One of Jaguar's biggest icons, the E-Type, celebrates its 60th anniversary in March 2021 and to celebrate the anniversary the British brand will create six pairs of Jaguar E-Type “60 Edition”.
In a perfect example of restomod, Jaguar Classic will restore twelve copies of the E-Type 3.8 from the 60s of the last century to the specifications of two special E-Types.
Jaguar intends to honor two of the most famous E-Types in history, the “9600 HP” and “77 RW” (a reference to their number plates) that were the protagonists of the model's presentation at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show.
The honored copies
Starting with the Jaguar E-Type Coupé with the registration number “9600 HP” painted in Opalescent Gunmetal Grey, it was one of the first two E-Types unveiled to guests attending the Parc des Eaux Vives.
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It was definitely another time. The night before the Swiss performance, the elegant coupé remained in Coventry, UK. To arrive in time for his revelation in Switzerland the following day, he was driven, all night long, to the Swiss country, arriving minutes before the big revelation — at a time when highways were not so common.
The E-Type, with the license plate “77 RW” painted on the iconic British Racing Green, is a roadster, and ended up getting involved in the Jaguar E-Type presentation in a somewhat curious way, as it was initially not intended to be present during the revelation.
To meet the huge demand from the public to test the car, Jaguar's test and development engineer Norman Dewis was asked to stop everything he was doing and also take this example of the Coventry sports car to Geneva. The trip must have been epic. Two brand new Jaguar E-Types ripping through continental Europe all night to their final destination in Switzerland.
After this high demand, both models were also used in road tests carried out by journalists, where they proved their ability to reach a then impressive (and still worthy of record) 240 km/h of maximum speed.
The Jaguar E-Type “60 Edition”
As for the 12 Jaguar E-Type “60 Edition”, six of these will be inspired by the “9600 HP” coupé and another six will be inspired by the “77 RW” roadster, being reserved for both special paintings designed to honor the original models.
For now, the price of these exclusive restomod remains unknown, nor is it known whether Jaguar Classic will carry out improvements in the mechanical chapter.