Is The Legend Of The Lightweight Jaguar E Type Justified? 

Wow.. what a story Mark.. and thanks for watching!

I just went off to search 'Daimler SP250' and was rewarded with the history of that being born as the Daimler Dart but Chrysler owns that model name so they used the project number SP250 from then on. I've seen more than one in Canada and the owner I talked to calls it a Dart. I can't remember the badge emblems, if any.

@@charlieross-BRM Most owners outside the USA still refer to them as Daimler Darts. UK Police even had a few to chase the cafe racers (bikes) back in the day. There is a great book by Brian Long if you want to read the full background. The engine is what actually makes it so special. The sweetest sounding (Edward Turner designed) V8 ever made. Plenty for Jack to talk about on a future episode.

The SP 250 wasn't refined until Jaguar became the manufacturer. The early SP 250's had an understrength frame and the doors would pop open if you pushed it hard when cornering. Jaguar cleaned the bugs out and the '62 and '63 models are really good cars. I have been looking for a good example for about a year now. Most of the cars for sale are butchered or on sham websites. It sounds like you were in a good one!

TOTALLY

Yes, it was perpetual lol. In fact Jack struggled to say much at all such was that driving experience. The red leather a wonderful contrast to the various racing paraphernalia and bare metal. Brutal, yet subtle apparently. No doubt an interesting car to sample.

Sounded like my Big old boxer when he stood between my wife and a man who had made her feel uneasy by the way he was looking at her.l will never forget the angry warning rumble that grew out of his chest it was hairs on the back of the neck stuff . Listening to this car did that

So did that slightly furtive look around the cockpit just after the engine fired up. 😅

@@TamTran-vw7zm can you imagine the feeling of being in there, knowing the experience that awaits shortly you? I enjoy driving my V8 Lexus, but this a completely different animal.

150k would get you an elan 26r for a similarly hair raising grin forging experience

@@eskamobob8662 thats a light weight e nearly the same as having a d-type i khoww what i would rather have!! no insult to the lotus though !

Hardly surprising really 😂

@@maverick4177 You’ve clearly not driven a Boxster then (early 2.5 excluded TBF) !

I believe the Boxster would certainly struggle to keep up with a semi lightweight, just looking at the numbers the Porsche would be heavier at around 1300kg and have less power at something like 290hp.

I was impressed with Jack's restraint and maturity... I'll bet 5.5K is were the rear tires break free on those roads!

😂

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Racing etype on the cheap!

Legend 😂😂😂

A bit like my 2CV before I renewed the gaskets...

Thank you Mohammad!! Have a great week!

Jealous? Me? Don't be silly!

Oh it was left hand drive and watching the very end of the movie one can see while the close up is of Ann and Elvis, when they drive off it is a 'stunt double' in the right seat in the Jag, since she was terirfied of how Elvis drove!

Perhaps 30 years ago. Performance metrics have changed a lot over the years. A lightweight Series 1 E type in 1993 was only a 30 year old car, so not that old yet and very fast for 1993 if it was well prepped. Most modified stripped out 1960s old sportscars were probably faster than most 1990s road cars. Things moved on a lot over the next 30 years though. Today road cars have even greater tyre, brake and transmission advances. To the point even a 1980s supercar is generally beaten up easily on the road by £40k hot hatches. Case in point you'll struggle to beat a 2023 Civic Type R or Golf R in an F40 or Jaguar XJ220. Those cross ply tyres seen on 1960s racing machines are absolutely no match for 21st century tyres even if they hung on in the early 1990s.

@@pgr3290 The shopping trolleys you mention wouldn’t get near a lightweight E type, despite its sixty years; they may be nearly as powerful, but they weigh almost twice as much.

@@philnorton9723 Unfortunately you're not living in the real world. A Civic Type R and Golf R on modern tyres beats supercars of just 15 years ago around circuits, and even fabled hyper cars of less than 40 years ago fall victim to modern technological advances. On the road AWD systems such as in the Golf mean all weathers and all circumstances the traction available is enormous. While the Jaguar is no doubt fast by some standards it will lose regardless. The weight of modern cars does not prevent them being faster. They are universally so thanks to dual clutch gearboxes, superior brakes, suspension, but mostly tyres all said and done. A 2023 Golf R can do 0-60 in under 4 seconds, a quarter mile in less than 13 seconds and lap the Nurburgring faster than a V10 Lamborghini Gallardo or lightweight track focused Lotus Exige S. No lightweight E Type on inner tubes and cross plies is getting close to any of those numbers.....And yes, you read that right. A two seat dedicated sports car from just 10 years ago in the Lotus Exige S which weighs less than 1200kg, has 345bhp, track focused modern tyres and brakes, track suspension and actual serious downforce none of which the Jag has was beaten around a circuit by a Golf R shopping trolley as you call it. People don't realise.

@@pgr3290 I read your earlier, now deleted reply.😇 Check the weight of a lightweight E type; quite a lot less than 1,200 kg (even the standard steel car weighs less than that), as for suspension, it's hard to beat a fully adjustable double wishbone system. Why would a sixty year old car not also be on 2023 tyres? Modern shopping trolleys have come a long way, but zero to sixty, and Nurburgring laps are not a particularly good measure of real world performance, although they may help sales.😎

@@philnorton9723 It doesn't matter what you think. A lightweight 60 year old E Type on cross ply tyres is not faster on the road or around a circuit than a Lotus Exige S or a Golf R. I have driven hundreds if not thousands of performance cars in my life at this point and the tyres hold the key. You harping on about weight is meaningless when a Golf R and Civic Type R can be much heavier than a sports car or old supercars and still astonishingly beat them on the circuit, because that's modern performance hot hatch and tyre technology these days. Real world performance of a lightweight E Type Jaguar will be far lower, because typical sub optimal road surfaces, low temperatures, damp or wet weather conditions etc affect a rear drive lightweight car on cross ply tyres vastly more than an four wheel drive hot hatch on modern rubber. Ridiculously more traction. By the time the Jaguar exits a damp corner sideways on quarter throttle with the rear wheels still spinning the Golf hooks up and is gone. Here's me pointing out solid evidence of heavy modern hatches being provably quicker on circuits than decade old dedicated sports cars and many supercars and you provide nothing but your obvious lack of knowledge and understanding. Good stuff. The E type is a glorious car. A performance match for modern super hatches? Absolutely not in any measurable metric.

🤣🤣 he’ll buy two!

yeah i get that but chris is jaded i like jacks enthusiasm because thats what it is about !! no offence to chris !!

Yep, he was an absolute legend. Top lad.

Thought that was in 1957 years before e type that was developed and released for 1960/61 and racing lightweights of 1962/63

@@bluesteel6612 Yes, you could be right. Seems like I got my dates confused.

Thank you for watching!

Glad you enjoyed it Fella! Thanks for watching

Cars especially the E type Light weight

Cheers Garry! Have a great week

Could be wrong but I reckon that's an oil pressure warning light, rather than ignition. I've seen a few racers with very prominent oil lights - so they stand a chance of noticing a fault early before the engine explodes!

You could destroy Alderaan with that light!

@@StupStups Yes thinking about it that is more likely to be an oil light rather than ignition.

I loved it!! Hope you’re keeping well Michael!

Same feeling i had in a Ferrari Daytona! Race car! Hard to explain!

Absolutely!! Thanks for watching buddy

It’s hateful, every day having to drive these cars when I could be in an office all day. Do it all for you guys! 😋

Thank you!! That is a compliment indeed..

@@Number27 Using his favorite test route too... 😉

Thank as always for your continued support chap. Glad you enjoyed it!