Twelve cylinders. In the automotive numbers game, that’s very nearly top of the pops, a Classic-era throwback that blends smoothness, performance, and prestige in equal measures. Jaguar had long been famed for its sophisticated XK twin-cam straight-six engines, but as the 1970s approached with new emissions regulations, the limitations of that cast-iron unit prompted the automaker’s engineers to create something entirely new. The aluminum Jaguar V-12 would effortlessly make as much power as the race-spec six while weighing just 80 pounds more and fitting into the same space. The E-type would be its first, and most sporting, home.
The third series of this model—still called “XKE” by the company’s U.S. marketing arm—represented a sea change for its maker. At its most basic level, it was a beautiful container for the jewel-like V-12 under its long hood. That engine not only kept the E-type competitive in the face of ever-increasing pollution controls, it gave Jaguar a cylinder count matched only by Ferrari and Lamborghini, and would power the automaker’s forthcoming flagship luxury sedan, the XJ12.
A Borg-Warner Model 12
