Then and now: Jaguar F-TYPE and E-Type

JAGUAR E-Type (1961 – 1974)

Jaguar designer Malcolm Sayer had achieved something unique with the E-Type, and even now the car remains an icon of motoring’s finest hour. The New York Museum of Modern Art has one on permanent display, Enzo Ferrari called it “the most beautiful car ever made” and numerous polls have rated it as the pinnacle of sportscar design.

Just over 70,000 E-Types were built through three series’ until 1974, and today, an original E-Type Series I roadster in excellent condition will fetch as much as $230,000.

E-Type models were suspended by a torsion beam front end and coil-sprung independent rear, while powered-assisted disc brakes were fitted all-round. 15-inch spoke wheels graced the arches, and by 1968 air-conditioning and power steering were available as options.

The Jaguar E-Type was available in coupe and convertible body styles comprising an aluminium body on a steel chassis. Transmissions included a four-speed manual gearbox, and from 1966 an optional three-speed automatic.

The V12 whirs to life, almost like an aircraft, and sounds silky at idle – but it’s not without intent. There’s a purpose to its note as the engine winds up to 5500rpm. Here it sounds sweetest. It’s mechanical and visceral, almost as if every component is an instrument in an orchestra, all playing perfectly in tune.

Swapping gently but accurately through four forward gears the E-Type flinches just slightly as you select fourth, biting slightly on its final ratio. There’s no overdrive – apparently there wasn’t the room for it – but at highway speeds the hum of that glorious V12 more than makes up for what you’d save in fuel.

Tracking cleanly the old E-Type steers with remarkable accuracy for its age and communicates freely the surface beneath – and this despite having never being intended for radial tyres. There’s a certain fluidity about its ride quality that belies the grip on offer. It really is as much Grand Tourer as it is a sportscar, all meshed together in a stunning and beautifully balanced package.

“The E-Type is a car to evoke piquant memories: grainy monochrome images featuring an XK-E in a garage starkly lit for a 1960s Car and Driver photoshoot are counterposed by the sunny tableau of the glamorous blond parking her Series III V12 coupe outside my parents’ shop in the 1970s.”

“The Jaguar E-Type is one of the most recognisable and alluring vehicles ever designed. It’s an icon whose appealing proportions and curvaceous lines are irresistible. I have fond memories of driving one back in 2011. The gearshift was wobbly, the clutch was weak but once on song it was an incredible machine.”
- Feann Torr

Penned by Ian Callum, the F-TYPE’s design is a sleek yet sporty nod to Jaguar’s most famous model. Jaguar itself says the segment in which the F-TYPE competes is one that it has been absent from for “way too long”, adding that Jaguar without a roadster is like “Sydney without an Opera House”.

Up until the end of October, Jaguar has delivered 55 examples of the new F-TYPE to Australia. Exclusive of on-road costs, F-TYPE pricing ranges from $138,645 for the V6, to $171,045 for the V6 S and $201,945 for the V8 S.

F-TYPE models ride on a double wishbone suspension arrangement front and rear. This is further assisted by continuously adaptive dampers which, depending on variant, are adjustable by the driver.

The F-TYPE’s all-alloy monocoque is stopped by all-wheel disc brakes fitted inside alloy wheels ranging from 18 to 20 inches, depending on variant. An eight-speed ZF automatic transmission is fitted as standard across the range.

Beating beneath that long bonnet is a characterful supercharged V6 that takes little provocation to spin through to redline. Its brisk acceleration is accompanied by a sonorous exhaust note not dissimilar to six-cylinders of yesteryear, crackling on overrun and howling through to crescendo as if to encourage your foot to the firewall.

The close-ratio transmission responds instantaneously to input from the steering wheel-mounted paddles, swapping smoothly between ratios with a devilish blip on down-changes.

The chassis offers tenacious grip aided by ripe hydraulic steering to see the F-TYPE ease progressively into gentle understeer as you push the limits. The suspension works effectively on most surfaces, though scuttle shake does intrude when you ask too much on lumpy back roads.

Spending more time with the F-TYPE proves how happy it is to cruise the open road. It eats mile after mile with consummate ease, and is as quiet as a hardtop of similar proportions with the roof in place. The cabin is a fantastic place to spend time, which makes the fact the F-TYPE’s boot is so small seems such a pity.