The All-American Heroe and Jaguar’s Racing E-types: Briggs Cunningham’s Le Mans dream, US road racing and the legendary Jaguar E-type

No less a figure than Enzo Ferrari is said to have described it as the most beautiful car in the world . Small wonder that demand swiftly exceeded supply after Jaguar initially laid down plans to build the car in relatively small numbers… It was an instant hit on racing circuits, too: little more than a month beyond the launch, Graham Hill took a roadster to victory on its debut at Oulton Park. Chassis 875027, the focus of this story, was the first E-type campaigned by American racing entrepreneur Briggs Cunningham’s famous team and its performances helped persuade Jaguar to use the E-type as basis for a competition thoroughbred that has become one of the most coveted of all time: the Lightweight.