Jaguar E-Type Series 1 (1961-1968): the purest E-Type

The Jaguar E-Type Series 1 is the original, undiluted version of the car, and the one that sits at the top of the market. Built from 1961 to 1968, it is the car with the glass-covered headlamps, the slim chrome bumpers and the cleanest version of Malcolm Sayer’s shape, before American regulations began to reshape it. For many enthusiasts it is not just the best E-Type but the most beautiful production car ever built.

This page covers the Series 1 in detail. For the wider context and how it compares with the later cars, see the main Jaguar E-Type guide.

The original car

When the E-Type launched at Geneva in March 1961 it was a Series 1, though nobody called it that until there was a Series 2 to distinguish it from. The defining features were all present from the start: the monocoque tub with its front engine subframe, all-round independent suspension, disc brakes, and the long bonnet hiding the XK straight-six. The covered headlamps, faired into the wings under glass, are the signature detail, and the slim bumpers and small grille mouth give the Series 1 its delicate, uncluttered face.

It came as a two-seat roadster and a two-seat fixed-head coupe from launch, with a longer 2+2 coupe added in the mid-1960s for buyers who needed occasional rear seats.

The 3.8 and the 4.2

The Series 1 falls into two clear halves. From 1961 to 1964 it used the 3.8-litre XK engine, paired with the old Moss gearbox, a slow-shifting unit with no synchromesh on first gear that is the one real weakness of these early cars. In October 1964 Jaguar fitted the larger 4.2-litre engine. It made the same headline power but noticeably more torque, and it brought a much better all-synchromesh gearbox, a brake servo and redesigned, more supportive seats.

The result is that the 3.8 is the more collectable and the more period-pure, while the 4.2 is the easier and more pleasant car to drive and live with. Both breathe through triple SU carburettors in home-market form.

The early collectables

Within the 3.8 cars, the earliest examples carry a particular cachet. The first cars had flat footwell floors, later dished for legroom, and the very first roadsters had external bonnet locks that needed a tool to release. These details mark out the earliest production and, because so few were built before Jaguar revised them, they add real value. The flip side is that desirable early features are sometimes recreated on later cars, so on any expensive early E-Type the chassis and engine numbers and the documented history matter as much as the panel gaps.

The Series 1.5

Towards the end, in 1967 and 1968, Jaguar built a run of transitional cars that enthusiasts call the Series 1.5, though the factory never used the name. These kept the Series 1 body and cabin but adopted open, exposed headlamps ahead of the coming restyle. American-market cars also moved to twin Stromberg carburettors to meet early emissions rules, which cut power. The Series 1.5 cars are a genuine halfway house, and generally sit below the covered-headlamp cars in both desirability and value.

Buying a Series 1

Everything that applies to E-Types in general applies here, with the structure the first priority. Check the sills, floors, rear wheelarches and, above all, the front bulkhead and engine-frame mountings, which are the critical structural areas. The XK six is tough but listen for timing-chain rattle and watch for a tired bottom end, and remember the 3.8’s Moss gearbox is slow by nature rather than necessarily worn.

Because the Series 1 is the most valuable E-Type, it is also the most worth getting wrong. Originality drives the money here more than on any other E-Type: a matching-numbers, well-documented covered-headlamp car is worth a clear premium over a rebuilt or modified example. Buy on provenance and the soundness of the tub, and take expert advice before committing on an early car.

What it is worth

The Series 1 tops the E-Type market. The early 3.8 flat-floor roadsters are the most valuable of all, well into six figures, with later 3.8 and 4.2 roadsters behind them, then the fixed-head coupes at a discount to the equivalent roadster. The 2+2 is the most affordable Series 1. The Series 1.5 cars trade below the covered-headlamp examples. Auction data and the price guides confirm that ordering, though condition and history swing individual cars a long way either side.

Related

The Series 1 is the first chapter of the Jaguar E-Type story and a landmark among British classic cars of the 1960s. It belongs to the wider classic Jaguar range, and was succeeded by the restyled Series 2.

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