There cannot be many E-types, or for that matter many other fifty year old cars, which have covered just 381 miles, according to the odometer. This car is therefore also one of the most original E-types in existence, showing only a little interior wear and tear. In fact, this car has strangely enough probably covered about one million miles, without ever turning a wheel!

Built in October 1967, this E-type was used by Jaguar for a display on board the famous Cunard liner, the RMS Queen Elizabeth, for a period of about three years. This was towards the end of the era of the great luxury express liners in passenger service on the North Atlantic. The Queen Elizabeth, launched in 1940 and the world’s biggest liner at the time, originally served as a war-time troop ship, but entered civilian service in 1947. Her life ended sadly when she burned out and capsized in the port of Hong Kong.

Together with the Queen Mary, these two liners offered a weekly sailing in each direction between Southampton and New York, and gave Cunard the leading position in the Atlantic passenger trade. However, eventually the service came to an end, in the face of competition from aircraft. Both the Queens were withdrawn from service, and the E-type was returned to Jaguar, where it has been kept ever since as a display and later museum car.

Introduced in 1961 in 3.8 litre form, the E-type received the bigger 4.2 litre engine together with a fully-synchronised gearbox in 1964. In the following year, the original open two-seater and fixed head coupé models were supplemented by the longer wheelbase two-plus-two coupé. The designation ‘Series 1½’ is a slightly unofficial title, as the E-type Series 1 continued in production until 1968. However Series 1½ is a commonly used description for the 1968 models which were slightly modified to comply with new safety legislation introduced in the USA. The most obvious difference is that these cars lost their headlamp fairings.