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Jaguar Classic will celebrate 60th anniversary of Jaguar E-Type in March 2021

Written by Nizam Shaikh

Jaguar Classic will be celebrating the 60th anniversary of the legendary Jaguar E-Type in March 2021. Jaguar Classic has announced that the brand will create six matched pairs of E-types to celebrate the iconic sports car – The E-type 60 Collection. The E-Type 60 Collection cars will pay tribute to the most famous Jaguar E-Type of all times – ‘9600 HP’ and ‘77 RW’. 

The Jaguar E-Type ‘9600 HP’ and the ‘77RW’ have played a crucial role in the unveiling of the E-Type in Geneva, Switzerland for a world debut in March 1961. A 3.8 l Fixed-Head Coupe registered ‘9600 HP’ in the shade of Opalescent Gunmetal Grey was one of the first Jaguar E-Types to be unveiled for special guests at the Parc des Eaux Vives.

The Jaguar E-Type was driven ‘flat out’ to Switzerland from Coventry the night before the launch, by Bob Berry the PR Manager for Jaguar, just in the nick of time as the demonstration drives were about to begin. As the car was driven Flat Out, the ‘Opalescent Gunmetal Grey’ shade is known as ‘Flat Out Grey’.

Because of the exceptional demand for drives with Berry and the notable reaction to the E-type, legendary Jaguar Test and Development Engineer Norman Dewis was told to ‘drop everything’ and drive a British Racing Green 3.8 l roadster registered ‘77 RW’ overnight from Coventry to Geneva and therefore the British Racing Green is also known as ‘Drop Everything Green’. 

Each E-type 60 Collection pair will include one Flat Out Grey ‘9600 HP’ coupe and one Drop Everything Green ‘77 RW’ roadster, with unique paint formulations exclusively reserved for these cars, every E-type 60 Edition built by the team at Jaguar’s Classic Works facility in Warwickshire will be an existing 1960s 3.8 l E-type fully-restored to exclusive 60th-anniversary tribute specifications and each dedicatory car will feature a number of 60th-anniversary and commemorative design details created in conjunction with Jaguar Design Director Julian Thomson.