The E Type

Yes, it's a 1/24 sclae model

As I was wondering what model I could next build which had some link to my past, while slow to come to mind, I eventually realized that there have been a number of Jaguars in my car history...though the only one(s) I have actually driven were what Ernie once called “the loveliest used bar of soap” ever sculpted into a car body.

I had, of course, seen (and heard) a number of Jags ijn vintage racing, from XK120s to the more exotic C and D types of the likes of one Stever Earle and the medical professional from Nevada whose name, as many other things, escapes me at the moment (the foounder of Intrepid Racing). 

But I actually experienced two of these wonderful beasts quite personally, though the memory of the first one was dimmed both by the passage of time and the fact that, in my then younger days, somehow the car did not impress me as much as it should have, so it settled into the dusty back storage of my mind.

So...the second one first. John Lewis played an outsized role into my deep dive into the world of sports cars and vintage racing. The first was a reacquaintence as I had gotten bitten hard by the sports car bug in my late teens and early 20s. But the second, as likely recounted elsewhere in these blogs, was an outgrowth of my time in the Ferrari Owners Club, and the entry into track events and vintage racing that group had a big hand in lighting a fire under in the early 1970s. And I was initiated into the drug of exotic cars and their use by the FOC and John's introduction to the club and its members by John.

That story might be told another time...but for this entry suffice it to say that John had a habit in those days of showing up with some new toy from time to time.

And on the occasion in question, it was a Series I E type coupe.¹ While, in all honesty, when the model first came out it was the coupe which caught my eye, the form did not age all that well, and by the time of John's purchase the style looked rather dated. Still, ignore the top and, underneath, it was still that eternally lovely “use bar of soap.”

The car was, IMO, a rather odd color. It was metallic, and the best way I can describe it was silver with just the slightest touch of light blue. A color I have never seen since, nor before, on any Jaguar. John's cars were not, to put it mildly, the “best of the breed,” and I wonder if this odd color was original to the car. I don't want to badmouth one of my best friends ever, but let's just say that showng up for tech inspection with John's AC Bristol (he was held up getting to the track and asked me to help out) was a bit embarrassing, when it glaringly appeared that the front anti-rollbar mount was so rusted through the bar was about to fall off the car.

So I do wonder about that color. 

By this time in my car history I was well into the world of exotic Ferraris and vintage racers, including my own lovely Siata, as detailed in multiple entries in this blog. I was no longer in awe of cars I could only drool over magazine articles about as a kid.

But still. Of course, John being the extremely generous soul he was, offered me a stint behind the wheel. By this time I had years of experience with my Ferrari, which was no slouch in terms of power and acceleration. 0-60 was 7.2 seconds I believe, and the top speed was 144. I had, at numerous times, had it well over 100, and the car just seemed to get more and more alive the faster you went. 

I also had experience in even more lethal cars, including John's own Ferraris...a 275GTS, a 365GT “Queen Mother,” and the most brutal...the 365GT4 “Daytona.” The acceleration of that beast, though “ho hum” by today's electric car standards, took my breath way.

And yet

there was just something about that 4.2 liter inline DOHC six that was in a whole different universe. The motor was designed by Jaguar engineers as they huddled in subway (Tube) stations while London waa being bombed by the Nazis. With nothing to do and lots of time to do it, they dreamed up “the perfect” engine. 

Even in a model
It's pretty impressive

And when the war ended they went ahead and actually built the damn thing. In one form or another it powered Jag street and race cars, including for multiple successful race wins, from post-war days all the way to the latter days of the 20^thCentury. I'm not sure it lasted the longest of any single car m otor, but I'll bet it was right up there in terms of lifespan.

If the Ferrari motor was a specially bred thoroughbred racehorse, and American V8s were the biggest and meanest dogs on the block, the Jag six was...a Jaguar...a motor that you felt as much as you heard...the gut punch of a big American V8 that just roared as it ran. 

Add in that hood, which seemed to go on forever (but then, so did the hood on the “Queen Mother” so I should have been used to it), and punching the go pedal was....exciting. It seemed to have enough torque to flip the car over...and it was happy no matter how you treated it.

IF not the longest
Certainly the second longest hood on a car

Maybe it was the reverb inside the coupe that the convertible lacked, but I swear I don't have anywhere near that memory of my earlier experience with a roaadster. 

Of course time had to strangloe and emasculate the car...firsst went the headlight covers, then the dash paddle switches, then those lovely small taillight and front turn signal lights, and, finally, those monstrous SU carbs. Strangled by growing restrictions on emissions in the era before computer control enabled us to have power AND cleaner burning engines, as well as over-zealous and, in retrospect, at leat partly misplaced insistence on changes of limited safety value (no “ears” on knockoffs?), the last of the breed,m even though V12 engined, were sad shadows of the original, and to this day, achingly lovely originals...a masterpiece of both beauty and engineering in its day which still retains its glory today.

1BTW...the car is officially the “E Type” and not, as it is called in America, the “XKE.” XK refers to the specific frame type of the XK120 and its successors...which laid claim to being the first street car to reach that speed “out of the box.” Sinve the E Type is a partial monocoque and lacks a frame, the “XK” monicker is totally inappropriate for the model 

Even from above its lovely

A bit awkward with the top up