Jaguar E-Type Restomod
An original E-Type, kept as itself but rebuilt with a five-speed gearbox, better brakes and cooling, or a bigger engine: what a restomod is and is not, who has built them since the 1970s, and the conversions owners meet most.
About the pictureA roadster its photographer records as an Eagle rebuild; nothing in the picture shows modifications.
A restomod starts with an original car. It keeps the Jaguar's identity, its car number and its plate, and is restored, then given modern parts to make it faster, safer or easier to live with: a five-speed gearbox (transmission), better brakes, better cooling, perhaps a bigger engine. That sets it apart from a replica, which is not an original E-Type at all, and from a restoration to the factory's specification, which aims to be the car as it left Browns Lane.
The practice goes back at least to the early 1970s. This page sets out what a restomod is, who has built them, dated by their own accounts and the press's, and what the common conversions do.source 1source 2
What a restomod is, and is not
The international federation of historic-vehicle clubs, FIVA, defines a historic vehicle as one "preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition". A restomod is by intention something else. The words for the kinds of car in between are not fixed, so the site describes what was done:
| Kind | What it means here | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A restoration to original | The car returned to the specification its Heritage Certificate records | Jaguar Classic's Reborn cars in standard form |
| A sympathetic upgrade | An original car with hidden or period-looking improvements | Jaguar Classic's E-Type 60 Collection |
| A restomod | An original car re-engineered beyond the factory's specification | E-Type UK's Unleashed; Eagle's special models |
| An electric conversion | An original car with an electric drive | Jaguar's E-Type Zero; see electric E-Type |
| A replica | A car that is not, or not wholly, an original E-Type | See replicas |
The builders, dated
Improving E-Types began while they were still being built. In April 1972 Motor Sport wrote about Forward Engineering, run with the former Jaguar engine development engineer Ronald Beaty, which raced a modified E-Type and converted road cars, and added that "Jaguar converters are pretty thin on the ground these days". It named two others, Warren Pierce in Kingston and AWB Motors at Clapham.
Eagle, founded in 1984, has its models on a page of their own. E-Type UK, of Hadlow in Kent, which says it was "Established 2008", showed its "Unleashed" Series 3 V12 in July 2021, with the engine enlarged to 6.1 litres, a five-speed manual gearbox, upgraded fuel injection and a bigger aluminium radiator with an oil cooler; its makers quoted "almost 300kW". And since 2017 Jaguar itself, through Jaguar Classic, has sold restored E-Types with upgrades of its own.source 7source 8source 9source 10source 3
The conversions, one by one
The five-speed gearbox comes first. The four-speed boxes have no overdrive, and American cars on their lower axle ratio turned over fast at motorway speeds; a member of the Jaguar Clubs of North America who fitted a Borg-Warner five-speed kit to his 1965 coupé in 2004 explained why: "I was chagrined to realize that at 3000 rpm I was doing less than 70 mph!" In 2021 Jaguar Classic offered its own five-speed, with synchromesh on every ratio, helical gears and a reinforced aluminium casing, and Eagle builds one too.
The brakes are the next. Jaguar Classic offered later front calipers on its Reborn cars, and Eagle fitted AP Racing calipers to its Low Drag GT. Henry Pearman of Eagle put the case plainly to CAR in 2014:
Having a classic car with brakes that work and that won't overheat and that will take you to the south of France and not disappoint you is a good thing.
Cooling answers one of the E-Type's period complaints. Jaguar Classic's Reborn cars could have "improved cooling (using Lightweight E‑type‑derived parts)", its 60 Collection an alloy radiator with an electric fan, and the Unleashed V12 a larger radiator and an oil cooler. Owners of early cars fit alternators in place of the dynamo, and electronic ignition; the Jaguar Clubs of North America's technical library has owners' articles on the brakes, the alternator and the radiator.
Fuel injection divides the builders: Jaguar Classic fitted it to its Commemorative cars of 2024 and E-Type UK to its V12, but Eagle, Octane reports, now discourages throttle-body injection on its sixes as more complication than gain. Bigger engines are the furthest step: a 4.7-litre XK six, Eagle's own in its specials and Jaguar Classic's in its Jubilee car of 2022, and E-Type UK's enlarged V12. Eagle's other changes, to the steering, the front valance and, in one model, the floor, are on its own page.
A restomod's record matters as much as an original car's: the builder's file of what was done, and the donor's car number, which the chassis numbers page explains. The buyers guide has the checks.source 11source 4source 8source 3source 1source 10source 12source 5source 6source 13
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
- Uncheckedencyclopaedias and enthusiast sites: cited beside a good source, named in the sentence, or marked Unchecked
- Ben Oliver, "Eagle Low Drag GT (2014) review", CAR magazine (carmagazine.co.uk), updated 26 Jan 2015, 2014, the donor car and its VIN plate; the Low Drag GT's brakes; Pearman on brakes and overheating. Reference
- Fédération Internationale des Véhicules Anciens (FIVA), FIVA: home page ("What is a 'Historic Vehicle'?"), FIVA's definition of a historic vehicle; "preserved and maintained in a historically correct condition". Primary
- Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar media newsroom), "Jaguar Classic to Launch E-type Reborn at Techno-Classica Essen Show" (press release), 31 Mar 2017, the Reborn cars and their optional upgrades; Jaguar Classic's first E-Types, 2017; the cooling and brake options. Primary
- Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar media newsroom), "Jaguar Classic Reveals E-type 60 Collection: 60th Anniversary Tribute to the Iconic Sports Car" (press release), 12 Mar 2021, the 60 Collection's specification; the five-speed gearbox, the alloy radiator, electronic ignition. Primary
- Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar media newsroom), "One-off Jaguar Classic E-type Debuts at The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Pageant" (press release), 7 Jun 2022, the Jubilee car's engine; the larger 4.7-litre engine. Primary
- Jaguar Land Rover (Jaguar media newsroom), "Jaguar Classic E-type Commemorative: Jewel and Machine" (press release), 23 Oct 2024, the Commemorative cars' fuel injection; the electronic fuel injection. Primary
- Motor Sport, "Jaguars and Amazing Engine Transformations", Apr 1972, p. 44, p. 44, Forward Engineering and the "Jaguar converters". Primary
- Andrew Frankel, "Seeing the light: On the road in the new Eagle E-type Lightweight GT", Motor Sport, Oct 2020, p. 116, p. 116, Eagle founded in 1984; pp. 116–120, Eagle's five-speed and its floor. Reference
- E-Type UK (restorer and dealer, Hadlow, Kent), E-Type UK: home page, "Established 2008"; Hadlow, Kent. Unchecked
- Practical Motoring (Australia), "Jaguar E-Type Unleashed is a hot and pricey restomod", 6 Jul 2021, the Unleashed V12, July 2021; the radiator, oil cooler and fuel injection. Reference
- Jaguar Clubs of North America, "When Three Plus Four Became Five! …or, How I Learned the New Math!" (E-type 5 Speed Conversion), "When Three Plus Four Became Five!": a five-speed conversion, 2004. Reference
- Robert Coucher, "Octane drives every flavour of Eagle E-type", Octane (octane-magazine.com), 22 Apr 2025, Eagle's view of throttle-body injection; the steering arms and the front valance. Reference
- Jaguar Clubs of North America, "Technical & Originality" (library index), the brake, alternator and radiator articles. Reference