The line of beauty: Ian Callum on the Jaguar E-Type

The secret to the E-Type’s enduring appeal is its dramatic proportion and the total purity in its execution. It’s that specific volume of the cabin at the rear that almost exaggerates the bonnet and makes it look very dramatic, very exciting.

The E-Type’s purity of form was born out of an absolution of geometry. The designer, Malcolm Sayer, was an aerodynamicist who had worked on all of Jaguar’s racing cars prior to the E-Type, so he wasn’t going to be influenced by the frivolity of superfluous lines.

The aerodynamic concept that went into this car was revolutionary, too. It stemmed from the first principles of aerodynamics, and it’s about that teardrop shape that holds the air onto the body of the car for as long as possible before you let it go. (We know now, of course, that it’s best to spoil it off the back – that’s why tails are so high these days.)

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The power came before the design ­– the XK engine is a very famous, straight-six layout that Bill Heynes devised as a racing powerhouse. That really came first – the drivetrain and the engine and the gearbox – the car was wrapped around that.

The car itself is based on the same construction as racing cars such as the D-Type; it had a monocoque body with a space frame hanging off it that housed the engine and the gearbox. That was to get the weight and structure of the car down to an absolute minimum, while still keeping it strong. It was a road-going racer, really. The engine sits far back in the car for better weight distribution, and the ratio between the bonnet length and cabin size is almost 50:50 – which reminds you that this is all about power.

Enzo Ferrari said the E-Type was the most beautiful car ever made (not long before Ferrari brought out the 275 GTB). The amazing thing with the E-Type was how the surface of the car is held tight to the mechanics and the occupants and, actually, if you see one now, you realise it’s tiny. That sense of purity and discipline is still something we are always seeking to apply to our cars now.

I used to say the E-Type looked like the future had landed. It came out in the Sixties, when the whole of British industry was rising to a peak of creativity. Which brings us to another great thing about this car: it wasn’t the price of an Aston or a Porsche, it was actually an attainable price for the time.

Ian Callum has been design director at Jaguar since 1999, and is responsible for the XK, XJ and the XF, which has garnered more than 80 industry awards. Prior to his time at Jaguar, he designed the Aston Martin Vanquish.