move individual cars a long way either side of any guide figure.
Related
The E-Type is the centrepiece of the classic Jaguar story and one of the defining British classic cars of the 1960s. Its XK engine traces back to the XK120, and when production ended in 1974 its place was taken by the XJS grand tourer. For the full detail on each generation, see the Series 1, Series 2 and Series 3 pages.
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