Jaguar E-Type S1 3.8 FHC

History

Even though we have now had over 45 years to get  used to it, there is something so right and so perfect about the shape of the original E-Type Jaguar that it's power to stop the world in its tracks has still not been diminished. Drive one  through any town centre today and you will immediately feel like you have turned into George Clooney with a puppy in his arms – everyone will come over all dreamy and stare longingly in your direction.

Driving one in 1961 must have been even more sensational. At a time when the average family saloon was doing well to crack 60mph and might take a week to get there, this Coventry cat could hit the same speed in 6.8 seconds and scorch on to a terminal velocity of almost 150mph. At least as good as any contemporary Aston or Ferrari, it's only because Jaguar sold so many of them that mere mortals like you and I can realistically think of owning one today.

This particular car is about as good as E-Types get. An early Series I car with faired-in headlamps, bucket seats and an aluminium dash that could have come straight out of a fighter plane, it is powered by the original 265bhp snarling 3.8-litre straight-six that it was designed for – faster and more free-revving than the softer 4.2 that replaced it in late 1964.

The biggest weakness of the early cars was the clunky Moss gearbox, but you'll have no embarrassing graunchy moments in this car because it has been fitted with the later synchro box which performed beautifully on our brief test drive. Said to have been fully restored in 1989 and not touched since, it has excellent panel fit and is described as "mechanically A1". Oil pressure and temperature remain exactly where they should and the whole car feels tremendously alive and responsive on the road.

Given the astronomical rise in contemporary Aston and Ferrari prices in recent months, it can only be a matter of time before the market wakes up to how seriously undervalued these early E-Types are. Buy now while you can still afford it!