E-type becomes first car to win engineering Heritage Award

The Jaguar E-type is to become the first car to receive an Engineering Heritage Award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers [IME].

Previous winners of the award, which celebrates Britain’s greatest engineering feats, are the world’s first railway locomotive; the Vulcan Bomber; and Bletchley Park’s Bombe code-breaking machine.

The E-type is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

Professor Isobel Pollock, President Elect of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, said: “The E-type is truly one of Britain’s greatest engineering triumphs, defining a decade and putting the Midlands car industry on the world stage.

“This award is in honour of those Coventry engineers and designers that produced the fastest, most advanced sports car in the world on its release. We also want to give recognition to Jaguar, which continues to act as a standard-bearer for UK manufacturing to this day.”

The E-type was described by Enzo Ferrari as "the most beautiful car ever made". The British public seem to agree: in a poll run by the Telegraph newspaper, the E-type won almost four times as many votes as its nearest rival, the Citroen DS.

Designed and manufactured in Coventry, the car could reach speeds of up to 150mph – unrivalled for a car on public sale. Over 72,000 E-types were sold between its launch in 1961 and the end of production in 1975.

The E-type pioneered engineering breakthroughs – its combined monoque spaceframe was later adopted by Formula One.

Mike Beasley, former Managing Director of Jaguar and Trustee of Jaguar Heritage, who will receive the award at the ceremony in Coventry, said: "Fifty years after its launch the E-type remains one of the most iconic cars ever made and its design and engineering continue to inspire the Jaguars of the future.”

[Picture courtesy JDHT]