Designing “the most beautiful car ever made” - the Jaguar E-Type
With the touch of an aeronautical engineer’s hands, the Jaguar E-Type became an icon of the 1960s. Its exquisite design and streamlined engineering helped it become a classic. Its design was so captivating that it received Enzo Ferrari’s (supposed) remark of “the most beautiful car ever made”.
But what's the story behind its design and why is it that the E-Type still manages to capture the eyes of every passing motorist?
Taking inspiration from an old classic
The design of the Jaguar E-type begins not with a car, but with a person. Malcolm Sayer, previously an aircraft engineer in WWII, was an automotive aerodynamicist for Jaguar in the 1960s. He was responsible for designing the hugely successful Jaguar D-Type, and when the E-Type went to the drawing board, it was this car Sayer took inspiration from.
The Jaguar D-Type had many features similar to the E-Type. An aerodynamic shape, a long, outstretched front end, a tail fin, a short, sloping back end and an aluminium body shell.
Style meets Physics
Just like he did with the Jaguar D-type, Malcolm Sayer used his aircraft engineering principles with the E-type. Putting an emphasis on aerodynamics, the Jaguar E-Types' exquisite looks came almost by accident. The shape of the Jaguar E-Type was similar to a bullet that cuts through the air - long, streamlined and rounded, sleek lines with little to no sharp angles.
The super sleek curves, and the simplicity of the design along with minimalistic style choices like the power dome in the centre of the E-Type’s bonnet, gave the car some subtle sculpture. Each body panel was made from aluminium and fitted so they sat flush and discretely against each other.
It looked as if the entire outer body was made from pouring molten aluminium into an E-Type shaped mould. These decisions were made not because it looked pretty but because it gave the car an aerodynamic edge.
Engineers at Jaguar were so obsessed with how the air flowed over the car that they attached cotton wool to the bonnet to assess it. Sayer even had the indented Jaguar badge removed from the bonnet, worrying it would impact the car’s performance.
The result of all this aerodynamic obsession was a visual masterpiece. A car so beautiful it earned a place in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Along with the Austin Mini, it’s seen as the automotive icon of the 1960s and deservedly so.
Original Jaguar E-Type paint colours
The most iconic Jaguar paint colour the Jaguar E-Type came in was Jaguar E-Type British Racing Green. However, it came in other colours too like:
We stock dozens more Jaguar paint colours for Jaguar touch up paint, as well as other brand’s paint colours too. No matter what paintwork you need fixing or touching up, we likely have the paint colour for your car.
How to order your Jaguar touch up paint
Jaguar car paint for the E-Type (or any other model of Jaguar) is available in all the colours listed above, plus any manufacturer discontinued paint colours or limited editions.
PaintNuts can mix all these colours for colour match touch up car paint, available as a high precision pen, bottle and brush or car spray paint/aerosol. Just enter your car reg on our website and off you go.