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Monday
Sep242012

E-types at Goodwood

I'll be honest with you. I have seen too many E-types for my own good. They're gorgeous cars but having seen too many of them sitting still at concours events over the years, they had begun to lose their magic.  Thankfully, watching them race at Goodwood rekindled the excitement for me. Lightweight E-types have such an aggressive stance, with their hunkered down look and rear fender flares, you just can't help getting a little excited.  Then there's the fixed hard top the trunklid vents, and exposed fuel filler cap, adding that unmistakably purposeful feel.  Lastly, there is the sound.  The Jaguar inline six in all its glory is really something to behold, even in a field with Ferrari V12s.  And of course besides the lightweights, there was the ultra-sleek Low Drag coupe, which is just sublime.  The E-types don't just look good. They dominated the race. The #25 Martin Brundle/Adrian Newey car --shown up top in white and red-- crushed the opposition, with a 30 second margin of victory.  Of course one must assume that given Newey's god-like aerodynamic prowess (he used to design all the best F1 cars for Williams then McLaren, in case you hadn't heard of him), the car was probably better set up than anyone else's!  Notice how much lower it is, and I don't think the slightly open trunklid is an accident. I think it's a subtle attempt at getting less lift over the rear wheels.My favorite Jag in the race, aside from the Low Drag, was the grey number 10 car.  In a storming drive from 11th place to 4th, one could observe the inside front wheel lift clear off the ground under hard cornering!  You see that in old movies, but to see it in person was just magic!And of course through the magic of youtube, here is a video taken from inside the #10 car!

Reader Comments (3)

Well done Sir!
September 24, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterRichard
I saw a perfect six cylinder very dark blue roadster unexpectedly on 7th Avenue in Brooklyn just the other day. The magic long lost to overfamiliarity came back INSTANTLY.
September 26, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterNoah Vale
With every passing year, the E-types mysteriously get faster and faster...
December 7, 2012 | Unregistered CommenterKisii

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