Last summer, Jaguar announced a special tribute edition of the E-Type to celebrate the sports car’s 60th birthday. Fast-forward to today and they have showcased the first two fully-restored cars. Offered exclusively in six matching pairs each consisting of one coupe and one roadster, the Jaguar E-Type 60 Collection celebrates the ‘9600 HP’ coupe driven by Bob Berry from Coventry, UK, to the 1961 Geneva Motor Show for its world debut on March 15, and the ’77 RW’ roadster, brought to the event for test drives the next day by Norman Dewis.
The coupes are finished in Flat Out Grey
on top of a Smooth Black leather interior, whereas the roadsters come in Drop
Everything Green with a Suede Green leather cockpit. The shades were inspired
by the 1961 colors and they won’t be used by Jaguar ever again.
Completely restored by Jaguar Classic in
Coventry, all cars have a unique metal engraving created by Johnny ‘King Nerd’
Dowell on the center console. In the coupe, it displays a map of the route
taken by Bob Berry, and what Sir William Lyons, the Jaguar founder, told him at
the end of the journey: “I thought you’d never get here”. The roadsters have
the route taken by Norman Dewis and another quote from Lyons: “Drop everything
and bring the open top E-Type over”.
The tribute edition sports ‘1961-2021’
commemorative logos, 24-carat gold horn push, modern infotainment system with
sat-nav and Bluetooth, and a 3.8-liter six-cylinder engine. Producing 265 HP,
it has an electric cooling fan and electronic ignition for enhanced everyday
usability, a 1961-style alloy radiator, a polished stainless steel exhaust that
produces a deeper tone and a specially developed five-speed manual transmission
said to offer greater durability. The car cover, tool roll and jack storage
bags complete the package. Jaguar has not disclosed pricing, but given that
they are sold as a pair with one roadster and one coupe, it is estimated that
they could cost in excess of £ 600,000 (US$ 835,000).
