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Jaguar had planned a short retirement from racing,
but various factors delayed their return. The factory fire;
the need to concentrate on road cars and, above all, high market
demand for the product.
However, the engineering department had been planning a successor
to the D-type as far back as 1955. Malcolm Sayer, the legendary
aerodynamicist, had been working on a car that could be both
a sensational road car and a Le Mans winner - the E-type. Sayer
was one of the first to apply the principles of aerodynamics
to motor car design.
The E-type, which was announced at Geneva in March 1961,
was a quantum leap forward. Like the XK120 in 1948, it was
an absolute sensation. The body styling was sensuous, beautiful,
and the car set new standards in all areas.
A brand new independent rear suspension was designed by Bob
Knight and situated in a cradle which was mounted via rubber
blocks to the body unit. This brilliant rear suspension, still
used on the XJ-S today, gave excellent roadholding, a first
class ride and great refinement.
The car had the triple carburettor 3.8 litre XK engine first
seen in the XK150 ´S´. Producing 265 bhp in a
lighter aerodynamic body gave virtual 150 mph performance,
with acceleration of 0-60 mph in 6.9 seconds.
Even the launch was dramatic. Most testing had been on a couple
of open roadsters, but it had been decided to produce a Fixed
Head when a brilliant American sheet metal craftsman, Bob
Blake, created a mock up for Lyons.
A Fixed Head version was built and loaned to various motoring
magazines and newspapers in early 1961. The car was just capable
of the magic 150 mph - a relief to Jaguar who had already printed
the brochures.
Three E-types were privately entered for Le Mans in 1962.
One retired, but the Briggs Cunningham entry, driven by Briggs
and Roy Salvadori, finished a highly creditable fourth followed
by the Peter Lumsden/Peter Sargent E-type one place behind.
Meanwhile, E-types had been clocking up a number of successes
around the world, and one car, entered by Jaguar dealer John
Coombs, was being increasingly developed. The success of the
E-types inspired Ferrari to build the 250 GTO and this led
Jaguar to counter with a special racing version of the E-type,
developed from the Coombs car.
Generally known as the ´Lightweight E´, these
cars, of which just 12 were built, had an aluminium monocoque
body and engines with a block of the same material. With fuel-injected,
dry sump engines, considerably stiffened suspension and wider
wheels, they posed a genuine threat to the Ferraris and beat
them on a number of occasions.
In 1963 Cunningham took three Lightweight Es to Le
Mans. Unfortunately one retired with gearbox problems, the
second crashed heavily after hitting an oil patch at 170 mph
on Mulsanne and the third only managed to finish ninth after
a long pit stop to repair a badly damaged bonnet.
All twelve original Lightweights were
roadsters. A couple of them were later converted to low drag
coupes. This is the grid at Le Mans in 1963, showing two of
the Cunningham entries.
Two ´Lightweight Es´ were entered for Le Mans
in 1964. Sadly, both cars retired with mechanical problems.
To improve torque, the E-type was given a new 4.2 litre XK
engine and synchromesh gearbox. Braking was improved by the
deletion of the Kelsey Hayes bellows-type servo in favour
of a Lockheed vacuum booster.
In 1965, with the Lightweight E-types uncompetitive, a small
team including Sayer and Mike Kimberley, later to head Lotus
Cars, drew up plans for a mid-engined sports racing car. To
power it, they designed a four cam V12 of 5 litres.
The car, the XJ13, was built in great secrecy in 1966 but
there was an unfortunate lack of urgency about the project.
It was eventually run in 1967. Sadly it was never to race
and has become a museum piece for enthusiasts.
The shape was another Sayer masterpiece. Of obvious ancestry,
it was one of the most beautiful cars ever conceived, and
a lasting tribute to this brilliant man who prematurely died
in 1970.
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