Driving the Most Beautiful Car Ever Made - The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E Roadster is an Automotive Icon

good morning this is Bill from aunty Ropin Naples on a well unfortunately it's starting to get muggy again we don't have a very crisp Horta morning here Friday is yeah you know it's bearable now but you can just tell it's gonna be hot as balls later on which is an absolute shame but summer is impending we've got the corona virus sweeping the country so all the signs point to negativity with a few exceptions I only have one bird and he's far away he tried to stay over here could see him they're keeping an eye on me thinking I might not see him but I do and hopefully he won't call - friends to come and make an attack pack my eyes out you know go into my innards whatever his Birds do when they're left to their own devices but we'll keep an eye on him and I can say that I have what is almost in arguably one of maybe the most beautiful car that was ever built this is a Jaguar e-type also known as the XKE that was brought about in America because of the nominal nature made more sense to Americans but was originally designed as the Jaguar e-type and it was designed by a team of guys it was one of those moments in history where the right group of guys came together at the right time to build an incredible machine it also happened with the Corvette but maybe none so special as the Jaguar e-type when it came out back in no I don't know they started showing it in the 60s the late 50s 59 60 release in 61 Enzo Ferrari called it the most beautiful car that he had ever seen which is of course quite a compliment from a guy like Enzo Ferrari and in fact if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery one could argue that the Ferrari 250 GTO and later the 250 GT borrowed a little bit from the looks of the e-type and that is certainly a hats off to the English designers the one guy you can thank more than anyone for this car is a gentleman who's not he probably doesn't get as much credit in world history as he deserves as a designer his name was Malcolm Sayer and he worked hand in hand with the founder of Jaguar Sir William Lyons also a very talented guy and of course another very gifted design team from top to bottom to come up with this car and what this car did was capitalized on Jaguars rather impressive run of my mom's victories in the 50s they wanted in the early 50s and then in 1953 I believe and then did a hat-trick three wins in a row from 1955 onward using initially the C type and then the much fabled e-type upon which this car is very I don't know if it's loosely based or very strongly based that was also a Malcolm Sayer design and Saylor himself was a pretty cool cat you know he had you know come from very humble roots had an incredible gift for engineering and design traveled to Iraq to work over there in World War two he worked for de Havilland and another airplane company designing aircraft and after the war went to work for Jaguar and he came up with some incredible designs in fact some say Malcolm Sayer was the first guy to use basically a CAD CAT computer-aided design except he did it without a computer some German fellow that he met in Iraq sort of trained him how to use mathematics three dimensionally to create car designs which is of course very much what people do with computers today but what Malcolm Sayer did just with his brain and a chalkboard back in the 1950s and he designed this car with incredible loving care incredible I mean he absolutely oversaw the design like a you know Nazi general I mean it's that one guy tried to sink a badge into the hood and I don't know if he was summarily fired or executed but he was definitely supported and the badge immediately came off because Sayer had a vision in mind and despite having no wind tunnel at all this car was incredibly slippery so not only does it look stunning it's it's very very very very aerodynamic without the use of any kind of modern wind tunnels or designs used to tape pieces of wool all down the side of the car and then drive next to it watching how the wind would affect them very very crafty guy indeed but anyway he took a lot of the racing heritage and designed from the d-type and implanted it in this car it used a monocoque which we got a phone call lately somebody asked me what the hell that was or at least asked Marty basically a unibody designed so you know there's no matter frame front to back the rear of this car is basically a tub that's all the frame and body in itself and then there's a front subframe bolted to it which holds the engine and the front bodywork and as such it made the car very very night and that was a big part of the d-type success in racing was it was night and even though this car is actually quite long a very very long car indeed it's actually quite narrow in fact not much wider than you don't make a TR five or so I'm gonna say 5.5 feet or some very very small number and when this thing came out when it first went on display at the Geneva Auto Show and then later the New York Auto Show it was an instant sensation people went bananas they started trying to throw checks at anyone a Jaguar who would take one to reserve a car for them and it became one of the most desirable and sought-after cars almost from the very beginning in fact very much from the very beginning just an absolutely gorgeous car to look at there were three Series to these Jaguar e-types there was the Series one not called bad when it came out but of course called that retroactively me the series two of which this is one and then the unless beloved Series three and in that run you sort of have a decline in joy of the people who admire these things you know there's debates it's like what's the best Rolling Stones album well you could debate it and people are gonna tell you which series of Jaguar they like the but to some extent it's pretty an arguable the series one probably the second the the series 1.5 I believe they called it when went to the bigger motor better transmission probably the most desirable in terms of you know fit finish and style but the series 2 is probably the most drivable and usable in terms of being a very modern car despite being from the 1960s in fact this is a connector car that in very rare form that you could actually drive today with a great relative degree of comfort yeah look at the minds of this thing I mean it's absolutely stunning the length of that front end you know this lovely swooping tail you know this one has the wraparound rear bumper the beautiful wire wheels and of course the technology that this car presented was a game-changer in the world of high-performance cars basically jaguar built this thing and was able to sell it for less than half the price of much of the competition your aston martins your Ferraris even your Corvettes and it would outperform them for the most part in fact when it first came out it was you know rumored advertised to run over a hundred fifty miles an hour which yeah you know may or may not have been true more of an advertising thing but it certainly got close to it it was you know one of the most beautifully balanced cars on the road you could drive it at a hundred miles an hour and feel beautifully planted very much unlike a lot of the other cars at the time and it just was one of the you know this is a true 60s sports car in the sense that it's a sense that it's car that's built around the running gear I mean obviously it has the most gorgeous bodywork that pretty much anyone has ever seen but the bodywork was all former sorry function over form it was just designed to give you a very swoopy you know wind resistant wind cutting at the design around an incredible running gear and the the running gear was not new it was the XK engine that's William lines had been developing since the pre-war and rain ran into a lot of flack over I mean an inline six with dual overhead cams chain-driven the early ones were finicky they were used for racing and a lot of people doubted that they could be put into a street car and used properly but my god did he ever do that with again the help of some terrific engineers and made this one of the most sought-after cars of all time one of the most iconic cars of all time and one of the best driving classic cars that you can buy today anyway let's get in this thing we're gonna start under the hood for a change because there's some stuff in the trunk we have to get into that mirror that should be in a better position so to get under the hood is a rather beautiful setup you twist these little chrome sliders there nothing's easy by the way in terms of you know being a modern car this is not a modern car the way it was designed this is very much a hand made interesting type thing with so many look at the mover to hood gorgeous so many to get that up there's so many bits and pieces that came right out of the cars that ran down the Mulsanne straight so there it is there's that XK engine this one is the 4.2 because it's a later series too it uses these two Stromberg cars instead of carbs said the original 3 su carbs unfortunately that was for American smog stuff and it did cut the horsepower down somewhat which is a shame but they work fine this engine in this car was rebuilt just about a year ago at great cost by one of the best jag shops in the country and you sure can tell the way it runs you see that front subframe with the box you know this is different from the way many other cars went together at the time and all that is bolted and connected to that rear monocoque and gives it a very stable platform while at the same time being very night you see these monthly little thin double wishbone you know suspension bits up front which barely look like they can hold the car I mean look how skinny they are but they're strong and they work just fine also a very early car to have two electric fans that was a response to a lot of complaints about the series one car overheating and it did solve the problem these cars can be run even on pretty hot days without getting too hot you could see the way that hood is with all the intermeshed panels riveted together like something out of an aircraft and certainly something out of a race car absolutely gorgeous and just lovely to look at this car is a one owner piece it was owned by the same guy since new he bought it through the military you know buy a car and bring it home program we have the whole story of it we have all the documentation absolutely miraculous the way this guy kept everything at some stage at at that gas shock kit put in I don't believe that's a standard piece I think they used to use a chain there or some such that is a much nicer system that makes the hood easier to use and a very correct upgrade anyway you can see the twin cam you could see these big acorn nuts and bolts the knurled aluminum oil cap you know this thing was made to aircraft standards by guys who worked in the aircraft companies and really put cars together for longevity on the racetrack and it just shows in every detail absolutely beautiful let's get that back down nice that one guy can do it I think that's the help of that hood shock so then we get back in push and twist and that's gonna secure our hood that beautiful wraparound windshield very low very sleek just gorgeous gorgeous garden look at twist that down I'm gonna reach behind here there's a little pull handle and that will eventually let us get the trunk open if I can find it there it is okay now this is all very neat stuff so first of all this is the original trunk in great shape the original cardboard inserts the original vinyl II put down here I'm not have photos of it but it's a pain in the ass to do one-handed you can lift up this vinyl thing pull back a panel and you've got a full-size wire wheel underneath it this trunk is very very shallow they actually had the design and luggage to make this work that was angled so you could take it on a weekend trip and design it they did but anyway but look into some of the receipts here here's 6000 bucks he spent at rpm again a great shop and man losing it because the angle and there's 16,000 he spent all within the last year to rebuild the motor rebuild the injection or sorry the carbs and intake and to make it just a fantastic driver more interesting than that here's of course the story the guy tells of how he got it and then from beginning to importation he kept every document them it was the company that imported it for him this all began in 520 of 70 but he didn't get the car until much much later Jaguar took a very long time to put this car together for him and you could almost call it like a series 2.25 or something of course in 71 Jaguar went from the 6 to the 12 and you know sixes were made only in the very beginning this one had 12 cylinder brakes they put on even with the 6 cylinder so it's just kind of some of that neat handmade stuff you get from a company that makes changes on the fly anyway more stuff from Nana there's receipts for payment there's more documents about the importation more communications still more communications more payment this is kind of neat it talks about other delay happened over the dock strikes you've got a little bit of history but they do finally give you the the VIN and the engine number and the car that's being made and sent one thing that's interesting is this is a one-hour fourteen 460 VIN but the actual VIN had ended up with was a 2r which denotes that it was at the very tail end of the series - here's a letter from England sorry Jaguar Coventry sales limited telling him that the thing is getting shipped it's gonna be on the Atlantic Saga heading to New York and again it's just awesome and incredible to see all of these original importation documents intermingled with the guys service records he told me that he planned on keeping the car for just a couple of years before Sammy net and ended up keeping it for 50 years instead I'm gonna pause the video for a second ok secretly I already did this earlier I'm just gonna pause it and insert the thing I did this morning where I put the top up so you can have them look at it then we'll get it back down and go for a spin with the Sun coming out we better hurry okay here it is with the soft top up and in mace definitely not a one-handed job that takes three rather vintage looking chrome matches they look even more vintage than 1971 you can see this original top is in great shape very very proper fits very nicely the plastic back window is in good shape and the nice you know chrome bits and trim around it looks very very good for for the original all very clean and proper but of course we're gonna get that back down and go for a spin because that is certainly the most the most proper way to enjoy a etype roadster so let me get that back down and we'll go okay top back down there you can see because this is a series two you get the wider mouth at the front that was made to help with the cooling you get the headlights now devoid of the glass covers which a lot of people said those covers were beautiful and they were but they did diminish the efficiency of the headlights you also get there's bigger marker lamps on the front and side in the back instead of what I you know some people love them but I thought they were kind of a weird little tail light up top but now it does have a bigger assembly beneath over Neath the over Neath I'm not sure that's a word over the top of that rather beautiful dual exhaust coming from the back with a big chrome on the side the lovely delicate mirrors the chrome here the three wipers again the gorgeous race-inspired mover hood Briggs Connie man very famous American car guy and racer took quite a shine to the e-type and brought one over to campaign in the United States before going back to England you can see the wire wheels with the knock-offs gorgeous a guy named Bob Knight if I remember right although I think he might have been the coach of a basketball team in the 80s but anyway he designed this rear suspension on a bet with Sir William Lyons that he designed it in like 27 days and it became one of the most long-lived durable and beloved suspensions of all time in fact it's still used by many hot routers today fully independent uses inboard brakes right next to the differential and just kept that car so beautifully planted on the road front and back made it very predictable and lovely and certainly one of the best suspensions of all time okay inside again this car is all original I mean I know you can complain it's got little scuffs here the leather is a little bit deflated whatnot but this is unchanged - this car is 50 years old and precisely the way it came this guy drove at 43,000 miles never did any restoration on the interior at all the exterior is mostly original paint he had a couple scratches in it here and there that he touched up but for all intents and purposes this is an original car the way that it came and even though Concorde nuts-and-bolts restorations are nice there is an incredible value to seeing one in the condition that it arrived from Coventry while I'm over here you can see that those rocker switches on the dash they replaced earlier toggle style aircraft switches which were beautiful but the rockers are better for safety and frankly they still look pretty good you know the dash is right out of an World War two fighter jet I mean it looks like you're getting in a Spitfire or something you've got five gauges in the centre include clock you've got two gauges your odometer and your tack with Smith's that beautiful there you've got here's a toggle switch that still has for your headlamps and beautiful thin wooden steering wheel I've got it's just absolutely gorgeous it's getting them drive this thing so it's not a huge car inside as can be said for many many Jaguars let's see if this has the reclining seats it does thank the earlier ones didn't and they made it a little more of a pain to get comfortable in this one reclines quite nice height you can see that beautiful thin wood steering wheel absolutely gorgeous you know drilled for weight whatever you know these glass Smith's gauges the beautiful chrome ringed warning lamps these really cool metal switches which control the the air flow inside the car again your your voltmeter your oil pressure your water temp your fuel here's your hazards your map light your pan and lights your headlights I tonight's washer fan all of that stop very cool and here's your choke which we're gonna give ourselves a minimum and it comes and then of course a very small glovebox were I can open it yeah you could fit a Walther PPK in there very nice if you need to add a little self-defense on hand so you do have to reach over push a button and put them a little footman thing there so good luck with doing that in a pinch you have a cigarette lighter down there this one has the factory-installed motor Roma am/fm stereo very nice first 1971 big beautiful chrome shifter this one had the second generation four-speed that was synchronized so much much easier to drive and big beautiful chrome e-brake little ashtray here because people smoked in 1971 and everything lovely also this wheel does telescope by twist this little guy here I can pull this wheel closer to me which God knows why I do that you don't have to be at the MIT amide baby to grab the wheel if I moved it any closer some we're gonna leave it right where it's and put this thing and fire it up and see what we got now the one thing that can be said about god dammit trying to get the key in wrong hand is always a pain the one thing you can say about this engine it is probably one of the best sounding six cylinders ever made if not the best sounding six cylinder ever made I mean it has a lovely growl to it the fitting of the fitting of the car and of course that pays homage to this thing being so race inspired you know look at that big power hump down the center of the hood this endless expansive hood in front of you I mean I feel like I'm about to do a hundred and sixty down the Mulsanne straight in the you know in the Mons race it just has that vibe to it completely you get all these lovin little thin Sun visors I think we got enough choke doing and leave it on for another second let's see if I can find the correct gear so we can go for a spin [Music] with that fresh rebuild this go really has become a fantastic runner you could just feel this thing's ready to take a trip across the country if you want it to but you also feel this you feel that it's a machine you know unlike machines of the modern vintage where everything is sort of computer-controlled and no problems at all this car you have to actively participate in drive in and you've got to feather the throttle sometimes you've got to massage a steering wheel you've got to massage the brakes that and way more pep and you would think it as and of course the whirring cacophony of mechanical parts those twin overhead cams you could hear that Shane's driving them you can hear the suction from the carburetors this is a machine a machine that I can barely get into gear with the wrong hand and to drive one around you know you basically have I mean it's different from if you're in a Ferrari where you get looks from people they want to look at it they see it but they don't want you to see them looking at it because you know they don't want to give you that satisfaction nobody expects to see an e-type going down the road and when they do and when they're confronted with what is again almost in arguably the most beautiful car of all time they're not sure how to continue I mean they might have to pull over and ponder things for a little bit they might start swerving around as they try to get a picture and look at you you know this car has an impact just unlike maybe any other car that's ever been made it is so gorgeous and look at the design is almost like one of those sculptures the Greeks came up with were you chip away at all the stuff that is in an e-type and you end up with it it feels like it designed that just should have been with us since the beginning of time man is that nice what a driver and let me tell you you feel so comfortable at speed you know the color of this vintage can feel very rickety and weird and unstable and you don't want to drive it too quick you don't want to take it into corners not so with the e-type I mean it feels in a very modern sense ready to take on any road that you want to throw at it at any speed you're interested at driving it and the worry credible I feel like I could continue on up to 120 hundred 30 miles an hour and feel just as comfortable as I would in any kind of modern car and that is an incredible achievement for a machine that was designed in the late 50s and then this one that was built in the 70s absolutely incredible achievement so hats off to your Sir William Lyons or Malcolm Sayers and all the other guys who collaborated to make this one of the most incredible cars of all time this one it's on consignment with us it's for sale by the original owner he got back surgery doesn't really feel good getting in and out of it anymore and I have to say what a tough guy man he walked away from this car stiff-upper-lip 50 years of ownership you could tell it hurt him a little bit but in his mind it was time for it to be moved on to somebody else who's gonna look after it for the next 50 years so if you have an interest you could give Murray a call two three nine two nine eight eight thousand on the web at AE Naples comm thank you so much for having a mug and we'll see you with the next one take care

Channel: Curious Cars

Views: 55,430

Rating: 4.8883071 out of 5

Keywords: Jaguar, E-Type, OTR, Coupe, Series 1, Series 2, Series 3, XK-E, XKE, 3.8, 4.2, V12, William Lyons, Malcolm Sayer, D-Type, Bill, Auto Europa, Naples, FL, Florida, Autohaus, Jay Leno, Doug DeMuro, Hoovie, Tavarish, Review, Test Drive

Id: 6Tbo5Svg-QY

Length: 27min 56sec (1676 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 13 2020