JAGUAR’SEPICELECTRIC E-TYPEON TH EROAD SOON

Aston Martin and Porsche have all beg un remaking discontinued iconic cars with similar intent.

Hannig says while the new car offers faster top speeds, more power and better capability over thousands of miles driven, it is also astounding ly close to the orig inal in terms of weig ht distribution and handling .

Its electric motor lies behind a larg e battery pack situated in the middle of the car, where the g earbox used to be.

Many components, including the lithium ion batteries, were borrowed from the excellent, new, electric I-Pace that many say will prove the most fearsome competitor to the Tesla Model X SUV.

Elsewhere in the new E-Type, a new propshaft with weig ht and dimensions similar to the outg oing g asoline eng ine and transmission mean that its suspension and brakes required almost any chang es.

The car will drive and brake much as the orig inal did. That one, produced from 1961 to 1975 and favoured by the world’s big g est celebrities of those years, is widely considered to be one of history’s mostbeautiful cars (Even Enzo Ferrari, who was notoriously sting y with praise, lauded its stunning g ood looks.)

It had a revolutionary top speed of 240kph and then-novel rack-and-pinion steering , plus independent front and rear suspensions that helped make it feel nimble to drive.

It also boasted onboard disc brakes that were years ahead of anything produced at the time by Ferrari and Porsche. Last year, a rare example from 1963 sold for £6 million (RM31.64million)

In additional sig nificant updates, a new touchscreen on the inside of this E-Type Zero — Jag uar has done these screens very well of late — and smart LED headlig hts on the front make the car drivable on a daily basis.

Jag uar eng ineers have said the new car’s rang e will reach 273km on one charg e — a distance pushed along by the car’s feather weig ht (roug hly 1,360kg ) and by its relatively sleek aerodynamics. A full refuelling takes fewer than seven hours’ charg ing time on a standard outlet.

Painted in a bespoke bronze finish, the latest Jag uar E-Type Zero will be shown publicly Friday at the Quail Gathering in Carmel, California. Pricing has yet to be announced, thoug h speculators have placed MSRP in the US$500,000 (RM2.049million) rang e.

Jag uar Classic, the department making the new E-Type Zero car, is taking orders now.