Jaguar World – July 2019

76 |JaguarWorld/July 2019

HISTORY

FRUAS-TYPE

Thanksto:JulienSumner(tel: 07788

86570 0;www.juliensumner.com)

FRUAE-TYPE

Fruahadasecondcarondisplayatthe 1966 Geneva

show:hisuniqueE-typecoupe,whichfeaturedanew

shortenednoseandtail,wasontheItalsuissestand.

TheideaforthecarhadcomefromJohnCoombs,

whoownedasuccessfulJaguardealershipinGuildford.

“Thereisalwaysademandforsomethingdifferent,”he

toldJWin 2008 bywayofexplanation.

CoombshadmetFruabychanceandgavehima

commissiontodevelopanewlookfortheE-type.

CoombssuppliedFruawithaCarmenRedcoupe(chassis

number1E21041)andhestartedbychopping15cmoff

thenosebeforeaddinganewwidergrillefeaturinga

chromeshieldthatsplitthefrontbumper.

Thetailwasalsoshortened.InplaceoftheE-type’s

gentlytaperingrump,Fruadesignedachromedpanel

thatincorporatedthelightclustersandnumberplate.

Hethenhadthecarresprayedinsilversothatits

appearancewouldbelesslikeatypicalItaliansportscar.

BecauseFruahadtheS-typecoupeonhisstand,he

gavetheE-typetotheSwisscoachbuilder,Italsuisse,to

display(Italsuissehadmadethephysicalalterations).

AlthoughCoombsplannedtoputthecarintoproduction,

offeringthemodificationsathisGuildforddealership,

onlythesingleshowcarwasbuilt.Thechangesthat

Fruahadmadewerecomplicated,andbecauseCoombs

deemedtheconversiontobetooexpensive,hecancelled

theproject.

Theshowcarsurvivesandwasfeaturedinour

November 2018 issue.

tooffend,butisperfectlyindulgentfora

sportscoupesuchasthis.

Afterflickingthefour-speed’boxinto

first,Imoveoffeasilyandgently.The

engineretainstheflexibilityforwhichit’s

famous,offeringarichseamoftorque

thatholdsinterestuntilthenextgear

change.Yetit’snosportscar;thecar’s

weightbluntsitsperformancesufficiently

tobenoticeableovertheusuallyspritely

3.8S-type.Thinkofthecarasaboulevard

cruiser,moreComothanCadwell.

Thisisfurtherdemonstratedbythe

suspension,whichretainsthesuppleness

thatJaguarsoftheeraarerenowned

for.Itironsoutbumpsintheroad,yet

stillcornersrelativelyflatlywithnicely

controlledbodyroll.

At4,770mmlongand1,690mmwide,

ithasthesamedimensionsasthebasecar,

althoughbecauseFrua’sboxydesignmakes

itfeellargerI’mlessinclinedtodartaround

cornerswithzestytomfoolery.Instead,Itake

itsteadyandenjoyitsfingertip-lightsteering,

perfectbalanceandcomfortableride.

Acarthisgooddoesbegthequestionof

whymoreweren’tbuilt.Costwasnodoubt

afactor.Whileit’snotknownhowmuch

thisprototypewastobuild,abespoke,

all-steel-bodiedcarwouldnothavebeen

cheapforasmallcoachbuildersuchasFrua

toputintoproduction.Also,perhapsits

designwastoosubtle,losingtoomuchof

itsbasecar’scharacterforittoappealto

potentialcustomers.

Still,theideaofatwo-doorsaloonwas

right,asJaguarfoundoutlessthanadecade

laterwhenitrevealedtheXJCoupe,acar

thatwasidenticalinimageandconceptto

theFruaS-type.TheItalian’stimingwas

wrong,buthisjudgementwasn’t.PW