Classic Car Hire in Yorkshire by Reflections

The Jaguar E-Type classic car that we hire out in Yorkshire was always primarily meant for use on the road, as a sports car for the general public, but it did perform rather well on the racing circuits for a time too.

In April 1961 the Jaguar E-Type was raced at Oulton Park for the first time and sped away from all the other racers, including the Aston Martin DB4GT, to win with Graham Hill, father of Damon Hill of 1990s Formula One fame, at the wheel. But, because the car was not truly intended for races, this initial outing didn't lead to a full on racing career for the car. There was, however, a run of specially built E-Types for John Coombs which, again with Hill at the wheel , went on to win four times in splendid style during 1963 with Roy Salvadori usually coming close behind in another E-Type.

The E-Type was also a good performer as a clubman racer with its six-cylinder engine in the 1960s, in which Merle Brennan proved to be practically unbeatable in the Sports Car Club of America races between 1962 and 1964 driving his E-Type Jag.

The E-Type Jaguar reached a pinnacle when it was fitted with a V12 engine and raced in the United States, by Bob Tullius and Lee Meuller, with the support of British Leyland between the years of 1974 and 1976. Noted as the most successful event at the time for the E-Type Jaguar in the UK was when Peter Taylor won the production sports car championship driving his own ‘2 + 2' coupe in 1974. There was even a much faster car than this, though it did not win so often, in the form of the V12 ‘2 + 2' with Tecalemit petrol injection and many other modern specifications that Guy Beddington entered in the Modsports races.