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  1. Five cars that put England on the map
  2. Jaguar E-Type, Greatest car ever?
  3. Aston Martin DB5, Bond's finest
  4. Range Rover, Original Chelsea Tractor
  5. Mini, Small but perfectly formed
  6. Lotus Seven, Sports car blueprint

Jaguar E-Type, Greatest car ever?

As a regular inclusion on various 'best cars' lists, the Jaguar E-Type is not just an icon of the decade it was made, or even of sports cars, but of cars in general. The first E-Type rolled off the Browns Lane production line in 1961, and by 1975 - a year after production of the series three model ended - 72,529 had been sold. That was unsurprising really, given that Enzo Ferrari himself described it as "the most beautiful car ever made." Some compliment.

There were loads of body types across the three versions from series one to series three, including the classic open-top two-seat roadster, a fixed-head coupé, a 2+2 coupé with rear seats, the race special 'low drag coupé' of 1962 and a handful of lightweight versions built between 1963 and 1964 - the last of which are particularly sought after by collectors now. The original cars were powered by a 3.8-litre six-cylinder engine, though the displacement was later increased to 4.2-litres, and a 5.3-litre V12 was stuffed under the bonnet for the Series 3 car, before the E-Type finally died and was replaced by the Jaguar XJ-S.

Mark Nichol