1/24 Jaguar E-types (Franklin Mint and others)

[1959scudetto]

Every  boy’s dream:  Jaguar E-type (XK-E in the U.S.)

Every boy of my age was an admirer of this iconic British sportscar classic in the 1960’s – several  nice builts  of Revell’s new kits could be seen in the last weeks here on the board.

Of course, an endless variety of  diecast models have been made over the last 60 years in many different scales.

I would like to show you 3 from my collection in 1/24 scale:

Franklin Mint’s 1961 Roadster 3,8: painted in British racing green, it features excellent details for its age (from the 1980’s/90’s?) – weakest point are the wire wheels and the plastic dashboard. Anyway, I snapped this one for € 5,00 at a flea market (very dirty, but complete apart from one missing windshield wiper) – after some cleaning, it looked pretty good – only thing I added was chrome foil on the doors and a pair of license plates - some day I will rework/repaint the very toylike-looking interior of this one and add the missing wiper (or add 3 new) - photos are from 2014:

 

Franklin Mint’s 1961 Coupé 3,8: painted in red, the same features  as above – I like the lines of the coupé even better! The air filter sports no chrome, otherwise the details are mostly the same. Won from  an ebay-seller in the UK (no box, but in top condition – nothing missing) – again, added different plates (photos from 2017):

 

Hachette 1969 2 + 2 Coupé 4,2 (baseplate says 1962 which is totally wrong, model  is a series II car with the 4,2 ltr. engine and the elongated wheelbase to turn this into a 2 + 2 seater)- this is from the French series (hence the LHD and French license plates), released in 2017, and I bought  it immediately. I should have been more patient : now it is available in a light metallic blue with dark blue interior and nowadays also in light red (both as Whitebox re-issues, all are made by Ixo). Though nothing opens here, the proportions look correct to me, but I would have preferred the silver-blue one. Only detailing was the exhaust end pipes (steels tubes) - a further Snake-fu will be necessary...

 

 

All 3 together (pics taken yesterday): you can clearly see the differences with the series II version: raised headlights without covers, wheels knockoffs without “ears”, different indicators, bumpers and rear lights – a lesson how you can make a wonderful design uglier (Mainly due to adapting the car to U.S. government regulations – the USA were the most important market for Jaguar) – anyway, still an impressive car – I saw one on the road last week: low and narrow compared with today’s machinery.

 

 

Edited May 25, 2022 by 1959scudetto

[Matt Bacon]

While the 2+2 is definitely not as elegant looking as the classic coupe, I can tell you after a weekend with one it’s a lot more practical if you’re over 5’10”! Good to know the White Box issues are the same, and have an Opalescent Silver Blue option — my favourite Jaguar colour!
best,

M.

[1959scudetto]

4 minutes ago, Matt Bacon said:

While the 2+2 is definitely not as elegant looking as the classic coupe, I can tell you after a weekend with one it’s a lot more practical if you’re over 5’10”! Good to know the White Box issues are the same, and have an Opalescent Silver Blue option — my favourite Jaguar colour!
best,

M.

This might be the reason why it is the cheapest available today, Matt.

[Gramps46]

Excellent comparison and appreciate that you shared it with us.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Your models are fantastic???

I agree. One of the sexiest car shapes made. Jay Leno has a great video from his channel showing and tooling around in his E type

I got a couple or so project kits off eBay  in a little larger in scale that will keep me occupied for a while

Her body looks good even in a pile of wreaked parts

 

[1959scudetto]

On 5/21/2022 at 5:23 PM, Gramps46 said:

Excellent comparison and appreciate that you shared it with us.

Thank you, Gary.

[1959scudetto]

On 5/21/2022 at 5:26 PM, Twokidsnosleep said:

Your models are fantastic???

I agree. One of the sexiest car shapes made. Jay Leno has a great video from his channel showing and tooling around in his E type

I got a couple or so project kits off eBay  in a little larger in scale that will keep me occupied for a while

Her body looks good even in a pile of wreaked parts

 

You will certainly be busy for a while with thes 1/8 Monogram kits, Scott. I have E-type kits from Gunze and Airfix (= ex-Heller), will probably buy the new Revell kits, but stay in the 1/24 range (for room reasons).