This is one of those instances when spare parts become sculptures in their own right. It’s a lightweight fiberglass Jaguar E-Type “clamshell” bonnet (or hood) that carries scars earned through years of hard-fought competition use.
There’s no word on what happened to the E-Type that this bonnet was originally fitted to, it may have been restored with a new front end or perhaps written off in a major racing incident. The nose is now being offered for sale out of Harelbeke, Belgium in as-is condition.
This is an original page from the E-Type brochure, it’s not hard to see why so many consider it the most beautiful car of all time. Image courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.
The E-Type’s roots trace back to the earlier Jaguar D-Type, a revolutionary race car that won the 24 Hours of Le Mans three years in a row from 1955 to 1957.
Under the leadership of Sir William Lyons, founder of Jaguar, and aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, the E-Type was developed with a focus on performance, aerodynamics, and aesthetics, adhering closely to the Jaguar mantra “Grace, Space, Pace.”
The car was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1961, it stunned audiences with its sleek lines, drop dead good-looks, racing pedigree, and perhaps most of all for its borderline affordable price point of £2,097 – less than half the price of its competitors.
The initial series, later known as the Series 1, came equipped with a 3.8 liter six-cylinder DOHC XK engine, producing 265 bhp and capable of pushing the car to speeds of 150+ mph. This was a remarkable feat at the time, particularly for a production car. In 1964, the engine capacity was increased to 4.2 liters, improving torque and overall drivability, and later cars were equipped with a V12.
Today the E-Type is regularly referenced as the most beautiful car of all time, it’s certainly not hard to see why, and that original price of £2,097 has long since been left in the dust – it’s now a genuine challenge to find good example for sale at less than 30x that amount.
The E-Type was built around a central monocoque tub with a front subframe that carried the engine and suspension. The car had independent front and rear suspension, disc brakes front and back, and world-beating performance. Image courtesy of Jaguar Land Rover.
As noted further up, this is an E-Type nose section that is now being offered for sale. It may be bought by an E-Type owner who needs a new front end (or a spare) or it may be bought by someone who wants to mount it as a display piece.
It’s being offered for sale on Collecting Cars out of Harelbeke, Belgium and the seller notes that they can assist with shipping both inside Europe and internationally. If you’d like to read more about it or register to bid you can visit the listing here.
Images courtesy of Collecting Cars
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
