Yahoo News Jaguar E-type at Pippa Middleton's wedding is world's oldest
The Jaguar E-type in which Pippa Middleton and her husband James Matthews departed the nuptials is the oldest surviving Series 1 Roadster, built in February 1961 and registered as 77 RW on the 24th of that month.
It is the two-seater open version of what has been described as the most beautiful car in the world, with a 3.8-litre straight-six under the bonnet developing 265bhp. It was also available as a fixed-head coupé (FHC).
According to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust, 77 RW is owned by Mr Michael Kilgannon and is on permanent loan to the Trust.
The E-type caused a sensation on its debut at the Geneva motor show in March 1961, when one of the show cars was famously driven from the factory at Browns Lane in Coventry to geneva by Jaguar's famed test driver Norman Dewis.
Two E-types served as press demonstrators. One of them was this car, 77 RW, built in February 1961 as the first production two-seater; it is now the oldest surviving open E-type. 77 RW was later used by The Motor for its road test, published on March 22, 1961.
In 2000, Mr Michael Kilgannon, the long-term owner of this historic car, kindly put 77 RW on permanent loan to the JDHT. The car was then completely restored with the generous assistance of Martin Robey Limited of Nuneaton.
The E-type was developed from Jaguar's successful D-type racer, which had won the Le Mans 24 Hours race three times from 1955 to 1957. Originally intended as a follow-up competition car to the D-type, the E-type eventually emerged as a road-going sports and grand touring car.
The svelte styling of the E-type was clearly based on the D-type, the work of the aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer. Both cars shared the same basic structure, a monocoque with a tubular front subframe to hold the 3.8-litre (later 4.2-litre) straight-six engine and four-speed gearbox.
It had disc brakes all round (a type developed on Jaguar's C-type racing cars), as well as independent rear suspension.
Thanks to its unbeatable combination of price and performance, offering a top speed of close to 150mph for little more than £2,000, it became an instant success, particularly in the vital American market.
Pippa arrived at the nuptials with her father Michael Midleton in a 1951 Jaguar MkV drophead coupé. The MkV was introduced at the 1948 London Motor Show, and about 9,500 saloons and only 1,000 drophead coupés were built betwen 1949 and 1951.
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