Jaguar is celebrating 60 years of the E-Type — which was known as the XK-E in the United States — by giving 12 cars a full in-house restoration that includes a handful of 21st-century updates.
Sold exclusively in pairs, the six coupes and six convertibles are inspired by the cars shown in Geneva during the model's introduction in 1961.
Developed to replace the XK150, the E-Type was presented to the public and the press on March 15, 1961, at the Geneva auto show.
Two examples made the trek from England to Switzerland: a gray coupe wearing registration number 9600 HP and driven by publicist Bob Perry, and a green roadster registered 77 RW put in the hands of official Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis.
Both cars were driven to the event; the coupe arrived in Switzerland minutes before it was scheduled to make its debut, and the roadster was rushed to Geneva the following day.
Jaguar chose not to re-release either car.
Instead, it will paint the six coupes in a special shade called Flat-Out Grey, and it will give the six convertibles a coat of Drop Everything Green.
It pointed out that both colors were created specifically for the 60 Edition models, and that neither will be used on another car.
Edition-specific emblems created by Jaguar's design department appear on the hood and on the fuel cap, among other parts.
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