Or is that, “historically correct?” Well actually, it’s a little of both and a little of neither. Everyone knows dark green is Britain’s “official” racing color, but this medium green and yellow combination was never any sort of sanctioned Jaguar color scheme. Where it is often seen is on the Lister racing cars of the 1950’s, the most successful of which were powered by Jaguar engines; Lister’s logo was green and yellow and many Lister Jaguars (and a couple of early Lister Chevrolets as well) were outfitted the way I set up this E-Type. It may not be “official” but it sure looks period-correct, and while its not “British Racing Green” it seems like exactly the right combination for a vintage British racecar.
This is the last of the Aurora E-Types I will be buying as it completes my “squadron of four” configuration (I have a 5th one, in white, that I have kept completely stock and on its original chassis). When it arrived I was surprised at the color; I was expecting it to be the darker green, and I didn’t realize until I bought this one that T-Jets were made in 2 different shades of green, this one usually referred to as “olive green” (although personally I think it’s a little too dark to be called “olive”, but whatever). This shade of green is apparently quite rare on most T-Jet bodies-and in some cases very rare-yet it is allegedly commonly found on the Jaguar, so I might not be the only person who thought it looked right! The moment I saw it, I knew it needed yellow stripes. The real kicker was when I test-fit a chassis that I had set aside for a different car that was fitted with Road Race Replicas wire wheels in gold; I had intended to use completely different wheels on this car, but when I saw the gold wires on my test fit, it was a knockout look that I had to go with. It came out so well that I decided to bless it with my “lucky number.” 14 has been my lucky number since I was a child for reasons a little too personal and too involved to go into here; I even have a 14 integrated into a tattoo on my left bicep, and I knew I was only going to assign that number to a very special car. This was it, and I haven’t regretted the choice for a moment since making it! This is one of the best Thunderjets I own; its fast, handles well, and looks great whether its flying down the track or sitting still in the pits.
