Jaguar E-Type series 3 engine start

Watch the clip of the super-smooth classic Jaguar Jaguar E-Type series 3 V12 engine starting up.

Back in 1970 when the car was launched, the E-Type series 3 was the first production car to be fitted with Jaguar’s new 5434cc V12 engine. The design was based loosely on a racing-engine design intended for the ill-fated Jaguar XJ13 Le-Mans car. At launch, the V12 was only the second Jaguar engine to go into production.

The engine produced 276bhp making the E-Type a genuine 150mph car but the fuel economy through those four carburettors was painful (single figures) especially with the advent of the nineteen seventies fuel crisis.

Designed by Walter Hassan (of Coventry Climax fame) and Harry Mundy, the V12 was designed for maximum smoothness, something it still excels in today.  The engine formed the basis of the 7.4 litre racing engines that TWR used in their Sports Racing cars at Le Mans from the mid eighties to early nineties.  It lived on as a production engine until 1997 fitted to the Jaguar XJS (until 1995), Jaguar XJ12 and Daimer Double-Six.

Find out more about this car by clicking the links to the right.