07 Jul 04
Today the Group 44 E-type is attracting even more attention than the glorious D-type and there's no doubting why: with four straight-through drain pipes for exhausts fed by a 5.3-litre, V12 motor it's a strong contender for noisiest car of the festival. Even at idle it is comically loud, thrusting fingers into ears as far as the eye can see. Yet this music is as sweet as it is dangerous and the crowds are drawn to it like moths to a flame. At full throttle, even with ear plugs, a balaclava and a thick helmet between you and the exhausts, it's loud enough to make you inner ear itch.
It's one of those cars you can't imagine yourself driving fast. Its slick tyres seem acres wide and the noise suggests this animal is untameable, at least by someone like me. In fact, this Jaguar is a pussy cat. It's fast - bloody fast in fact - but it's a dream to drive. Even when I drove it in the wet and sent it slithering up the track, it behaved itself impeccably. It feels a little odd, with heavily assisted steering and a tiny wheel, but once it has reassured you that it's on your side, there's nothing to stop you having the time of your life. And with 440bhp of ear-splitting savagery on offer, that's not a difficult condition to achieve. It brakes reliably and consistently, has buckets of torque from idling revs and a delightful gearchange. It felt for all the world like a rather more modern and considerably quicker D-type which, in essence, is exactly what it is.
It left just one question unanswered: if the E-type was good enough to annihilate all comers after it had ceased production, what on earth could it have done if it had received that kind of attention when it was new, 13 years earlier?
