The E-Type 60 Editions will include commemorative detailing and exclusive paint colours, paying tribute to two of the most famous examples: ‘9600 HP’ and ‘77 RW’
Each of the models the new E-Type 60 Editions will pay homage to played pivotal roles in the unveiling of the car at its world debut in Geneva, Switzerland in March 1961.
Jaguar Classic will create six matched pairs of E-Type cars to celebrate the iconic sports car’s 60th anniversary in 2021: the E-Type 60 Collection.
Each pair of E-Type 60 Edition cars pay tribute to two of the oldest and most famous Jaguar E-Type sports cars in the world: ‘9600 HP’ and ‘77 RW’, both of which played pivotal roles in the unveiling of the car at its world debut in Geneva, Switzerland in March 1961.
An Opalescent Gunmetal Grey 3.8-liter Fixed-Head Coupe registered ‘9600 HP’ was one of the first two E-type cars unveiled to specially invited guests at the Parc des Eaux Vives. Driven ‘flat out’ to Switzerland from Coventry the night before the launch, public relations manager Bob Berry arrived with minutes to spare for demonstration drives.
With an outstanding reaction to the E-Type resulting in overwhelming demand for drives with Berry, legendary Jaguar Test and Development Engineer Norman Dewis was told to ‘drop everything’ and drive a British Racing Green 3.8-liter roadster registered ‘77 RW’ overnight from Coventry to Geneva.
Both cars were also used for media road tests, which proved the car’s sensational performance – including its 150mph top speed – matched its jet aircraft-inspired lines honed in a wind tunnel by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer.
Every E-Type 60 Edition built by the team at the Jaguar Classic Works facility in Warwickshire will be an existing 1960s 3.8-liter E-Type fully restored to exclusive 60th anniversary tribute specification.
Each E-Type 60 Collection pair will include one Flat Out Grey ‘9600 HP’ coupe and one Drop Everything Green ‘77 RW’ roadster, with unique paint formulations exclusively reserved for these cars.
The cars will feature a number of 60th anniversary commemorative design details created in conjunction with Jaguar Design Director Julian Thomson.
Synonymous with the revolutionary zeitgeist of the Swinging Sixties, E-type sports cars were owned by celebrities including Steve McQueen, Brigitte Bardot, Frank Sinatra, George Harrison, Tony Curtis and Britt Ekland. And, thanks to the beauty of its sculptural forms, its functionality and its impact on design, an E-type became only the third car to join The Museum of Modern Art’s design collection in 1996.
Jaguar Classic is the world’s number one source of genuine parts and owner services for the E-type – from health-checks and sympathetic upgrades to restoring expertly selected examples to ‘Reborn’ specification, meticulously returning them to as-new condition.
Customers interested in this unrepeatable opportunity should contact Jaguar Classic via www.jaguar.com/classic.