Opinions on a given automobile's styling tend to be rather varied. One man's "clean and classy" is another's "bland and featureless." But if there was ever a car that could make all who see it agree (after catching their breaths) that it is simply beautiful, the first Jaguar XKE would have to be it.
Introduced as a 1961 model, the first XKE featured a 3.8-liter, DOHC, straight six. The six featured triple carburetors, made around 250 horsepower and was matched to a four-speed manual gearbox. Suspension was independent all 'round and the XKE boasted disc brakes at all four corners, the latter a rarity for the time. The first 500 XKEs produced had flat floors (hence the term "flat floor XKE") as well as external hood latches. Afterwards, the floors were contoured for more leg room and the latches were moved inside the car. The 1965 models received a larger (4.2-liter, 265 hp) inline six, a fully synchronized transmission (previously, first gear was non-syncro), improved brakes and more comfortable seats.
The low, sleek and curvaceous body of the XKE (available in both roadster and coupe body styles) was so unabashedly sexy that Enzo Ferrari himself called it the "most beautiful car ever made." But the XKE (referred to as the E-type in the U.K.) wasn't just a looker; she could run too. Road tests of the early 3.8 revealed a fast sports car -- it could sprint to 60 mph in 7.1 seconds and hit a top speed of 149 mph. Back in 1961, those were some serious numbers.
The so-called Series 1 XKE ran through the 1967 model year and had a number of styling features, topmost being the lovely covered headlights, that make them prized among enthusiasts and collectors. Other ways to spot a Series 1 are the turn signals mounted above the bumpers and a smaller "mouth" compared to the XKEs that followed.
Values on early XKEs in extremely nice condition range from about $50,000 for the coupe to $100,000 for the roadster.
By blueguydotcom
on July 30, 2010
01:10 PM
Shrug. Neighbor had one. Never got the obsession with Jags.
By whoosierdaddy
on July 30, 2010
03:09 PM
25 years ago you saw them on the road, and a friend had one as a toy. Beautiful car, but he was always working on it...drive an hour, work on it for an hour he said.
By rsholland
on August 1, 2010
08:39 AM
Absolutely gorgeous.
There's never been a Jag since this model that has held any interest for me; but the original Series 1 XKE, it blew me over when it was new, and still blows me away today. Succeeding versions, while maybe better cars, lost some of the visual purity that the original Series 1 had.
It wasn't perfect. It had a crotchety, non-syncro first gear; and as with all British sports cars of that era, was fussy and somewhat ill-tempered. In spite of all that, its one one of the most beautiful sports car to have ever graced this planet. I can never decide which was the better looking model, the coupe or the roadster?
By rsholland
on August 1, 2010
08:43 AM
I do have one bad memory about the XKE, however. One of my best friends from high school was killed in one.