July 201 9\JaguarWorld|7 5Sadly,becausetheE-type2+2wasalso
appearingattheshow,Frua’shardwork
wasultimatelyfornothing.Althoughthe
E-type’sraisedroof,sharperrakedscreen
andextendedchassislackedthestyleand
eleganceofthestandardfixedheadcoupe(or
Frua’sowncar,forthatmatter),itwasstillthe
four-seatJaguarthatmanyfamilieshadbeen
waitingfor.Consequently,theFruaS-type
receivedlittleattentionandthedesigner’s
hopesoftakingordersremainedunrealised.
Followingtheshow,Frua’scarlanguished
inhisworkshopforseveralmonthsbefore
Jaguar’sTurindealer,Fattori&Montani,
soldittoanItaliangentlemannamed
FrancescoRespino.HethensoldittoHans
Haldemann,aformerSwissmotorcycleracer,
whochangedthecolourfromitsoriginal
metallicbluetoBritishRacingGreen.During
thelateSeventies,thecoupewasimported
intotheUKandregisteredHYS40T.In1 99 5,
SherwoodRestorations,inNottinghamshire,
wastaskedwithrecommissioningthecar,
whenitwasresprayedbacktoitsoriginal
colourandre-registeredFNN 71 4C.The
samefamilyowneditformorethan 20
years,beforesellingitontoclassiccar
specialist,JulienSumner.
BythetimeJulientookpossessionofthe
Fruacoupe,itwasinneedofsomeslight
recommissioningtoputitbackontheroad.
Althoughheisinthecarbusiness,Julien
hasnoplanstosellthecar.Hesimplylikes
ittoomuch.
Icanunderstandwhy.Eventhough
Julien’sshowroomisfullofdelectable
machinery,thelittleFruastandsoutlikea
long-limbedcatwalkmodel.Itscrispand
elegantlinesaretheepitomeofSixtiescool,
thesortofcaranItaliangentlemanwould
drivefromhisholidayvillaintheTuscanhills
tohisofficeinMilan.Julienalsolikesthe
factthatthisisaone-off,beingbothapart
oftheJaguarfamilyandunique.
Sadly,thereisnotmuchofitsoriginal
Jaguarcharacterleft.Ifyoutakeawaythe
Growleronthenose,itcouldbeanyof
Frua’sotherdesignsofthetime.Plus,the
plain,oblongrear-lightclusterslookas
thoughtheywerenodoubtsourcedfrom
aSixtiessaloonanddonotreflectthecar’s
sophisticatedpersonality.Otherthanthat,
fromtheentwiningJaguarandFruascript
onitsflankstothemeshgrilleatthenose
thedetailsarebeautiful,whileitsboxy
designismorecontemporarythanJaguar’s
owndesignsofthetime.
ThedashboardispureS-type–although
thedeepshinesuggestsitwascoveredin
athickergradeofveneer–andtherow
ofwhite-on-blackSmithsdialsandline
offlickerswitchescomplementthecar’s
stylishsportscoupeimageperfectly.A
wood-rimmed,aluminium-spokedsteering
wheelfurtherstrengthenstheambience
and,asIgazedownthecar’slong,flat
bonnet,itishardtobelievethisisaJaguar
thatI’mabouttodrive,andnotanAlfa
Romeoor,even,aMaserati.
TheFruaalsoscoresoverthebase
carbecauseoftheextrainteriorroomit
appearstohave.It’sanillusion,ofcourse,
becausetheseatlocationsand,therefore,
legroomremainthesameasthebasecar.
Thedeceptioncomesfromthewindows
–hugeexpensesofglassthatarelonger,
wideranddeeperthantheS-type’s–that
createanairinessthatJaguarsfromthe
Sixties,withtheirslithersoflight,could
onlydreamof.Thetallrearscreeneven
featuresasubtlecurve,aremarkableaspect
forashowcar,whichfurtherillustrates
Frua’sattentiontodetail.And,withits
wideranddeeperfrontseatsupholstered
inathicker-than-standardleather,these
arelevelsofluxurythatcouldrivalaRolls-
RoyceShadow.
The3.8enginestartswitharaspy
exhaustnote,theheadymixofsixcylinders
andsnarlingcarbssoundingaristocratic
andauthoritative.It’sneverloudenough