E-Type Jags

Soldato
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My dad took a 4.2ltr in part exchange a few years back and let me have a drive. It was a really beautiful motor.

Really didn't enjoy driving it though..whenever you pressed the loud pedal the bonnet would rise and obscure your view of the road!

Andy
 
Soldato
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i know nothing said:
Well here's mine! ;)

It cost £1970 new (I have all the original documents from Jaguar) in 1969 and that included the Philips "Stereo" radio. It's all original, all standard, it flies around corners like you wouldn't believe so no idea where the comment about being crap around corners comes from. I've only taken it to 125mph so can't comment on it exceeding 150mph (clock stops at 150 anyway), the acceleration from 30-90mph in third is breath taking and yes it does drink petrol.

As far as looks go that's a personal choice, maybe they're like Marmite!
What's the insurance like on it? And how bad are they on petrol?

Research for the future ;)
 
Soldato
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i know nothing said:
Well here's mine! ;)

It cost £1970 new (I have all the original documents from Jaguar) in 1969 and that included the Philips "Stereo" radio. It's all original, all standard, it flies around corners like you wouldn't believe so no idea where the comment about being crap around corners comes from. I've only taken it to 125mph so can't comment on it exceeding 150mph (clock stops at 150 anyway), the acceleration from 30-90mph in third is breath taking and yes it does drink petrol.

As far as looks go that's a personal choice, maybe they're like Marmite!
That's a beautiful car. Any more pictures? :)
 
Wise Guy
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phykell said:
Yes, that's already been remarked upon but keep flogging that dead horse why don't you? Anyway, down a hill with a good wind, it was! ;)
Pardon me for not committing every response to memory before commenting on a post. Besides which, that wasn't quite the point I was making

phykell said:
Was the coupe an E-Type? Yes. Did it do 150mph? Yes.

OK, I'll change statement on the E-Type's speed to "the promise of 150mph" in line with the Times article at the time OK?
I didn't say an E-type wouldn't reach 150. I queried your claim that it would do it "easily". I have a car that will top 200, and that will hit 150 easily. Even the coupe, which in theory at least will hit 150, does not do it "easily". It struggles and strains to do it. There are now plenty saloon cars (of the BMW M type, especially if limiters are removed/rechipped, and so on) that will hit 150 relatively easily. The E-type didn't .... or at least, none of the ones I've driven would. You might get it there, but it was on it's last gasp. Try a Porsche Turbo or an XJ-220. They sail up to 150, and straight past it. That is "easily".

phykell said:
Which is why you'd be best off comparing it with something else at the time which was capable of that speed like, er, oh yes, the Aston Martin which happened to be TWICE the price.

"Jaguar billed it as Britain’s affordable answer to a flashy Italian Ferrari."

So, yes, incredibly cheap and as for your comparison to house prices it's meaningless. The average house price is >£200K now so you're making it sound like the modern equivalent E-Type would cost >£200K but not so long ago even my piano was worth more than the average house which just shows that house prices have increased dramatically compared to cars relatively speaking.


Yes I can see it now, all the reviews of the Aston Martins and Ferraris complaining that despite how good the cars are the fuel economy sucks ;)
The reason the E-type appealed to many people, and sold so well, is precisely because it wasn't priced like a Ferrari or Aston. There is, as I'm sure you know, as old saying about buying an Aston (or Ferrari). It runs "if you have to ask how much it is, you can't afford it". The people that can afford to buy Aston's and Ferraris typically don't have to care what it costs to run.

This is why I said cheap is a "relative" term. If you can afford several Ferraris, an E-type was certainly cheap. If you struggled to afford a car of any type, and that applied to FAR more people in the '60s than it does now, then an E-type was still cloud-cuckoo land, because it was way out of reach of the vast majority of people. In comparison to other ludicrously-priced supercars, the E-type was cheap, but in absolute terms, it was still a damned expensive car that the vast majority of the population could at best, dream about.

A comparison in today's terms might be an M3 (or perhaps an Evo). It'll give startling performance for the money, so it's cheap for that sort of performance, but even at £50k, the M3 is way outside most people's budgets. "Cheap" is relative.
 
Soldato
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phykell said:
That's a beautiful car. Any more pictures? :)

I've only got a few digital pics on my PC from last summer.

fatiain said:
What's the insurance like on it? And how bad are they on petrol?
I pay around £160 a year, not much as I have chosen insurance that limits the mileage I do to 3000 miles in a year, it is fully comp. Not much point in me choosing a full blown policy as I spend the majority of my time overseas. No road tax of course though! I would guess you're talking around 12mpg as far as fuel is concerned.

Sequoia said:
This is why I said cheap is a "relative" term. If you can afford several Ferraris, an E-type was certainly cheap. If you struggled to afford a car of any type, and that applied to FAR more people in the '60s than it does now, then an E-type was still cloud-cuckoo land, because it was way out of reach of the vast majority of people. In comparison to other ludicrously-priced supercars, the E-type was cheap, but in absolute terms, it was still a damned expensive car that the vast majority of the population could at best, dream about.
I'd largely agree with that. The model I have is actually the rarest RHD one, only 480 RHD models were made. The vast majority of E-Types were LHD and exported to the states.
 
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A thing of beauty

34yz.jpg
12zg4.jpg
 
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Soldato
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Sequoia said:
Pardon me for not committing every response to memory before commenting on a post. Besides which, that wasn't quite the point I was making
Don't worry about it ;)

Sequoia said:
I didn't say an E-type wouldn't reach 150. I queried your claim that it would do it "easily". I have a car that will top 200, and that will hit 150 easily. Even the coupe, which in theory at least will hit 150, does not do it "easily". It struggles and strains to do it. There are now plenty saloon cars (of the BMW M type, especially if limiters are removed/rechipped, and so on) that will hit 150 relatively easily. The E-type didn't .... or at least, none of the ones I've driven would. You might get it there, but it was on it's last gasp. Try a Porsche Turbo or an XJ-220. They sail up to 150, and straight past it. That is "easily".
Yes I shouldn't have said "easily", I was being a little whimsical about what is just about my favourite car but then I didn't think I was writing a review for AutoCar. Porsche Turbo? I don't think so, just another super-fast motorised sofa to me.

Sequoia said:
... A comparison in today's terms might be an M3 (or perhaps an Evo). It'll give startling performance for the money, so it's cheap for that sort of performance, but even at £50k, the M3 is way outside most people's budgets. "Cheap" is relative.
Yes of course it is but £50K is certainly within the grasp of some professionals. In the 60s you'd have surgeons and lawyers driving E-Types, but not very many being able to afford Astons or Ferraris, much like today I guess. As I say, for the performance at the time, the E-Type was incredibly cheap. Didn't it hold the world's fastest production car? I don't know of any £50K modern cars achieving that accolade, or even coming close. Do you?
 
Wise Guy
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phykell said:
Don't worry about it ;)
I wasn't. :D

phykell said:
Yes I shouldn't have said "easily", I was being a little whimsical about what is just about my favourite car but then I didn't think I was writing a review for AutoCar. Porsche Turbo? I don't think so, just another super-fast motorised sofa to me.
Yeah, but you know what this place is like. You get picked up on spelling, let alone whimsy.

As for the Porsche, ever driven a 911 Turbo? They are, without doubt in my view, a drivers car and the sheer punch of the acceleration is an eye-opener the first time you try it, even if used to fast cars. As for styling (and for interior pampering), I agree with you.


phykell said:
Yes of course it is but £50K is certainly within the grasp of some professionals. In the 60s you'd have surgeons and lawyers driving E-Types, but not very many being able to afford Astons or Ferraris, much like today I guess. As I say, for the performance at the time, the E-Type was incredibly cheap. Didn't it hold the world's fastest production car? I don't know of any £50K modern cars achieving that accolade, or even coming close. Do you?
Agreed on all counts. A modern £50k car is not rare, but certainly beyond the masses and no, one wouldn't take many price/performance prices. And yes, for it's day and for the money, the E-Type was astounding. But if you look back at what I said about that, I didn't (and still don't) actually disagree with you - I just pointed out that "cheap" is a relative term. It was cheap compared to other cars offering that performance, but it was still not cheap. Thing is, you and I are old enough to have some recollection of what two grand bought in those days (or at least, I certainly am), but most of the babes-in-arms (;) :D) on this forum have no conception of prices (or average incomes) in the early '60s. Hence my remark about "relative" cheapness .... to try to put things in context. Incredible for the performance it may have been, but it was still a car beyond most people's means.
 
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Electronic Fuel Injection.

Using throttle bodies instead of carbs.

You'll get more power, better fuelling, no flatspots and better mpg.

*n
 
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