Classic Jaguar E-Type Coloring Page: Free PDF Sheet

Classic Jaguar E-Type: History & Fun Facts

A 1961 Geneva Reveal That Stopped Traffic

Jaguar unveiled the E-Type at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961, and demand was so immediate that the company reportedly had to drive a second demonstration car overnight from the factory in England to keep up with journalists and buyers wanting a closer look. Enzo Ferrari, founder of Jaguar's biggest rival, is widely quoted as calling the E-Type the most beautiful car ever made, a compliment that still gets repeated in car magazines more than sixty years later.

An Extremely Long Hood Over a Race-Bred Engine

The extremely long, low hood traced across most of this outline covers a straight-six engine descended directly from Jaguar's D-Type race cars, which had already won the 24 Hours of Le Mans, giving the road-going E-Type genuine competition pedigree under its skin. That long hood also housed the car's cooling system and mechanicals so efficiently that Jaguar could keep the front end remarkably low and slender compared to rival sports cars of the same era.

A Small Oval Grille for Maximum Airflow

Unlike the tall upright grilles common on cars from just a decade earlier, the E-Type's small oval grille opening shown low at the front of this outline was shaped mainly around aerodynamics, letting just enough air reach the radiator without disrupting the smooth curved nose above it. Jaguar's engineers had tested aerodynamic shapes extensively on their Le Mans race cars, and much of that wind-tunnel knowledge carried directly into the road car's slippery front-end design.

A 150 Mile Per Hour Marketing Claim

Jaguar advertised the E-Type as capable of reaching 150 miles per hour, an eye-catching top-speed claim for a mass-production road car in 1961 that helped cement the car's reputation as a genuine performance machine rather than simply a stylish shape. Independent road testers of the era found the true top speed depended heavily on the individual car and conditions, but the headline number stuck in car culture regardless, becoming shorthand for the E-Type's serious performance credentials.

Three Series Across Fourteen Years

Jaguar built the E-Type across three main series from 1961 to 1975, starting with the covered-headlight Series 1 this outline is inspired by, moving through the Series 2 with larger exposed headlights for improved US safety rules, and finishing with the longer, V12-powered Series 3. Each series kept the same long-hood, short-cabin proportions established on the very first 1961 car, even as engines, headlight designs, and safety equipment changed to meet new regulations.

A Permanent Spot in Design Museums

The Museum of Modern Art in New York added an E-Type to its permanent collection in 1996, a rare honor for an automobile and one that reflects how thoroughly the car's shape crossed over from automotive engineering into recognized industrial design. Collectors and museums worldwide still treat well-preserved Series 1 E-Types as benchmark examples of 1960s sports car styling, and the model remains one of the most searched classic cars among collectors today. Restoration specialists still hand-form replacement body panels to match the original curved fenders traced in this outline, since so few of the car's compound-curved shapes can be stamped by modern factory tooling.