As exquisite as it is, the E-Type just doesn’t do well in crowded city streets. So here’s the solution, a compact version. All the grace and flowing lines of the original, but very parking-friendly. Lifting the stubby hood will still result in oohs and aahs, as the EC is powered by a 1400 cc two-cylinder version of the legendary XK motor. Jaguar has hinted that balance shafts are being considered for the Mk II edition.
Here’s some more takes on the legendary E-Type by paulvaranasi:
Is it just me, or have we just discovered the inspiration for the Subaru 360?
+1
reminds me of the old R&T (April Fools day?) article of the XK-EE. Inline 12 appeals more than a 2 cyl.
alistair
Thanks for triggering that memory.
Who was it, Enzo Ferrari who said, when a customer criticized the brakes: “I make my cars to GO, not to STOP!!”
I can picture Sir William Lyons saying the same: “A Jaguar is to be DRIVEN – not PARKED, sir!!”
Enzo was a tool. He’s also quoted (in reference to mid-engine designs) as asserting that the horse pulls the cart, it does not push it. Nevermind that that’s an argument for front wheel drive, not front engines. Autocratic Italian Padrones can’t be bothered with clarity.
Yeah, and Henry Ford said, you can have any color you want – as long as it’s black.
Great minds generally develop even greater egos. While a committee may not be able to design a horse, they’re certainly less likely to engage in idiosyncrasies.
Which is why an artless Toyota can go…and stop…and be parked…whereas a car that is the product of one man’s vision, or of his company, may do one well and the other not at all.
About that choice of black – it was not Henry’s ego, but the fact that as his assembly line started to ramp up, there was but a single kind of paint that would dry fast enough for his production process – a paint called Japan black. Automotive laquers at the time required up to 14 days to cure, whereas Japan black was dry in about an hour and fully cured in 48 hours. Before mass production, early Ts had come in different colors, and the last 2 or 3 years came in colors as well, as paint technology continued to improve.
Sure.
But the point is, HE saw the COLOR of the car immaterial to its value. He valued the smoothness of the production process more than customers’ desire for other colors.
Likewise, Ferrari’s desire to build a car that ran fast, and stopped…eventually. Or Sir William’s need to build a car that was a dramatic statement…maybe not so easy in the car-park, what?
All of those are idiosyncrasies of the powerful key-persons in the companies they controlled.
found more on the XK-EE
and more…
I have to dispute the “grace and flowing lines” assertion. I find this thing strangely appealing, but then I always have had a liking for eggs on wheels.
*throws up a little bit*
This is one “what if” I’m very happy remained hypothetical.
Yeurch!
That third one in a series of four is akin to a hardtop Alfa Romeo. to wit:
Best I can tell, XKEE article is from R&T April, 1975 issue. R&T has long had jokes & parodies in the April issue. Along the same lines, this issue also had the Triumph TR7 & the Bricklin; part of the April jokes?
Was R&T the mag that, for the road test in its April issue one year, tested an actual road (an Interstate)?
Memories of that issue come back now, wasn’t there a style analysis of the TR7?
I think similar sketches/analysis done upon the intro of the Pacer.
alistair
Jeremy Clarkson recounts a TR7 styling analysis-
The first photo looks like a Porsche 911 on acid. The proportions and greenhouse are very similar except for the recessed headlights instead of raised .
Maybe it’s just me but does anyone else see a two-door Porsche Panamera in there?
So *this* is what a 1960’s equivalent of an Aston Martin Cygnet would have looked like. Link below for amusement purposes.
http://www.astonmartin.com/cars/cygnet
a real one
That’s a stunningly weird idea. Whatcha been smoking?
It is interesting to see how the XKE’s aerodynamics were so advanced that the car doesn’t look all that bad (at least in profile) in its squished form.
If you’re going to screw up an E-type, at least you had the sense to do it to a Series 3 2+2 – thank you.