My Car Heaven, February 2022
'In this sweeping tale of one of Jaguar’s most recognizable outputs, we’re walked through the lightweight E-types history. The vehicle’s sublime engineering beauty is aided by its iconic low drag bodywork and potent XK engine. The book is influenced by Peter Neumark, the owner of the elusive Le Mans lightweight Lindner, re-constituted after its crash in 1964. A mere 7,000 hours of labour led to the re-invigoration of a vehicle that competed with the mighty Ferrari in its racing heyday.'
MotorSport, July 2011
'Weighty and expensive (and a signed Deluxe edition clad in goatskin is £450), but a unique and trustworthy source.'
Jaguar Magazine, 2011
'Now, owner of the E-Type Club, and the earliest FHC E-Type in the world (the car Sir William Lyons was photographed with most often at Geneva in 1961), Philip Porter has turned his considerable journalistic and research talents to the racing E-Types in a spectacular self-published book which is created in a very large format, and runs to a whopping five hundred and twenty-eight pages. It weighs in at several kilos, and does an exceptional job of documenting the cars, their drivers, successes and their many mixed fates.
'Fortunately, this author has the courage to confront the contentious cars, including the third of three Briggs Cunningham team 1963 Le Mans Lightweight entries, and promises more to his readers on this car in time to come. It is accepted that it has not existed for many decades, but he claims to have uncovered a story of intrigue which he would not attempt to document at the time of publication – for a variety of reasons.
'Amazingly, Philip Porter was loaned the original extensive notes of Jaguar’s late and very great original Director of Engineering, William Heynes, and has been able to quote directly from the horse’s mouth so to speak, reproduce many of his notes and drawings, and get to the bottom of many contentious questions. The massive book is beautifully designed, presented and printed. It is crammed full of countless photographs we have never seen before (where do they keep coming from?) and the author has interviewed many of the original owners or drivers.
'This is an exceptional book which we know is selling very quickly.'
Jaguar Enthusiast, June 2011
'Now there is perhaps the largest, most comprehensive and certainly the heaviest book ever to be published on the E-type entitled – “Ultimate E-type the Competition Cars” by Philip Porter.
'This mammoth work doesn’t cover the history of the cars, their development, model changes or any other aspects of the production cars. Instead it concentrates solely on the lightweight E-types, twelve of them, with in-depth chapters on each individual car plus period reports and imagery, the background and history of E2A, representing a complete and comprehensive work on this small group of cars from the E-types early history…
'This degree of historic investigation isn’t for everyone because this is quite a read but for the serious Jaguar and E-type enthusiasts, this represents a tour de force unseen before.'
Jaguar World Monthly, July 2011
'If you have any interest in the lightweight E-type then this book is an absolute must.'
Classic Cars, June/July 2011
'Telling the definitive story of the Jaguar E-type’s short racing career, Philip Porter’s latest book is a weighty 528-page tome. Focusing on the Sixties six-cylinder cars, from the near-standard roadsters to Low-Drag Lightweight coupes – it doesn’t touch on the later V12s – it’s packed with fresh insight from the personalities involved when the cars were new to those racing and preparing them today.
A mammoth undertaking and an essential purchase for serious E-type enthusiasts.'
Classic Driver, Issue 38, June/July 2011
'In this, the 50th anniversary of the E-type’s launch, there will be many publications – and this one is a fabulous addition to the list.
'Author Porter is very well-qualified, as the writer/publisher of many good Jaguar books already. He owns two stand-out Es: the Geneva Show launch coupe (9600HP) and the red roadster that featured in the original “Italian Job” film. And he also founded the Jaguar E-type Club in 2005.
'With a quick nod to the heritage of the C & D-types, the book quickly moved into studying the E2A prototype that Cunningham ran at Le Mans in 1960, and that had a very short race career in the USA – including appearances with Brabham and McLaren at the helm.
'Right from this early chapter and all throughout the book, Porter makes excellent use of original source material, including copies of development and race reports to and from key Jaguar personnel, circuit diagrams, copies of correspondence and ownership papers, tremendous drawings of cars and components by the genius aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer and others.'
Cars for the Connoisseur, Issue 123, July 2011
'I must confess that with 528 pages, lack of time prevented me from reading this from cover to cover but whenever I dipped into it I couldn’t put it down – particularly enjoying the interviews with drivers from the past and present. Another winner from the Porter Stable. The lightweight Es are the ultimate Jaguar E-types, and this is the ultimate book on these very charismatic cars. This is the complete story of the competition E-types that took on the might of Ferrari and often beat the legendary GTOs and the AC Cobras. With copious unseen period photographs and original Jaguar reports, the glory years of the 60s are told as never before, including the build up to the Lightweights and the evolution of the ultimate Low Drag versions.
'This book is packed full of material to fascinate and inform E-type and motor-racing enthusiasts.'
