Behold the sumptuous Jaguar E-Type 'Project ZP'
Jaguar Classic to mark early racing success with 14 restored E-Types
Jaguar is having a celebration to commemorate its first series of racing Jaguar E-Types, two of which were driven by Graham Hill and Roy Salvadori. But before you go thinking this will involve a Jaguar F-Type with some special paint and maybe a plaque, it’s not. I mean, it does involve some special paint and a plaque, but there’s a lot more to it than that.
For a start, this is all the work of Jaguar Classic. This immediately makes it even more interesting, because that’s the department that restores the firm’s heritage cars – both its own and other people’s. And the cars chosen to celebrate the firm’s earliest E-type racing victories make total sense. Because they are, themselves, beautifully restored, early 1960s Jaguar E-Types. The collection is called the E-type ZP Collection, and will consist of 14 cars: seven coupés and seven roadsters.
The collection takes its name from project ‘ZP’. This was the brainchild of Claude Baily, who was Jaguar’s Chief Designer at the time the E-Type was born. The ZP racing versions were produced not long after the launch of the road car at Geneva in 1961, and the racing upgrades weren’t extensive at all. Mainly, it was a revised engine block and cylinder head, plus a close ratio gearbox.
A month later, the ZP cars made their racing debut. Despite being new and basically not far off standard E-Types, two of them finished first and third at the Oulton Park Trophy for GT cars on April 15th 1961. Both were roadsters, too, rather than the more obvious choice of coupés. The meat in this E-Type sandwich was Innes Ireland’s Aston Martin DB4 GT, which finished second after squeezing past Salvadori two laps from the end.
That meant it was Hill on the top step of the podium that day. He’d driven an Indigo Blue car registered ‘ECD 400’, with third-placed Salvadori in a Pearl Grey E-type registered as ‘BUY 1’. And I bet that plate’s worth as much as a tidy E-Type these days. Anyway, this wasn’t a flash in the pan for E-Type when it came to circuit success. Salvadori went on to win at Crystal Palace later in the year, and between 1961 and 1964, drivers of E-types finished on the podium 24 times.
So that’s the history, what are today’s cars all about? Well, coupé or roadster, each is the work of a 2,000-hour restoration of a Series I car. That means an E-Type produced between 1961 and 1964, with a 3.8-litre XK ‘six’ – here delivering 265hp. Just like the original ZP racers, the restored cars feature a close-ratio ‘box. It’s an all-synchromesh five-speed manual but there’s no alteration to the bodywork needed to fit it in. What this gives you is a fifth gear tall enough to make these E-Types a bit more peaceful on motorways, plus helical cut gears and a beefed-up, cast aluminium casing for better durability.
Some other modern upgrades intended to make these interpretations of the past more reliable are an electric cooling fan, a more efficient radiator (chromed to look like the original), electronic ignition and a stainless steel exhaust system. They also have concessions to modern life, such as Jaguar Classic’s Infotainment System with a DAB radio, Bluetooth and satellite navigation.
As I mentioned, each car comes with the all-important plaque among its bespoke detailing. Representing Graham Hill’s Indigo Blue roadster will be seven fully rebuilt roadsters finished in…Oulton Blue. Seems strange not to pick the actual blue hue of the original Hill car, but at least there is consistency. The Salvadori-inspired cars will be finished in Crystal Grey (for Crystal Palace), not Pearl Grey. These seven Salvadori cars will also be fixed heads not drop heads.
Both versions have ZP-specific logos, including on the fuel filler cap, and there are bespoke graphics, such as Union Jack set into a shield on the front wings. They also come with white roundels on the bonnet and doors, and a white ring around that oh-so recognisable E-Type open front air intake – this mimics the white painted nose on Hill’s original. As with the earliest E-Types, the bonnet features welded, not stamped out, louvres. It also has external bonnet latches, rather than the later releases that were set behind the doors. The nose, incidentally, is reputed to have taken 40 hours alone to finish by hand. As you can imagine, then, one aspect of these examples that won’t ape the original is value for money. We don’t know what they’ll cost you but at least a pretty penny, and maybe even two, one could imagine.
Inside, the blue roadsters have an interior of red leather by Bridge of Weir and in-period Hardura trim. They also have a ‘golden growler horn push’ - and who doesn’t love a golden growler? On top of that, Jaguar Classic ‘are delighted to partner once again with master engraving artist Jonny “King Nerd” Dowell’. He’s responsible for the hand-engraved detailing on the aluminium panels adorning the centre console. This not only features more Project ZP lettering, but on the Hill car a map of Oulton Park Circuit and Hill quote: ‘In a race my car becomes part of me, and I become part of it’.
The coupés are slightly different, of course, denoting the different driver and on-track success. So the cars will feature an engraved track outline of Crystal Palace, below which is written the ‘King of the Airfields’. That was Roy Salvadori’s nickname. The coupés will also have navy Bridge of Weir leather, to contrast with their lighter paintwork, but come with the same, lovely, beech wood steering wheel as the drop head.
As an extra treat, every owner will receive a period, open-faced helmet to match those worn by Hill and Salvadori. These are made by Bill Vero, of Everoak, whose days of manufacturing racing helmets go right back to the 1950s. And these aren’t simply display items. They can be worn and even tailored to fit each owner perfectly. They also come with a bespoke leather storage bag, trimmed with the same leather as the car’s interior, and have a pocket for the car's leather-bound owner's manual. The replica of Hill’s crash helmet comes, of course, with the design of the London Rowing Club that he famously raced with, while Salvadori’s is painted in grey
Actually, right at the start I wrote that this is a celebration using actual, period cars, and not F-Types with a fancy colour scheme and a plaque. Well, I wrote that before I read the whole release. There will also be a series of 14 F-Type ZP Editions coming later in the year. And yes, these will have a fancy colour scheme and a plaque. Still, with Jaguar moving to all-electric propulsion from 2025, there is genuine cause to celebrate its past glories as we get nearer to this milestone. So, more than ever, that's worth at least a few special editions.
Is it milking every last drop of what made a company great at one point? Yes of course it is and I get that some find this cringeworthy, but so what. If it means stuff like this get produced and it provides labour for skilled craftsman and women, who am I to judge.
tting themselves……I agree that the editorial staff all overuse the word and that's bad because it dilutes the occasions when something properly awesome comes down the line. However, this is something awesome and is therefore worth a good beholding.
Meanwhile, heritage dealers such as Creamers of Kensington have closed as they did not conform to JLR's requirements and Suffolk Sports cars have been forced to close.
We have had a teaser from JLR promising great things but that's about it.
If they decide that their future is with SUVs then they have lost ground to manufacturers such as Kia or Hyundai who are producing stylish products and the heritage stuff is just a reminder of how far off the pace they are at the moment.
Pretty sure 10 to 15 years ago the market didn't exist - there were obviously specialists restoring old cars but nothing like this....
In the meantime skilled craft workers get paid for their services and we get something extraordinary to look at amongst the humdrum.
Pretty sure 10 to 15 years ago the market didn't exist - there were obviously specialists restoring old cars but nothing like this....
Crossply tyres? No
Positive earth? No
Correct screen chromes and door trims? Doesn't look like it.
Add in electronic ignition, DAB radio, plus so many modern, non-period parts and once again, just like the XKSS, lightweight E-types, C-types and D-types these are no glorious remake but a pastiche of what they were in the day. If they go racing, what will the scrutineers say? Probably nothing, but these money for old rope copies do anger me.
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