This has to be the biggest award Jaguar has received until now. Who could have thought that one of its car will be used for designing a stamp? The Jaguar E type has now become the face of a new stamp published by Royal Mails. But since it is the E type, the idea does not seem too far-fetched. This car has consistently been tagged as the most beautiful car in the world. In fact this car was not just a symbol of beauty but also of great performance. The E type was a perfect balance between beauty, performance and cost effectiveness. This car deserves in every way to be there on the country’s postal stamp. The Royal Mail on the 14 of August launched 3 First Class Postal Stamps, one of which showcased a Jaguar E Type in its full glory.
Jaguar Cars Limited manufactured the legendary Jaguar E type from 1961 to 1974. It is a renowned British Sports car and is also known by the name of Jaguar XK-E. It was an iconic car and sold beyond 70,000 units in its life span of 14 years. The concept versions of the E type were called E1A and E2A. The former was presented in 1957 using a D platform but was entirely scrapped off by the company. The later, came in the year 1960. This model was auctioned in 2008 for a sum of US $4,957,000.
The first E type, called as the 1 series, was launched in March 1961. Surprisingly, this car was manufactured initially only for exports. The company launched E type around 4 months later into the domestic market. This car was on sale till 1968. The car initially launched with a 6 cylinder 3.8 liter engine but was then upgraded to a 4.2 liter engine in the year 1964. Although the car still offered the same power output of 265 bhp and a final speed of 150 mph, there was an increased torque of 283 lb.ft. This first gen model, including all its variants, sold a total of 38,419 units.
The second gen model entered in the year 1969. It lacked the glass covers on the headlight, had larger indicators in the front, taillight placed below the bumpers, a wider mouth etc. The bonnet showed a ribbed appearance. The car was sounder technically and was a splendid beauty and therefore was again a success. It stayed in the market till 1971 and in this short span it sold a total of 18,809 units.
The 3rd gen entered the market in the year 1971 and stayed till 1974. This was the last series of the E type. The car now was equipped with a12 cylinder V12 engine of 5.2 liter capacity. The car has a cross slatted front grille which distinguishes it from the previous models. The car sold a total of 15,287 units during its stay.
In between, 2 limited edition of Jaguar E type were also launched. When the car was launched, Enzo Ferrari said that E type is the most beautiful car ever made. Even after 50 years of its launch, people still have the same opinion. The car was listed number one on the list of “Top Sports cars of 1960’s” by Sports Car International magazine. In the year 2008, The Daily Telegraph, after an online survey, placed the Jaguar E type at the top position on the list of “100 most beautiful cars” ever.
Such an elegant masterpiece surely deserves to be immortalized. Even on the postal stamp it manages to attract people to itself. We would also like to mention a few other cars which have been placed on the stamps by the Royal Mail. Being a British government service, all the cars are British legends. These cars are a 1976 Lotus Espirit, 1968 Norgan Plus 8, 1965 Rolls Royce Silver Shadow, 1963 Aston Martin DB5 and a 1962 MG B. But only the Jaguar E type moved ahead to become a First Class Delivery postal stamp.