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