46 |JaguarWorld/July 2019
CLASSICDRIVE
Atlessthanhalfthevalue
ofanequivalentSeries1, we
questionwhethertheSeries 2
E-typeishalfthecar
OPEN
SECRET
A
SFARascertaintiesgo,the
oneset-in-stonenever-
changingfactisthatthe
Series1E-typeisnotjust
themostbeautifulcarthat
Jaguarevermade,asvotedbyadmirers
theworldover,butispossiblythemost
beautifulcarever.Iftrue,wheredoesthat
leaveitsyoungersiblings?
Ofcourse,therearethosewhodisagree
mostheartedlywiththeabovestatement,
buttheSeries1E-typereceivesaconsistent
ratinginvariouspolls,risingtothetopofthe
podiumdespitetheincrediblevariationin
respondents.Ifvaluesaretobeconsidered,
itistheopencarthatdominates.Fewpolls
includedefficiencyordrivingenjoyment;
theycuttothequickinnothingmorethan
abeautypageant.Setagainstsuchexotica
asAstonMartinorFerrari,theE-type
exceedsineverythingexceptexclusivity.
Giventhatsome75,000unitswerebuilt,
andjustahandfuloftheirmoreexpensive
protagonists,anE-typewasvergingonthe
common.At£250,000,atopSeries1E-type
opentwo-seaterwouldbarelybuyanAston
Martinrestorationproject.
Likeanyartform,purityoflinedefines
thevisualexpression.Uninhibitedbythe
constraintsofmoderndesignrestrictions,
Jaguartrodtheaestheticroutewith
theE-typeandsucceededbeyondevery
expectation.Itistruetosaythatwhilethe
majorityoftheindividualcomponentsin
thisadvancedautomotiveartefactproved
effective,manyfellbelowtheexpectations