Jaguar’s E-Type is a real icon. Not in the sense of the empty and exaggerated comments section of Instagram, but a real bona fide icon. Its shape turns almost all heads, and yes, by law, we have to mention that Enzo Ferrari said it was the most beautiful car in the history of Everything. It makes a glorious noise and in its day was the absolute bomb.
Today, no matter how much you love them, E-Types are beautiful cars with engineering and dynamics from the sixties. Some have stood the test of time and drive like a dream. Others are sticky cash holes for people with beards to flop. Sure, there are companies out there that will create your perfect E-Type for a price, but these companies share a very specific problem: they are not Jaguar. They are people in elegant sheds with expensive pieces and hammers.
A few years ago, Jaguar decided to enter the E-Type restoration game itself with the E-Type Reborn project. Jag’s plan is to acquire the E-Types of Series 1 (1961-68), the most beautiful of the lot, that had a life and return them to their former original glory.
Customers can choose between a coupé or a roadster, a 3.8 or 4.2 liter engine, steering left or right. Although an E-Type might enter the Jaguar Land Rover Classic department a bit like a shack, it will come out as if it somehow jumped straight off the line in the 1960s straight into the 2020s. Except on his journey, he will have found engineers from Jaguar with 60 years of experience in fixing the things that made E-Types popular. They also have modern tools at their disposal to ensure that things are aligned as they should in the 1960s and are made to the size they were originally designed. A Reborn E-Type is a complete reboot that takes the car back to perfect condition.
For just under $ 400,000 (£ 295,000 to be more precise), you can have your own old / new E-Type. If you want to invest more in it, you can specify a series of nice improvements to make it easier to live with. A synchronized gearbox is a good (and essential) start; Type E Series 2 brake calipers will help you stop better than useless Series 1 jobs; and better cooling is probably a smart move to keep the glorious XK engine healthy.
The resulting car will be, according to Jaguar, a “competition winning standard”. Easy to claim; difficult to live. But Jag’s internal team is made up of engineering assistants, which means that the resulting car is perfect in every way. The leather is spotless, smells like the inside of an expensive bag and is soft when you sit on it. The skins that line the trunk look so delicate that you would feel guilty for putting anything but a bag made of pillows and hugs there. Each switch has a perfect weight, each acting with a comforting click. The panels fit correctly. While tall people may find it difficult to fit in the comfortable cab of the fixed-head car, they will enjoy playing with the wooden stick as thin as a toothpick while adjusting the neck. Everything looks … right. And that’s before you press the start button. Did you think the trailers were good? Wait until the movie.
A short break is followed by that glorious XK engine coming to life. The cabin sways smoothly and a wonderful hum resonates on all available surfaces. The sound is a throwback to a time when engines were cheerful and loud with their own distinctive features, when radical reducers could tell exactly what was coming without looking.
Dipping the surprisingly light clutch is quite easy. Putting it first is a remarkable but rewarding experience, allowing you to zoom out of line easily. At low speed, unattended steering is heavy, even in a car that weighs 2,600 pounds, but it gets easier the faster you use it.
Give the accelerator a light touch and, after a little movement, the engine starts to roar and move the car forward. Strike harder and the pace increases with gentle urgency, like someone in a hurry doing a kind of graceful walk / run down a busy corridor. Although the 6.2 liters of 6.2 liters of 265 hp and 284 lb-ft installed in the Jaguar test car may appear large, the peak power increases in the rev range. Jaguar says the Reborn E-Type will break 0-60 in 7.0 seconds and go to 153 mph. This is quite fast, frankly; the E-Type may be as new as it looks, but its dynamics are six decades old. The direction does not give much return to the standards of the current century. Its brakes are better than those of a standard Series 1 E-Type, but are still outdated by today’s standards. The suspension is soft and leans towards the corners.
The E-Type is not designed to cut vertices, but to announce your presence to the world while you browse. Press the throttle button, wait for 3,000 rpm to pass and you will hear the engine explode delights across the field, feel your nose lift smoothly as it picks up, jump into gear through your wonderful four-speed manual ‘box, and watch the world while spectators are gaping at the car of their dreams flying by. It’s soft and yes, braking requires more planning than you are used to, but who honestly cares? Enjoy the ride, don’t hammer on it and finish it early.
You can see where cars like the F-Type get their personalities. Okay, the F is incredibly fast, but it’s also smoother than anything else. It’s a relaxed way to go fast, a peaceful way to enjoy the trip instead of running to your destination (although it’s quite exciting when you’re in a hurry). Grace, Space, Rhythm and all that; types E and F share more than one naming convention. They share a spirit.
Jaguar’s Classic team set a high standard with the Reborn E-Type. It is not a perfect car to drive, as no E-Type is, but it is a perfect E-Type. It’s a really wonderful thing to be a part of.
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