Malcolm Sayer joined Jaguar from Bristol Aircraft as an aerodynamacist and was first put to designing a racing body for the Jaguar XK120-C later called the C-type. Following the success of the C-type Sayer was asked to design the D-type and used aircraft techniques to fabricate its monocoque body. The E-type followed the D-type and Malcolm used much of what he had learned on the D-type to make Jaguar's stunning E-type. In the background Malcolm Sayer then worked on a potential Le Mans racer, the XJ13 which was abandoned in 1966. Controversially Malcolm Sayer then designed the buttresses for the E-type successor, the XJ-S. He died before the XJ-S was launched.