Coys Auction - True Greats
Royal Horticultural Halls
Elverton St
Westminster
London SW1

Thursday 4th December 2008

Whilst the concept of the Jaguar E Type was without doubt one of the finest pieces of automotive design ever to be put into general production, one of the problems with its continued development was the inevitable weight gain. Throughout the 1960s ever more stringent safety legislation emanated from the USA and, as this market was a major breadwinner for Jaguar, it was perhaps unavoidable that the purity of the original design would be compromised to compete within it. Emissions legislation had forced the adoption of twin Stromberg carburettors on trans-Atlantic bound cars resulting in a reduction in power to 177bhp instead of the quoted 265bhp for European examples breathing through triple Webers.

However, the balance was to be redressed with the introduction of the Series 3 model powered by Jaguar‘s new 5.3-li