The Jaguar CUT E-type legacy comes alive at Goodwood Revival

Few Jaguars carry quite the same aura as those prepared by Dick Protheroe. His CUT 7-plated E-type — the fourth fixed-head coupé E-type ever built — was an emblem of his bravery, ambition and instinct for speed.

After acquiring the car in 1962, Protheroe wasted little time in proving its competition pedigree, taking British Championship victories at Silverstone in 1962 despite the car having been heavily damaged earlier that season.  

Later that year came an even more formidable machine: the lightweight low-drag E-type, clothed in aluminium and also bearing the CUT 7 name. On debut it claimed a class win, before delivering an extraordinary second-place finish overall at Reims in 1963, ahead of a Ferrari 250 GTO and behind only Carlo Mario Abate’s Ferrari 250 TRI/61. More memorable performances followed at Goodwood, Spa and Reims, securing CUT 7’s place in Jaguar folklore and establishing the E-type as far more than a style icon — it was a true racing thoroughbred. 

Protheroe was killed in a crash at Oulton Park in April 1966, driving a Ferrari 330P at an unofficial practice session for that year’s RAC TT, after which his wife Rosemary had another E-type prepared in his honour, this one to be known as CUT 8. The car was raced in period for a few years, but now finds itself in the hands of a certain Jenson Button.

The 2009 Formula 1 World Champion first raced at the Revival in 2021 and acquired CUT 8 specifically for his exploits in historic racing. After picking up his first win at the Goodwood Motor Circuit at the 2025 Revival in the Freddie March Memorial Trophy, he and CUT 8 took a thrilling victory in the Phil Hill Cup at the 83^rd Members’ Meeting presented by Audrain Motorsport.

Now he’s preparing to add another chapter to the story of this car, with it announced that Button will be competing in the RAC TT Celebration at the 2026 Revival, and in the sister CUT 7 car he’ll be joined by fellow World Champion Jacques Villeneuve.

Villeneuve will be continuing his exploration of historic machinery after making his Revival racing debut in 2025 aboard the celebrated 'Hairy Canary' AC Cobra. Different paths may have brought them here, but both lend fresh intrigue to a grid already rich in talent. Seeing these modern greats climb into iconic Jaguar E-types this September promises to be one of Revival’s most compelling spectacles. 

Tickets for the 2026 Goodwood Revival are now on sale, with Saturday tickets 96 per cent sold. Book before the final price rise at 23:59 on Tuesday 30^th June to save on your tickets and 3-Day Passes. 

If you’re not already part of the GRRC, you can sign up to the Fellowship today and save ten per cent on your 2026 tickets and grandstand passes, as well as enjoying a whole host of other on-event perks.  

Goodwood photography by Joe Harding, Nick Dungan and Toby Whales.