As gorgeous as the E-type is...

"ptak appreciates old racecars" (racecarptak) 04/19/2015 at 13:18 • Filed to: None

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...it’s not impossible to improve it.

Original car pic belongs to Jag, original wheel pic belongs to Petrolified.

TheHondaBro > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 13:21

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ptak appreciates old racecars > TheHondaBro 04/19/2015 at 13:36

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ah yes, the e-type’s prettier cousin

RedPir8Roberts > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 13:48

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It’s more of a 3/4 scale model, really.

glemon > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 14:40

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Here is a serviceable attempt to improve on the E-type. Better or worse is in the eye of the beholder:

http://www.classicdriver.com/en/article/car…

ptak appreciates old racecars > glemon 04/19/2015 at 14:57

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Ooohhh yyyeeesss.

ptak appreciates old racecars > RedPir8Roberts 04/19/2015 at 14:57

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Is it that small? The E-type itself isn’t exactly a large car.

RedPir8Roberts > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 15:13

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Yup it’s tiny. For the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice, they had to specially make a convertible version so Sean Connery (6’ 2”) could fit in it (Toyota responded to the request from the movie producers by cranking out a pair in a very short time, to factory standards). He couldn’t fit in the coupe. Richard Hammond even commented in a segment on how small it was, noting you couldn’t necessarily tell how small it is with him standing next to it. Elegant little car, shame they didn’t make more of them. Here’s Jay Leno with his head sticking above the windshield in that very car, and Jay says he’s shorter than Connery. You can see his legs barely fit under the dash. I think he’s wrong about Connery actually driving it though—it was driven by a female Japanese agent in the movie in the chase scene, and I don’t think he ever gets behind the wheel. In one episode of Magnum, P.I., Tom Selleck (who is 6’4”) drives an E-type when the 308 is taken away from him. Predictably, it breaks down on him, but he is able to drive it though he looks a little silly doing so. The later E-types (71-74) have a longer wheelbase and can accomodate taller drivers more easily. The Petersen Museum has the 308, and it’s noted there that the seat cushion had to be lowered so he could drive that, and you’ll notice he almost always drives the Ferrari with the top off. Apparently, it doesn’t help to be over a certain height if you want to drive the coolest cars.

glemon > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 15:17

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Here you go, unlike many a serviceable attempt to improve on the E, better or not is in the eye of the beholder.

ptak appreciates old racecars > RedPir8Roberts 04/19/2015 at 15:27

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Well that is truly irksome to me because I am around 6’4”! Thanks for the interesting story though.

Well if by some miracle I ever get my hands on a 2000GT, I’m going full race car on it so I expect some interior modification wouldn’t be out of hand. I’m thinking dark teal paint, giant SSR Mk.3s, a rotary swap...

RedPir8Roberts > ptak appreciates old racecars 04/19/2015 at 20:10

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I think it looks good but I imagine that the Japanese collector base would have their torches and pitchforks out for you. They only made a couple of hundred of them. Maybe you could do a Gurney bubble too. Or Zagato double-bubble for symmetry so your head clears. Soon, you’ll be able to 3d print whatever the hell you want, I think a slight, proportional upsizing of the body would be no trouble at all, as long as money is similarly no trouble, use a donor chassis from something else—if you’re going rotary, the RX-7 would be the natural choice (RX-7 racecar, naturally). Or you could hire the Italian craftsman panelbeaters who worked on recreating the Mercedes streamliner from the video the other day to make a body.

ptak appreciates old racecars > RedPir8Roberts 04/20/2015 at 13:20

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If ever I take on a project like that, I think I’d try to do as much of it as possible on my own, including the body. Might have to do it in fiberglass, and then just do a tube frame type thing, with a full cage.