Great Garages

Sir William Lyons: Cheers on the 60th anniversary of the E-Type.

For the Jaguar founder (1901–1985), the starting line for the extraordinary E-Type was in 1922 with Swallow Sidecars, a company he owned with William Walmsley in Blackpool and later Coventry, England. The Jaguar name first appeared on vehicles later produced by Lyons’ S. S. Cars Limited in the 1930s; the company's name changed to Jaguar Cars in 1945. Today, Jaguar Land Rover is based in Coventry, England, and Jaguar Land Rover North America, Mahwah, New Jersey.

Manufactured between 1961 and 1975, the E-Type is in direct lineage with the racing legend D-type (1955–57), which won Le Mans three consecutive times, 1955 to 1957; that car followed the C-type (1951–53), a Le Mans winner on its first outing in 1951 and again in 1953.

Admirers extolled the E-Type’s synthesis of sinuous beauty, performance (0–60 mph under 7 seconds and a 150 mph top end), light weight (2,900 pounds), pricing (the 1961 sold at just