What’s on this week
BOOK
THE ALL-AMERICAN HERO AND JAGUAR’S RACING E-TYPES
RRP £60
When we were putting together Autosport’s Jaguar E-type special last month, one of the newest publications we turned to was Phillip Bingham’s The All-american Hero and Jaguar’s Racing E-types. The 288-page book has two main threads: the efforts by Briggs Cunningham to win the Le Mans 24 Hours; and the early competition career of the E-type, in which the American team boss was involved.
Both stories are well-known, particularly by those who have read Richard Harman’s (much bigger and more expensive) Cunningham: The Passion, The Cars,
The Legacy, but it’s still a welcome addition to Autosport’s shelves.
Cunningham’s life and efforts to win Le Mans with an American-built machine, which peaked in 1953 when the Cunningham C-5R of Phil Walters and John Fitch prevented a Jaguar C-type 1-2-3 in third, sets the scene. By the mid-1950s, running other cars was becoming more appealing to Cunningham, and Jaguar was an obvious possible partner.
Cunningham became Jaguar’s North American distributor and ran the D-type that Mike Hawthorn and Walters took to victory in the 1955 Sebring 12 Hours, a rare success for the legendary car away from the smooth, high-speed sweeps of Le Mans. Part of the deal meant abandoning constructing his own cars, an endeavour that was becoming expensive in any case.
After running Lister-jaguars, Cunningham approached Jaguar about racing and developing the
E2A, essentially the ‘missing link’ between the D-type sports-racer and the GT E-type. The back-door support received from Jaguar would be repeated when the E-type itself went racing, culminating in the series of Lightweights for 1963.
The tale of the E-type in competition – beyond just the races with Cunningham – forms the second half of the book. The car’s initial promise, both in Europe against Ferrari and in the US beating the Chevrolet Corvettes, leads into the one-sided battle against the 250 GTO and the rise of the Shelby Cobras. This includes some technical drawings made by Jaguar after it got hold of a GTO to compare with the E-type.
Those familiar with Porter Press’s Exceptional Cars and Great Cars series will recognise much of the format. This includes brief sections on some of the key individuals and circuits in the wider story, particularly the drivers, and helps Bingham cover a lot of ground quickly. Aside from big names Dan Gurney and Bruce Mclaren, there are small profiles on three drivers probably underrated in European circles and who Cunningham rated as his three best regulars: Walters (who quit after the 1955 Le Mans tragedy despite being on the verge of a Ferrari drive), Fitch and Walt Hansgen.
E-type development was pushed forward by privateers, including Cunningham’s Alfred Momo, but it was not enough. By the end of 1963 the competition was moving out of reach – and Cunningham closed his team at the end of the season, though his last race as a
driver didn’t come until the 1966 Sebring 12 Hours.
Two of the most rewarding ‘extra’ elements come in the late stages of the book. The first is the remarkable story of the ‘missing Lightweight’, chassis S850660, which returned to competition in historic events after being in a Los Angeles lock-up garage for many years. And the other is a section of stunning photos of chassis 875027, the roadster that Cunningham’s team developed from near standard to what might today be described as Semi-lightweight form.
Cunningham never did win Le Mans and the E-type didn’t topple Ferrari on track, though Briggs himself and Roy Salvadori did give the famous GT its best finish at the 24 Hours with fourth in 1962. A rather different partnership – Carroll Shelby and Ford – would be required to achieve both. But the Cunningham story is still something far from a failure, and the E-type’s status as an icon is assured 60 years after it first appeared. Combining the two makes this an entertaining and readable book.