The 1961 Jaguar E-Type with chassis 860001, the very first coupe to leave series production in right-hand drive, was restored by Classic Motor Cars Ltd (CMC) and then driven by British motorsport hill-climbing champion David Franklin at over 146 mph (about 235 km/h) over the German autobahn as tested by Autocar over 50 years ago.
David was hired by a British classic car magazine to repeat one of the most famous road tests from 1961 for their 150th issue, where the goal was to reach a speed of 150 mph (about 242 km/h) on a Belgian road, and he almost did it.
David himself says: " I saw the 146 mph on the speedometer and the car was still accelerating when I had to slow down again as cars and trucks appeared in the distance. When you're traveling at such a high speed, safety simply comes first. It's very easy to get too close to the car in front and you have to remember that you don't have ABS, which of course makes it extremely difficult to brake quickly. But the car would have easily reached 150 mph, I have no doubt about that."
150 mph with a "normal" road car
In 1961, Autocar took the famous Jaguar E-Type test car with the license plate "9600 HP" to Belgium to carry out various high-speed tests and prove that a normal road-going E-Type could reach 150 mph. Classic & Sports Car wanted to prove this with a similar model, a Jaguar E-Type 1VHP, chassis 860001 from 1961 on a German highway.
Nick Goldthorp from CMC, responsible for the preparation of "1 VHP", said: "To ensure safety, we couldn't leave anything to chance. The conditions the vehicle is exposed to at 150 mph are different to those at half that speed."
For this reason, the CMC team carried out the restoration with the utmost care and attention to detail. Not only were new wheels with Avon CR6 ZZ tires fitted, but all mechanical elements were also checked and a fuel pump with a higher capacity was installed. The car was then thoroughly tested.
"Chassis 860001 was built on July 10, 1961 and then unveiled in London on August 26, which makes you wonder which celebrities were in this car during the first few weeks.", says CMC man Peter Neumark, the owner of the "1 VHP": "We have restored the car to factory condition and I have driven it many times myself."
The Jaguar E-Type 1 VHP will be on display at the Classic Motor Show in Birmingham from November 13-15. More information about the show can be found here.