News : CMC stretches the E-type

Here’s an interesting way to make the Jaguar E-type even more usable – even if it comes at a hefty price. Classic Motor Cars Limited of Bridgnorth (CMC) is currently restoring a 1968 Series 1 4.2-litre roadster, and is going to stretch it by 4.5in for its owner.

The E-type has been named ‘the Kaizen’ by the owner, a client in the USA, and takes its name from one of Toyota’s founding principles, Kaizen, which means, ‘understand the imperative to make continuous improvements and then get to work.’ Paul Branstad, the owner of the car, said that he had named the E-type this way because he thought that the original Jaguar designer, Malcolm Sayer, would have approved of what he wanted to do to the car while preserving its essence.

He said: ‘The stretched E-Type I have conceived sits between the Series I and the subsequent vehicles produced after the merger and formation of British Leyland, when the design of the cars underwent several transformations as a consequence of cuts in production costs and the need for more space that resulted in the Series II 2+2 and Series III V12.’

Nick Goldthorp, Managing Director of Classic Motor Cars Ltd., said: ‘This is something that we have never been done before. Our client wanted the interior leg room of a Series 3 V12 E-Type but the aesthetics of a Series 1 car. We are going to add four and a half inches to the floorpan, which will give the leg room of the V12 – plus an additional one inch if required. The V12 was actually nine inches longer than a Series I but a lot of the additional room was behind the seats as storage and is not required on our project.’

Along with these radical developments, the roof line will be raised by 1.25in, and the boot floor will be lowered and reshaped to build in a 20 gallon fuel tank and to allow a wider spare wheel as the car is being fitted with 16in wire wheels. The car will also be built with a host of CMC’s upgrades that range from air conditioning to power steering, upgraded brakes, five speed gearbox, suspension and handling upgrades.

CMC started this restoration in mid July and expects to have completed it by the end of September 2013, for export back to the USA.

Keith Adams

27 Comments

  1. Instead of messing about with an original why not use one of the replica kits to build this? some of them are actually rather good, and is some ways better than the original. Soon there won’t be any unmodified classics left

  2. “Kaizen” – this is a term used in our software development process for a meeting in which we discuss what went wrong….

    E type doesn’t need lengthened, just needs a wider wheeltrack and the aesthetics would be spot on.

  3. The E need nothing, it was perfect as it was. Last car that you could buy, drive from the showroom to the race track, enter and win. Graham Hill did just that in April 1961 at Oulton park, against full race preped ferrari 250s, Masers and Astons. His car still had the cigar lighter fitted

  4. “Last car that you could buy, drive from the showroom to the race track, enter and win.”

    I know someone did that with a clapped out Toyota Carina. Straight onto the banger racing track for a destruction derby.

  5. I think some of the comments are missing the point a bit here.. The roofs gone up as well… I’d hazard a guess the American owner’s taller than the average 60’s Brit and struggles in the stock car.

    Who are we to say he can’t tailor the car (he’s probably always wanted) because it was made 2in too short for him?.. It’s not like he’s sticking 6R4 arches to it.

    And of all the classics you could be worried about vanishing, the E-Types hardly a rare beast..

    I’m all for this!

  6. The guy deserves some brain improvement…..japanese can not make sylish sport cars with their filosophy (S2000, NSX and other abortion) and beeing cleverer than the original car designer (oh yes i know that he loved the idea of…..) is a nonsense….an E type MK1 can be considered a piece of art and any such rude modification can be considered an offence to the intelectual work of the designer (as is in achitecture when some guys just elaborate older protected buildings)

  7. Why do i have to ask? Is the guy that big – oh forgot he’s an american lol.

    Kaizen is the term used to describe the principles of lean manufacturing in the the engineering trade – I find it a strange name for a car!

  8. @7
    you mean he’s 2″ too long for it.. well tough. I still say why are people insisting on molesting classics in a max power way? if you are going to go upgrade in E till nothing is left but the shape, then why use a real one? plenty of good replica kits about that are hard to tell from an original to mess about with, and scince all such people care about is the look then why not use one of those?

  9. Stewart – it’s an E-type. Not only that, but it’s his E-type, and he can do what he wants with it. I’m more impressed with the efforts CMC is going to in order to make the conversion work. Bet you that when you see it, you won’t be able to tell the difference.

    There’s bliddy millions of them; don’t be so bliddy precious.

  10. Interesting as only just over 30,000 E-Types total left Browns Lane, 2/3rds went to the US, survival rates of the S1.5 (which this car being a ’68 will be) are not high. And bet I will see the differance. No doubt the workmanship will be of the highest order. It also mystifes me as to why they are not just chopping the roof off an S1 2+2 which would achieve the same thing, and remove one of the ugly E-types

  11. If you own a car that people believe to be utterly beautiful, and you want to improve it to your own personal taste and pay for the job, who are we to tell him off?
    The people who do not agree to this, should put their money where their mouth is and buy him a replica-kit, have it improved to the man’s taste en buy the original one off him.

  12. And the thing is onece he has had all the other alterations done, its not an E-type any longer, the character of the original car is gone.. forever. Modifing an SIII to look like an S1 would take even more work, as not only was it longer it was also wider!. An S1 2+2 would be the one to use. Take the roof off and make it a convertible, job done, far less work and the result would be much the same, and probably stronger.
    But this is one of the only good things about being short, tall guys don’t fit in the really nice cars of the 60’s and 70’s, One Colin Chapman was 5’6″ and all his cars were desigend around him, so if you are 6′ you can foget Elans, Elites, Esprits, and Eclats.. The Muira is much the same as is the Countach

  13. The only reason I suggested modifying an S3 is that the S3 is far less valued, and doesn’t look as nice. Turning an S3 into a S1 would be a great improvement!

  14. ..

    The bonnets always been too long… This might actually balance the whole design out…. just sayin’

    As for “He’s too tall, that’s tough”… Bit harsh..

    And Max Power Style Modding?.. You’ve not actually read max power, have you? This is hardly that kind of modifying..

    Interesting suggestion though… The 2+2 top chop.. Probably would have been about the same, if not less work… Hmmmmmm….

  15. All E-types share the same basic floor pan, it was originally engineerd as a roadster and there was no consideration to given to a fixed head coupe at all till very very late in development (think R17 grill addition stage) and so the roof was added to the existing open structure, hence the E-type is one car that does not fold up when you chop the roof off, or need any reinforcemnt if you do. Same goes for the 2+2. I think the MGBGT is equally capabale of this for the same reason

  16. “I wonder if they will stretch a LR110…alex”

    They already did – it’s called a 130 and is available from the factory to order.

  17. The American bloke can do what he likes with his money. All I know, however, is that I would not dream of messing around with my ’69 OTS’s dimensions. If you want to buy a Salvador Dali sculpture and re-sculpt it yourself into your idea of what Dali SHOULD have done, that’s your business…but you can count me out from following suit!!

  18. The trouble is, re-reading the article, that the owner really does not know much about his subject . The lengthening to give rise to the 2+2 did not happen in BLdays, but in 1965 . It was nothing to do with cost cutting, but to enable automatic transmission to be an option for the 2+2 cars, so widening the appeal in the US market. And the lengthening did not come with the S2 cars, but with the S1 cars produced from late 1965 onwards. The one change in the LWB S2 cars – which was not reproduced in the SWB cars – ( beneficial in my view in terms of looks for the 2+2) was that the centre of the windscreen was taken forward almost to the rear edge of the bonnet

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