Despite almost being 60 years old, the Jaguar E-Type remains one of the best-looking cars ever built and Jay Leno recently had the opportunity to check out a stunning example up close.
The E-Type featured is a 1963 model and has the special distinction of having aluminum body panels.
However, this isn’t how it left the factory. Instead, the vehicle’s owner, Dan Mooney, sent the car to Jaguar Classic who performed a comprehensive restoration of the vehicle that took 3000 man-hours. As part of the restoration, all of the original body panels were replaced by new ones made from aluminum. The car now weighs between 400 and 500 lbs (181 kg – 226 kg) less than a steel-bodied E-Type.
If you have $450,000, Mooney can build you a Jaguar E-Type just like his
It’s not just the aluminum body that makes this E-Type special. Lift up the lightweight hood and you’ll find the original number-matching engine. However, the inline-six now displaces 4.4 liter, instead of the original 3.8, so it pumps out more grunt as a result. Mooney doesn’t tell Leno how much horsepower the car has, but quotes a torque figure of 360 lb-ft (488 Nm). The engine’s rev limiter sits at 6,200 rpm and the engine is mated to a four-speed manual transmission.
Mooney’s E-Type isn’t one of the Lightweight continuation models produced by Jaguar, but it is very similar. It does feature some aftermarket parts, like a different steering rack and that modified engine, yet even so, it is about as desirable as an E-Type can get.