Jaguar World – July 2019

80 |JaguarWorld/July 2019

OURJAGUARS|JIMPATTEN

I

TWASaneventthatmoneycouldn’t

buy.Tocelebratethe 25 thanniversary

ofthefirstEagleE-Type(and 35 years

sincethecompanywasfounded),the

ownersoftrueEagleE-Types,eachwith

theirownchassisnumber,wereinvited

toanexclusivethree-dayeventbased

aroundtheGoodwoodHotel.

Theinvitationwasextendedtomyself

andmywife,Karen,onaccountofbeinga

virtualpartoftheEaglefamily–ouropen

E-typedidspendtimeatEaglejustpriorto

thebuildofEagleE-Typechassisnumber

1 .ThatcarwasconstructedforJohn

McLaren,whonotonlystillownsthecar,

buthasalsobeensufficientlyimpressedto

jointhecompanyaschairman.

AsiftoshowusallthetrueE-typeDNA,

PhilipPorter’sfamous 3. 8 E-typefixedhead

coupe– 9600 HP,thecarthatwasonduty

fffooorrrttthhheeeEEE-tttyyypppeee’’’ssslllaaauuunnnccchhhaaatttttthhhheee 111999666111 GGGeeennneeevvvaaa

MotorShow–wasalsothere.

Wejoinedsome 24 EagleE-Typesatthe

EagleHQinSussex,wherewwwemetowners

withfarmorerighttoattenddd.Thecars

lookedstunning,manyfrommmSwitzerland

andtheUK,butsomehavingbeenshipped

infromArgentina,MalaysiaandAmericafor

theevent.Therewasamixofstandardbody,

LowDragandSpeedster.Fortunately,there

wasalsoplentyoftimetolookaroundthe

workshopsandHenry’sprivatecollection.

Afterlunch,wefollowedapre-planned

routethroughgloriouscountrysideunder

afullsun,passingthroughquintessential

Englishvillages.Emptyroadsandsweeping

bendsgaveeveryoneachancetopushtheir

cars,andI’mgladtosayoursranassweet

asiteverhas.Eventually,wearrivedatthe

famousGoodwoodHotel,andEagle’sown

allottedparkingspaces,readyforanevening’s

barbequeattheGoodwoodKennels.

Thefollowingday,afterfirstdrivingup

thelegendaryGoodwoodhillclimb,and

withmywife,Karen,atthewheel,weset

JIMPATTEN–EXECUTIVEEDITOR

1964 E-type Series 14 .2 OTS

Jimandhiswife,Karen,taketheiropenE-typeonauniquetour

tomark 35 yearsofEagleand 25 yearsoftheEagleE-Type

DrivingthehillatGoodwooood,

passingGoodwoodHooouse

JP’sE-typemixesinexaltedcompany