Car Guy Chronicles Road Test Editor, Howard Walker blogs about his historic drive from Coventry, England to Geneva, Switzerland as part of a 50-car convoy of E-Types to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the unveiling of Jaguar’s iconic sports car in 1961.
It was nothing less than a symphony in E. At precisely 9 a.m. this morning, the air in Coventry city center in the industrial heart of England was ripped by the snarly, raspy, soul-stirring symphony of no fewer than 50 classic Jaguar E-type cars bursting into life, above. It was the glorious sound of straight-sixes and big V12s powering cars that span the 14-year production run of this legendary Jaguar sports car.
Over the next four days, these 50 E-type cars will re-trace a truly epic journey that took place 50 years ago back in March 1961. This was when two of Jaguar’s still-secret E-types charged through the night from Coventry to Geneva, covering 800 miles in just 17 hours, to appear at the world debut of the E-type at the Geneva Motor Show.
I’m lucky enough to be piloting, above, left, one of the most significant E-type models ever built, the black 1975 Series 3 V12 roadster, the very last E-type to come off the production line. It’s one of a special run of 50 roadsters that marked the end of E-type production. With the exception of one British Racing Green car, each was painted black and featured a special dashboard plaque bearing a copy of Jaguar founder, Sir William Lyons’ signature.
Almost all the cars, above, taking part in this 50th Anniversary tour are owned by passionate E-type enthusiasts who’ve brought their cars from all four corners of the UK, mainland Europe and North America. Thankfully, we’re adopting a slightly more leisurely pace than those hard-charging overnight delivery drivers half a century ago. We’re traveling to Geneva via four legendary race circuits – Castle Coombe and Goodwood in the UK, and Reims and Dijon in France - before sweeping in to Geneva on Thursday morning, March 5.
When we arrive, we’ll toast the E-type’s 50th Anniversary with a lunch at the Restaurant de Parc des Eaux-Vives where Sir William Lyons unveiled the car to the world’s press back on March 15, 1961.
This is the kind of drive our sleek V12 roadster was created for. While the early ‘Es’ were all about blistering performance, nimble handling and right-now braking, the V12 was designed to cross continents in refined, relaxed comfort at a rock-steady 145 mph! Since driving off the production line in the summer of 1974, the car I'm driving, below, right, has been one of the jewels of the Jaguar Heritage collection and the subject of meticulous maintenance. And it still drives like a dream. Under that football-field-long hood, its hugely torquey, whisper-quiet 5.3-liter 266-horse V12 pulls like a train from a walking pace in fourth gear.
Today, we’re heading to Goodwood on England’s south coast for a few laps of the circuit, a quick run up the famous hill climb and fine dining with Lord March at Goodwood House.
Talk about soul-stirring stuff. The sight of 50 hard-charging Jaguar E-type cars, lapping southern England’s famous Goodwood race circuit, was enough to bring tears to the eyes of any sports car lover. We kicked off day three of this epic Jaguar E-type 50th Anniversary Tour with a procession up the famous Goodwood hill climb course, followed by some hot laps on a frigid-cold morning around the track. The historic circuit started off as a lumpy perimeter road at an old Royal Air Force airfield before it transformed into the iconic track it is today. The first race took place in September 1948, in which a young Stirling Moss won the 500-cc class. The massive accident that ended Stirling’s professional racing career happened at Goodwood’s infamous St. Mary’s Corner in 1962.
St. Mary’s is still a fast, sweeping left-hander and it’s given the respect it deserves as I steer our 1975 E-type Series 3 V12 roadster – the famous Last E-type ever built - around the extremely quick 2.4-mile track. Adrenaline fix over, we set-off east along England’s southern coast for the drizzly 106-mile run to Folkestone and the Channel Tunnel to France.
For part of the trip, we run in convoy with passionate Jaguar enthusiast Gary Bartlett, from Muncie, IN., and his 1966 E-type Series 1 4.2 fixed-head coupe. Gary bought the completely unrestored XKE back in 1995 with just 17,000 miles on the clock, from a retired GM engineer in Warren, MI. While the car has been mechanically restored and upgraded for use on the track, he’s left the faded and weathered dark gray-green paintwork completely untouched to keep the car’s lovely patina.
The trip through the ‘Chunnel’ is quick and uneventful. You don’t actually drive through the 31-mile tunnel that runs 250 feet beneath the English Channel. Instead, you ease into one of the massive train cars, sit back, relax and, after 30 minutes or so, you’re driving out in Calais, France.
We’re heading to the town of Reims 170 miles south of the coast, along the fast A1 motorway. Tomorrow we’ll drive around the historic Circuit de Gueux, above, the fabulous old road course that dates back to 1926 and hosted Formula 1 races in the 1950s and ’60s before closing in 1972. But first, as a reward for our long trek south, we have a tour of the Taittinger Champagne House – Reims is in the heart of Champagne country – followed by the inevitable tasting, and a toast to a safe trip all the way to Geneva.
Sports car driving doesn’t get much more joyous than this: 200 glorious miles of sweeping, tree-lined, traffic-free French country roads, from Reims heading south to Dijon. On roads like these, our 1975 Series 3 roadster was in its element. Top-down for the first time since Monday’s start in Coventry, big V12 purring under that pool table-long hood, the ‘E’ wafted effortlessly along the arrow-straight two-laners through rolling French Champagne country.
We began day four of this magical 50th Anniversary tour saluting Jaguar’s racing past with a stop at the old Circuit de Gueux in Reims. It was here back in 1954 that Jaguar’s newly unveiled D-type racer took first and second in the Reims 12-Hour race, with a C-type taking third place. This was sports car racing at its finest. As with Le Mans, local roads were closed off and simply became the track. The Reims circuit is famous for its long, high-speed straights that connect the sleepy villages of Thillois and Gueux. It was a race won or lost on the slipstreaming skills of the drivers.
These days there’s little remaining of the old course apart from the original grandstand and empty shells of the pit garages. Back in 2008, Jaguar Heritage sponsored a freshening of its pit garage with new paint and the addition of a couple of the original lozenge-shaped Jaguar logos. More importantly, it commissioned a large brass plaque acknowledging the achievements of the six drivers who gave Jaguar its famous 1-2-3 victory in that hard-fought 1954 race. For the owner of any classic Jaguar, it’s a required photo-op, above, and all but a few of our group of 50 stopped to position their cars in front of the historic pit box.
Then, we continued south along the N44 to Châlons en Champagne, on to Troyes along the N77, before joining the twisting, undulating N71 towards Dijon. These are driving roads made in heaven, and perfect for stretching the torquey E-type model's long legs.
We headed for the Dijon-Prenois race circuit for some hot laps, above, around this roller-coaster 2.4-mile track. Built in 1972, it has played host to five Formula One French Grand Prix and, for some odd reason, the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix. It’s a lovely, modern racetrack with lots of elevation changes, sweeping curves and a long, super-fast straight. You could hear the squealing of E-type tires from a mile away.
We ended the day in style with an overnight stop at the historic Château de Chailly, above, on the outskirts of Dijon where multiple Jaguars were on display around the reception. Jaguar has held media launches here over the years, one of which includes the original XK8.
Tomorrow, weather permitting, we head over the towering Jura Mountains and down into Geneva on the final leg of this epic drive. We’re ending up at the Parc des Eaux-Vives in Geneva where the E-type was officially unveiled 50 years ago this month. The elegant 18th century pastel-pink Restaurant du Parc des Eaux-Vivres, with its spectacular views across Lake Geneva, looks much the same as it did 50 years ago when Jaguar founder, Sir William Lyons unveiled the sensational new Jaguar E-type to the world’s press.
Today could be March 15, 1961 all over again as Jaguar’s former chief test driver, Norman Dewis, stands outside the restaurant, leaning nonchalantly against the very same E-type roadster he drove through the night 50 years ago, to reach the event!
Dewis, right, who recently celebrated his 90th birthday, poses for photos and talks to us, about his daring-do drive from Coventry to Geneva in the brand new E-type roadster, license plate 77RW, to reach the event on time. It was Norman’s epic drive that inspired this Jaguar E-type 50th Anniversary Tour. Fifty E-type owners, co-drivers and friends set off from Coventry early last Monday morning for the thrill of being able to drive their cars through the wrought-iron gates of the Parc des Eaux-Vivres and re-live a little Jaguar history.
It had been a fabulous last day of driving 156-miles to Geneva. Leaving a frosty Dijon, we followed the spectacular N5 road over the soaring mountains of the Haut Jura, with snow often piled six, seven maybe even eight feet high at the side of the road. Then it was through the bustling city-center of Geneva, alongside the shimmering waters of Lac Léman with snow-capped mountains off in the distance, and in through the gates of the Parc.
Just as journalists had sat down for lunch with Sir William after the E-type model's reveal, we had a celebratory lunch with Norman and Jaguar Managing Director, Mike O’Driscoll, surrounded by lovely grainy black and white photos from the 1961 press introduction. Our 1975 E-type Series 3 V12, the last E-type ever built, which normally spends its life in the Jaguar Heritage museum, ran flawlessly throughout the trip.
At the end of the lunch, when all the photos with Norman were taken, there was one more thrill in store for me. After having driven the last E-type ever built all the way to Geneva, I got the chance to drive 77RW, left, one of the very first E-type cars built and the very car that Norman had driven from England 50 years ago. This fresh-restored British Racing Green roadster is a true joy to drive. Yes, its unassisted steering requires big biceps to turn at low speed, its straight-six 3.8-liter engine hates idling in traffic, and its brakes feel heavy; but find an open road and the car comes alive, feeling amazingly quick and nimble.
These have been five fabulous days. It was truly wonderful to drive a great car with like-minded Jaguar enthusiasts on some of Europe’s greatest racetracks and over some of its greatest driving roads. Maybe the brand should do it again next year. Call it the 51st Anniversary Tour. I’d be there.
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