Auto Trader

Auto Trader readers even voted it as the most romantic car of all time earlier this year. So with that in mind, Stuart Milne urges you to Look at the Wheels on That.

From the first time I clamped eyes on a Jaguar E-Type, I was smitten. It’s a full-on curve-fest from nose to tail, without a straight edge on the entire car.

But I'd never sat in one - least of all driven one - until a couple of weeks ago.

And it wasn't just any E-Type either. It was the last one ever built.

"It's worth a quarter of a million pounds, so don't crash it" came the advice from an eager Jaguar employee.

No pressure then.

My eyes wandered across the dashboard - complete with drilled aluminium steering wheel and uber-cool toggle switches - and fell on a small gold plaque, no bigger than a cigarette box.

On closer inspection, it was signed by William Lyons, Jaguar's founder.

As far as I'm concerned, Lyons' signature is just one step away from that of Enzo Ferrari or Colin Chapman.

They say you should never meet your heroes, and in my experience this extends to cars.

But on this occasion, I was wrong. From the moment I turned the key in the beautifully-styled 60s-style dash, the lusty 5.3-litre V12 engine purred into life.

Sure, the steering was heavy, and the brakes were a world away from a modern car, but the whole experience was pure intoxication.

My route for the day was a winding test route at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire.

It was drizzling, and we had the roof down, but as far as I was concerned I was carving my way through the sunbaked Italian Riviera.

And that's the thing about the E-Type. Sure, it’s an incredible car and still looks sensational today; but the thing that will always stay with me was the amount of character the E-Type has.

You drive the car, it doesn't drive you. You need to think carefully about every steering, throttle or brake input you make, but when it all goes perfectly, it'll make you feel like Stirling Moss, Fangio and Graham Hill all rolled into one.

HDU 555N was the final E-Type Jaguar made, and it's hard to believe the very next day, the first XJS rolled off the very same production line at Browns Lane.

The Series 3 drop-top I drove provided some serious performance too. Its 145mph top speed is still fast by today's standards, and a seven second 0-60mph dash is none to shabby either.

It'll come as no surprise to learn the most iconic car of the 60s and 70s will set you back a few quid. Left hand drive models or those needing a bit of TLC start at around £11,000, while a mint condition Series 1 will weigh in at around £50,000.

Related links

The Nation's Favourite Love Machine