Jaguar E-Type ECD 400
Equipe Endeavour's roadster, in which Graham Hill won the first race an E-Type started, at Oulton Park on 15 April 1961, a month after the launch.
At Oulton Park on Saturday 15 April 1961, in the wet, Graham Hill won a race for GT cars in a new E-Type roadster entered by Tommy Sopwith's Equipe Endeavour. It was the first race an E-Type started, and the E-Type had been shown at Geneva only a month before. Motor Sport's report noted that the cars "had, incidentally, come virtually straight from Coventry".
The roadster was ECD 400. Its results, its papers and its later life, stop by stop, are in the panels below; the whole of the E-Type's first season is on the 1961 racing page. This page tells what the car was and why the win mattered.source 1source 2source 3
One of seven
Sources for ECD 400
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3; racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results"source 4; Motor Sport, "Oulton Park debut for E-Types", May 1961, p. 24source 2; Motor Sport, "Jaguar E-type: the end of production and end of an era – but not of a legend", May 1975, p. 29source 5; Jaguar Clubs of North America, Series 1 E-Type Judge's Guide (draft), part 1: Intro–Exterior, Draft, version of 21 Jul 2026source 6
ECD 400 is car 850005, an open two-seater, one of seven early cars Jaguar set aside for chosen racers in 1961, two of them for Equipe Endeavour. Like the others it was close to standard: Motor Sport listed "higher compression, gas-flowed head, bespoke trumpets, lightweight flywheel and closer-ratio 'box". It usually raced with its hardtop on, and in 1961 it was blue.source 3source 7source 5source 4
Oulton Park, 15 April 1961
The other E-Type in the race, John Coombs's car, driven by Roy Salvadori, led at first. Its new brake pads had been fitted to discs worn in practice, and they faded; Salvadori said later that the brakes "were probably fine for touring, but not track action, not even on a qualifying lap", in a 2001 interview Motor Sport quoted in 2021. Hill passed him and won.
Motor Sport remembered the day in 1975, when the E-Type went out of production: a new Jaguar beating an Aston Martin and two Ferraris that cost far more had, it wrote, made a profound impression. The E-Type's list prices are on the 1961 page. After that first season ECD 400 did little racing.source 1source 2source 3source 5
Lost and found
Its later life, from Robert Danny's find of it in a Hertfordshire garden in 1970 to its restoration for Pink Floyd's manager, Steve O'Rourke, who had seen it win, is in its history below. In 2001 O'Rourke said of the car: "The only non-original item is the bonnet". Since 2003 it has been with a private owner (UK). For Damon Hill, who drove it in 2021, it was personal.
I'm very attached to my dad's racing legacy – and of course his history is attached to this car…
Where it has been
- 1961
Not ready for its first entry
3 April 1961. One of seven early cars Jaguar set aside for chosen racers, it was entered for Graham Hill by Tommy Sopwith's Equipe Endeavour in the Fordwater Trophy at Goodwood, but the car was not finished in time
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3; racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results"source 4
- 1961
Won at Oulton Park
15 April 1961. Only a couple of days off the production line, it won the first race it started: Graham Hill took the 25-lap GT race in the wet in 49 min 46.0 s, at 83.22 mph, from Innes Ireland's Aston Martin DB4 GT, with Roy Salvadori's Coombs E-Type 3rd
Motor Sport, "Oulton Park debut for E-Types", May 1961, p. 24source 2; racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results"source 4; Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3
- 1961
- 1961
Won at Snetterton
23 July 1961. Parkes won the Scott Brown Memorial race. The car's other 1961 results, as Motor Sport lists them: 2nd at Crystal Palace (Jack Sears) and 3rd at Brands Hatch (Hill), with retirements at Silverstone, Aintree and Brands Hatch in August. It did little racing after that season
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3; racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results"source 4
- 1970
Found in Hertfordshire
Early in 1970 the enthusiast Robert Danny found it in a garden in Hertfordshire, painted blue and gold with red stripes, and confirmed from its factory chassis plate that it was 850005. He kept it until 1976, by his own account
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3
- 2001
Restored for Steve O'Rourke, by 2001
Pink Floyd's manager Steve O'Rourke, who had watched the 1961 race, later owned it and had it restored by EMKA Engineering; by his account in 2001 only the bonnet was not original. He kept it until shortly before his death in 2003
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3
- 2021
Driven by Damon Hill
For the E-Type's 60th anniversary Damon Hill drove his father's winner at Silverstone for Motor Sport. It survives in private hands in the UK
Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88source 3
Results
A yellow year marks a win.
- 1961
- 1961
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- 1961
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- 1961
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- 1961
Sources
Sources are given as plain text; their addresses are on the sources page.
- Primarymade at the time, by the maker or by people who were there
- Referenceserious later work: clubs, specialists, magazines, books
- Databaseresults and listings, entry by entry
- racingsportscars.com, National Open Oulton Park [GT] 1961, results, results, 1st; results. Database
- Motor Sport, "Oulton Park debut for E-Types", May 1961, p. 24, p. 24; report. Primary
- Simon Arron, "Damon Hill drives the coolest of cats — his Dad's race-winning Jaguar E-type", Motor Sport, Aug 2021, p. 88, para. 1; the sidebar "Rescued from oblivion"; Salvadori's account, from Motor Sport, November 2001; the sidebar "Rescued from oblivion"; O'Rourke in 2001; Damon Hill; ECD 400's 1961 track record; Rescued from oblivion. Reference
- racingsportscars.com, "Jaguar E-Type – All Results", 3 April 1961, Goodwood; 3 April 1961, Fordwater Trophy, Goodwood; 15 April 1961, Oulton Park; 14 May 1961, Spa; 23 July 1961, Snetterton; 3.4.1961, Fordwater Trophy, Goodwood. Database
- Motor Sport, "Jaguar E-type: the end of production and end of an era – but not of a legend", May 1975, p. 29, p. 29. Primary
- Jaguar Clubs of North America, Series 1 E-Type Judge's Guide (draft), part 1: Intro–Exterior, Draft, version of 21 Jul 2026, outside bonnet latches and flat floors, by chassis number. Reference
- Dickie Meaden, "Driving the original racing Jaguar E-type – Nights in shining armour", Motor Sport, Nov 2018, p. 58, the priority list. Reference
- racingsportscars.com, GP Spa [GT+2.0] 1961, results, results, 2nd. Database
- racingsportscars.com, Crystal Palace - Norbury Trophy 1961, results, results, 2nd. Database
- racingsportscars.com, Peco Trophy Brands Hatch 1961, results, results, 3rd. Database
- racingsportscars.com, British Empire Trophy - Grand Touring 1961 (Silverstone), results, retirements, 8 laps. Database
- racingsportscars.com, GP Aintree 1961, results, retirements. Database
- racingsportscars.com, Scott-Brown Memorial Snetterton 1961, results, results, 1st. Database
- racingsportscars.com, The Peco Trophy for Grand Touring Cars 1961, results, retirements. Database