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 aren't the only people to appreciate its beauty.  In December 2010 Irish pop singer used our E-Type in a video for her new single 'Sunrise'. 

The lyrics of the song even include the line "Now I'm on the open road, travelling far and wide".

Susan Bluechild is from Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin. She comes from a strong musical background, her mother and older sister are classical pianists, and her second cousin is Sultans of Ping lead singer Niall OFlaherty. Susan herself trained as an opera singer and pianist but found she was drawn towards contemporary pop and rock; among her influences Susan sites Sheryl Crow, The Cardigans, Kate Bush, Madonna, Debbie Harry, Stevie Nicks and Belinda Carlisle.

We have used our E-Type on three 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.   

In September 2010 we took the E-Type on its longest run yet all the way to the east of the Czech Redpublic and then back over the alps via the famous Stelvio and St Gothard passes.

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.

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