Jaguar’s E-type has become the only car to win an Engineering Heritage Award after the Institute of Mechanical Engineers recognised the iconic sports car’s design and impact on the automotive world.
The accolade, which celebrates the country’s greatest engineering feats, was made today at Jaguar Heritage’s Coventry HQ. It ranks the E-type alongside such British greats as Stephenson’s Rocket (the world’s first locomotive), the Vulcan bomber and the Bombe – Bletchley Park’s code-breaking machine.
The IME’s Professor Isobel Pollock made the award at a ceremony attended by former chief development test engineer Norman Dewis and other notables.
Pollock was enthusiastic about the Institute’s choice: “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,” she added.
Former Jaguar managing director and current Heritage trustee Mike Beasley was similarly upbeat: “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.
“As the most advanced sports car in the world in 1961, it could reach speeds of up to 150mph and its sleek, curvaceous design was shaped by the emerging field of automotive aerodynamics.”
The award was marked by the unveiling of a plaque at Browns Lane.
