Jaguar to Celebrate Two Anniversaries at Goodwood in 2011

Jaguar will have two anniversaries to celebrate at this year’s Goodwood’s popular motor sport events. One is the 50th birthday of the iconic E-Type, which will be held at both the 2011 Festival of Speed (July 1-3) and Goodwood Revival (September 16-18), while the other is the passing of 60 years since the Coventry marque first triumphed in the grueling Le Mans 24 Hour endurance race.

Unveiled 50 years ago at the 1961 Geneva Motor Show, the E-Type quickly became the epitome of 1960s style, while also establishing a number of records on the racing circuits of the world, including Goodwood. The E-Type’s 50th birthday will be marked at the Festival of Speed this summer with an original ‘Central Feature’ installation as a tribute to the motoring legend.

In order to properly welcome the E-Type, a special Central Feature was created by Gerry Judah, who has designed every memorable Festival display since 1997. Meanwhile, a class in the world-renowned Cartier ‘Style et Luxe’ concours d’elegance will be dedicated exclusively to variants of Jaguar’s most famous model, while the Goodwood Hill will see examples of each notable racing E-Type model.

In addition to that, the 60th anniversary of Jaguar’s first Le Mans win will be celebrated with a class of the marque’s 24 Hours challengers. Together with the C-Types and D-Types which claimed five victories in the 1950s, Jaguar’s triumphant return to the race in the 1980, the XJR series, will also be displayed, alongside examples of every other Jaguar model to compete at the 24 hour race.