The jaguar administration and racing department had a tight lip as towards its new car developments. No wonder the new Jaguar XKE when introduced to the public in 1961 had an awesome welcome and hats off salutes!

The C-Type that had won the grand prix at LeMans in the early 50´s and by mid decade the new D-Type that made its unforgettable mark in the same race years later, Jaguar wanted a totally revolutionary car to replace the aging XK150, that was available to the public, for a totally new roadster.

A few years before the Jaguar XKE was manufactured with its final beautiful lines, the racing department developed a prototype in 1957 that was named the E1A.

The Prototype E1A

Just like the D Type, the E1A had a monocoque body and the well proven XK engine to thrust it and independent rear suspension. Not much is known about this prototype because it never left Jaguars testing grounds and eventually and sadly ended up being scraped by the factory itself.
Secrecy on new car developments was a high priority at Jaguar!
Recently a video of the E1A was discovered and you can see it here!

By 1960 Jaguar was testing on the next prototype called the E2A.

The E2A Prototype

The letter E stands for E Type, following the number of the prototype built and at last the A stood for aluminium body shell.
The E2A was built following the lines of the D Type and it even included the fin behind the driver.
A Lucas fuel injection was installed on the XK 3 litre aluminium engine that developed almost 300hp and raced in the 1960 Grand Prix of LeMans 24 Hour Race. Regrettably the car did not finish the race.
This prototype has survived till this day and fetched a record price of almost 5 million in auction!

Jaguar E2A