In 2017, Jaguar Classic, the classic-car arm of the famed British automaker, launched its E-Type Reborn program so that it could offer enthusiasts like-new restored examples of its most iconic model (never mind that the price tag was £295,000, or about CDN$650,000 in today’s money). In 2021, it turned out a run of six restored E-Type coupes and six restored E-Type roadsters as part of an E-Type 60 Collection meant to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the debut of the Jag E-Type Series I. In 2023, Jaguar Classic put up for sale seven pairs of restored E-Types – each of them again a roadster and a coupe – as part of its E-Type ZP Collection, to honour the model’s first race wins.
All that is to say, you could order a factory-correct Jaguar E-Type from the company proper for the past several years—but it wasn’t until just now that a customer’d thought to commission Jaguar to build an entirely new E-Type from scratch.
Meet the E-Type Commemorative, a two-unit run (is it possible for Jaguar to not offer E-Types in pairs?) of brand-new classic Jaguars based on the blueprints for the Series I, but with a host of modern touches. As a pair of one-off two-off roadsters, they don’t technically count as “continuation cars,” but they do count as the first E-Types that Jaguar has built in 50 years. (That’s if you rule out six E-Type Lightweight race cars the company built from scratch around 2015 or so.)
The Commemorating the name is referring to is, in fact, that production end date of 1974, and in tribute the Signet Green on the one car and Opal Black on the other are pulled from that year’s catalog of paint options.
Don’t look for that sort of ’60s or ’70s correct-ness in the rest of the build, though—these Series I-inspired cars are throwbacks, sure, with styling touches and amenities drawn from across the E-Types production run, but they also come complete with quite a few modern updates.
Those include trick tech like a heated windscreen and a Bluetooth connection, not to mention a bespoke Bridge-of-Weir leather interior. The engine is Jaguar’s classic 3.8-litre six, yes, but the four-speed manual has been ditched for a more-current five-speed, and the carbs have been swapped out for electronic fuel injection for modern liveability.
Jaguar also spelled out the gem-like touches added by renowned English jewellers Deakin & Francis. The “Growler” badge on the front, for example, is 18-carat gold, as is the one on the steering wheel horn button, where it’s surrounded by a mother-of-pearl inlay. The shift knob makes use of those same materials in its details while being constructed mostly of sterling silver.
It’s unclear how much the “loyal, discerning client in Southeast Asia” who commissioned the cars paid for the world’s first new E-Types in a half-decade, but considering the aforementioned E-Type Reborn starts at CDN$650,000 and is built off an existing car, we’d say a ballpark of seven figures per feels about right.
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