Testing the E-Type Series III back in 1972, Road & Track magazine reckoned the new V12 power unit, "a sheer delight, by itself almost worth the price of admission. The V12 is a lovely piece of machinery, lovely to listen to and lovely to behold. The exhaust has that hurried sound characteristic of a multiple-cylinder engine where the many explosions per revolution make it sound as if it's running faster than an engine with fewer cylinders. The idle is smooth and quiet with none of the mechanical busyness one normally experiences from the likes of a Ferrari or Lamborghini V12. And the smoothness lingers throughout the rev range."

One consequence of the E-Type's long process of development had been a gradual increase in weight, but a good measure of the concomitant loss of performance was restored in 1971 with the arrival of what would be the final version – the Series III V12. Jaguar's new engine could not have enjoyed a more fortuitous parentage, having been designed by Wa