![]() We heard that current production cars have improved seats and had the opportunity to try a late example by courtesy of Sholz Buick of White Plains, New York. Any slouching introduces you to the framework, and it's hard. In addition, the seat cushion is shaped with wood and metal covered with foam rubber. It seems to get bigger and bigger as time passes and callouses are a long time in developing. However, it's only a matter of time before squirming sets in and we found our back being drilled by the horizontal bead on the seat back. Provided the occupant sat in the recommended position they were very comfortable, although an adjustment for the rake of the seat back would have been desirable. The seats had an attractive-looking, deep bucket shape, but those in the test car were an enigma. When getting into the driver's seat, we were wondering most of all whether it would live up to expectations. The racing-type steering wheel, the large round instruments, the wire wheels and the general low build of the car all contribute to give it a most businesslike air. The car is beautiful to look at from any angle, and it was said by many, who saw it in the flesh for the first time when meeting our test crew, that pictures so far published had all failed to do justice to its appearance. ![]() Our first impressions on taking over this car are not easy to describe. It's very fast, very stable, and, all in all, probably the car we'd most like to own of any we've tested in many a month. For impatient readers, we'll give a quick recap: The E Jaguar is exciting to look at, but its looks are in no way a mask for unexciting performance. As a result we feel we can comment authoritatively on all its virtues and vices to give you a true picture of what it would be like to own one. Consequently we picked up an E-Type roadster from Jaguar in New York City and drove it out to Detroit and back. To do anything else than a full-scale Road Research Report on Jaguar's 150-mph XK-E would be a disservice to the new car, a case of irresponsible automobile reporting and very disappointing to our testing staff. Jaguar's chief aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer created the body shape on a purely mathematical basis and actual experience has proved the car to have a very low drag. ![]() In styling, no concessions have been given to current fashion, and it will surprise many readers that the body is not the result of thorough wind-tunnel tests. Some alterations are technical improvements, while others have been introduced as an adaptation to series production. The E-Type is derived from the D-Type, with influence from the XK-SS and the prototype entered by Briggs Cunningham at Le Mans in 1960. Its basic design is unaltered, and it is interesting to speculate whether the E-Type, which (excepting the abortive XK-SS) presents a kind of Jaguar never previously offered for sale to the public, will indeed retain its basic shape for a number of years to come. The 3.8-liter engine of the XK-E is the latest development of the series-an engine which has now been in production for over 13 years. ![]()
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