Is there anything that hasn’t been written or retold about the Jaguar E-type? From the fabled drive from Coventry to Geneva for the 1961 launch through to Enzo Ferrari proclaiming it the most beautiful car ever designed, this is a car that defined the best of British in those ‘good old days’.
Today, you can find many E-types to suit your wallet and your taste, but the talented guys at E-Type UK Limited will tailor one just for you. One such client has commissioned ‘Unleashed’ and this chassis 001, is it.
To the untrained eye, you can see it is an E-Type, but there are some exterior changes and upgrades that make this extra special. The car is predominantly a Series III but it has a Series I bonnet scoop and badge. The headlights are bright LED and not the candles from the original. Chrome bumpers are sculpted and refined at the front while the rear is a single piece instead of three sections on the originals. It is these details that make this exquisite.
The V12 badging on the rear is matt black not chrome making it subtle while the actual V12 is a 6.1L. 440bhp mated to a 5-speed manual gearbox. Efficient modern cooling systems and adjustable shock absorbers means this looks like a classic but is anything but. Driving around the streets of London, the burble reverberating from the buildings draws admiring glances and iPhone selfies. It might have been expected to see the car outside Buckingham Palace or a north London terrace but this is now Unleashed and it is more at home in the wrong side of the tracks.
The milled aluminium air vents with their geared mechanism, the under-lit dials in their bespoke chromed bezels and the contrast stitched dashboard headliner, all hint at the level of detail, craftsmanship and artistry that has created this vehicle. Not for the purists I’m sure. Good, the world is boring if we all like the same thing.
The car will be heading west to the USA where it will, I’m sure, be cherished and enjoyed. But it leaves us wanting more. A lot more. We cannot wait to see chassis number two.
