Our Jaguar E-Type Roadster is a Series II 4.2 litre version, made in the last year of SII production, being built in 1970.  By the end of 1970 the Series II had been discontinued as the Series III E-Type Jaguar was being built with its 5.3 litre V12 engine, ready for the 1971 launch.

 

We have a huge amount of history with this car, right from the bill for its first service through to details of its full rebuild about 10 years ago. This included much work on the body including a full respray in Carmen Red and rebuilding the engine, gearbox and suspension.  The leather seats are trimmed in black with red piping and to keep the colour scheme going we have installed red seat belts. 
 

The car is an original UK Right Hand Drive car built to UK specification, fitted with the 4.2 litre version of the famous six cylinder Jaguar XK engine. It is equipped with three, 2 inch SU carburettors and free from the emission control equipment that was fitted to the US specification twin Stromberg cars.  Jaguar claimed that the EType developed 265 bhp but it is more generally believed to be around 250 bhp. The US specification cars had about 30% less power so any Americans who have driven an E-Type in the USA tend to be surprised at the power of our British specification E-Type.  

 

To keep the car in the pristine condition we require for our hire cars, we have had it pressure cleaned and thoroughly waxoyled just after we bought it.

 

We have replaced the chrome wire wheels with alloy copies of the racing wheels used on the Jaguar D-Types in the 1950's, supplied by Realm Engineering in Evesham. These wheels are 6 inch wide instead of the standard 5 1/2 inch wheels, allowing us to fit wider tyres. Most tyre suppliers have problems balancing wire wheels and they rarely get it right so the new alloy wheels result in a complete lack of any wheel vibration and a smoother and safer ride.
 

This is a beautiful example of this iconic Jaguar convertible sportscar.  

  

We have used our E-Type on two of the MSA Euroclassic runs across Europe.  In 2007 we took the ferry across to Santander in Northern Spain and then headed south down to Porto and Lisbon in Portugal.  The September 2009 run saw us starting in Santander again but this time heading north over the Pyrenees into France and then up through west central France before finishing at Versailles.

 

One of the highlights of the run was the route over the Pyrenees.  When the run was being planned the organisers found out that the preferred route over the mountains was being re-built over the summer, ready for the winter skiing traffic. 

 

After some negotiation, the mayor of the Spanish town of Isaba agreed to open the road especially for us. 

 

The first part of the road was very narrow, in disrepair and still being worked on but quickly gave way to the new wider road, with virgin tarmac and armco barriers.  There was no traffic coming downhill and the only people we saw were Spanish workers waving at us, sitting on their trucks, or leaning on their shovels, having a well earned siesta.

 

This must have been the longest hill-climb over closed roads in Europe.  Wonderful! 

 

If you want to get a feel for driving (or being driven) in our Jaguar E-Type then press the Play button on this YouTube video clip (above).  Remember that this 8 minute section was uphill all the way - and it was only half the climb.  Our E-type never over-heated or missed a beat. 

 

Height and weight restrictions: The cockpit of the E-Type is very narrow, the doors are fairly short and there is limited headroom. Therefore anyone over 6ft 2in tall (1.88m) or weighing over 18st (252 lbs, 114 kilos) will probably not fit in the car.

Car	Daily Rate (9am to 8pm)	4 Day Rate	7 Day Rate	Insurance Excess
Jaguar E-Type Roadster (2 seats)	£360	£1,080	£1,800	£1,500

 

Additional Driver (any car)	£15 per Day
Picnic - We provide picnics to order, in a hamper with a waterproof picnic rug. Fresh seasonal food is included using local produce where possible. For obvious reasons we will not provide alcohol.	From £15 per head

For daily, weekend and weekly hire rates for all of our cars, see the section on Hire Charges.