Car enthusiasts will appreciate Porter's history of the prototype of the Jaguar E-type, which was unveiled in 1961. This prototype was the custom-manufactured progenitor of "what was to be the most exciting production car the world has yet seen." The Jaguar motor company built only a handful of prototypes for the E-type (which was called the XK-E in the U.S.), and all but one were destroyed. The one not destroyed, with registration number 9600 HP, which was the one introduced to the public on that day in 1961 in Coventry, England, is "profiled" here through its long, up-and-down history. Prototype 9600 HP served as "press car" for Jaguar, for use in ads and brochures; it was owned subsequently by a film director and then a racing driver. After that, it came into the possession of collectors and, finally, into the author's hands, who lovingly restored it to the sleek grandeur it possessed at its 1961 unveiling. A fascinating piece of automotive history.
Brad HooperCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Kurzbeschreibung
The amazing history of the first ever Jaguar E-Type, the "9600HP", the only remaining prototype of the model launched at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show. Named after its registration number, Porter, the leading Jaguar authority who now owns and restored the car, tells its story and that of the people who designed, built and owned it over the years, and its recent restoration. Publication will be backed by newspaper and magazine serialisations, a re-run of its dramatic dash to the Geneva show and a possible BBC2 documentary. 80 colour and b/w illustrations.
