Brief Encounter

In spite of Jaguar’s retirement from competition in 1956, the launch of the E-Type as one of the fastest road cars then on sale, together with the growth of GT racing, meant that the clamour for a competition version was enormous. Just 12 of these aluminium bodied ‘Lightweight’ ‘E’’s were built. Here, at Sebring, one of these very special E Types driven by Morrill/ Leslie (23) pursues the AC Shelby Cobra of Dan Gurney and is, in turn, chased by the Ferrari 250P of Nino Vaccarella. Vaccarella finished second, sharing with Mairesse and Bandini while Gurney finished 29th sharing with Phil Hill. The Jaguar acquitted itself well, winning the 4-litre GT class and finishing 7th overall behind no less than 6 Ferraris. This marked the end of a very brief – 2 race – career for this particular ‘Lightweight’ and it disappeared, only to be rediscovered in 1999 in unmolested condition, complete with original race numbers – fresh from finishing its last race at Sebring all those years ago….