Jaguar World – July 2019

72 |JaguarWorld/July 2019

Italian

WORDS&PHOTOGRAPHYPAULWALTON

F

ORAfreshlydesignedcarto

receiveenoughpressandpublic

recognitiontobeconsidereda

success,itsdebutatamotorshow

needstobeperfectlytimed.Ifit

isrevealedatthesamemomentasone

ortwosimilardesignsfromrivals,then

itisindangerofbeinglostinthecrowd,

relegatedtothebackpages.

That’sexactlywhathappenedtoPietro

Frua’sstylishS-type-basedcoupeatthe

1966 Genevashow.Notonlydidarival

designhousedisplayitsversionofatwo-

doorJaguar(seebox,p74),but–andeven

moredamaging–thelong-awaitedE-type

2+2wasmakingitsdebutonJaguar’sown

stand.Duetothisunfortunatecoincidence,

Frua’slittlecoupewaslargelyignored,the

orderbooksempty,thecarforgotten.

Untimelyrevealaside,thelittle-knowncar

isoneoftheprettiesttwo-doorcoupesever

constructedonaJaguarchassis,offeringall

thestyleandeleganceofanItaliansports

car,butwiththerideandperformanceofa

standardsaloon;adesirablecombination.

So,diditdeserveabetterfate?