Jaguar is debuting a dozen E-Types to celebrate the car icon’s 60th birthday, which it will sell to drivers as pairs. Jaguar calls the six matched pairs, made up of one coupe and one roadster, the E-type 60 Collection.
The matched pairs concept rests tenuously on the story of the original E-Type’s unveiling, which was so successful Jaguar had to blitz across the continent to get a second car to the debut, the company said in its release:
The E-type made its world debut in Geneva, Switzerland on 15 March 1961. The public reaction to the lone coupé available for test drives was so strong that Jaguar rushed a second E-type, a roadster, from Coventry to Geneva overnight.
These E-Types will be outfitted with the 3.8 liter six-cylinder XK engine and will have upgraded five-speed manual transmissions. They’ll have other tweaks, too, such as electric cooling fans and electronic ignition for “everyday usability,” as Jaguar puts it. I doubt these will be anyone’s dailies, though I suppose buying two of the (almost) same car means you don’t have to worry too much about beating one up.
It all sounds like a very convoluted way to sell a dozen cars by roping in six buyers who will pay for two a piece, but I suppose if you are an E-Type fan and have the money, this could look like a bargain. Especially with the limited edition paint finishes and center console artwork which commemorate the original pair’s debut. And don’t forget the tool roll!
Oh, and buying these gets you a trip in the Summer of 2022 to take part in an “E-Type pilgrimage” from Coventry to Geneva to recreate the trip the original roadster undertook to join its stablemate for the debut. Of course, no pricing was announced. The old saying applies: If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.
Well, for those of us who cannot even begin to consider ownership of one E-Type — let alone two — I’ve just the thing to cheer you up:
It’s a little bit of music from Donald Byrd, who loved the Jag E-Type so much he put it on the cover of his LP, A New Perspective. The jazz trumpeter was a fan of cars on covers and did so on more than one occasion.
Feel free to blast Byrd’s “Elijah” while enjoying images of the E-type 60 Collection:
