One of the most beautiful British sports cars ever made, the lightweight Jaguar E-type, will begin production once again - but in a limited run of just six cars.

The E-type is highly collectible, and with just 11 lightweight original examples available, collectors are sure to be attracted by the new models

The lightweight E-type was an evolution of the Low Drag Coupé, with both produced as test cars and raced at Le Mans and Sebring. Jaguar intended to make 18 examples of the car in 1963-1964, but  mysteriously stopped at 12.

Picking up where it left off, the company will restart production at its old Browns Lane plant in Coventry, with the new cars made to exact specification of the originals - right down to the 1960s vehicle identification numbers.

A new aluminium body being prepared at the Browns Lane factory

Adding to the allure for collectors is FIA's approval to race the cars at classic events, testing the newly built models against tried and tested classics.

Valued at around £1m, the new E-types are attractively priced, given that the remaining 11 originals could be worth as much as £3m-4m at auction today.

"The cars will be built through the end of 2015 as closely as possible to the original specification and will therefore offer similar performance to the original 12 vehicle," Jaguar Heritage director Derek Weale told Paul Fraser Collectibles.

The ex-Peter Sutcliffe example from 1963 appeared at Bonhams almost a decade ago priced at £1.2m, and with values in the classic car market constantly on the rise, £3m-4m seems a modest estimate.

Like the original cars, the new lightweights will only be made available to select Jaguar customers, with Jaguar consultant Tony Schulp telling the Telegraph, "We're targeting people who are going to be actively using them."

"We don't want them sitting in a museum in the Middle East."

Derek Weale added: "As there are only a limited number of cars and we wish them to receive maximum global exposure post sale, the selection of customers will prioritise internationally known Jaguar collectors with active historic race car interests."

The new E-types will be handbuilt to the exact specification of the originals, right down to the 3.8 litre engine

The project is part of the launch of Jaguar Heritage which, like Ferrari Classiche, offers a high quality restoration service to the company's most prestigious customers, as well as providing certificates of authenticity and limited reproductions.

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