Jaguar World – July 2019

July 201 9\JaguarWorld|8 1

JIMPATTEN|OURJAGUARS

offonanothergloriousroutetothesuperb
NyetimberVineyard.Obviously,tastings
forthedriverswereminimal,butenough
torealisethatthisvineyardproduces
someseriouslygoodsparklingwines,with
internationalawardstoprovethepoint.
Backontheroad,itwasasurrealfeeling;
atonepoint,PhilipPorterwasaheadin
9600 HP,therewasanEagleLow-Drag
CoupeandSpeedsterbehind,and,as
wenearedtheGoodwoodHotel,Henry
PearmanwasonourtailinhisownE-type,
inwhichhewonthe 1989 PirelliMarathon.
ArrivingasifonaHollywoodset,we
droveourcarstoGoodwoodHousefor
thatevening’sformaldinner.Ourcars
werearrangedoutsidefortheofficial
photograph,beforebeingtakenbackto
thehotelbyEaglestaff(wereturnedlater,
aboardaclassicdouble-deckerbus).

Therewasanotherspecialevent,too,as

EagleSpeedsterNo.6andLowDragGTNo.3

wereunveiledfortheirnewowners.Henryand

Ilookedattheincrediblesightandreflected

backtowhenwefirstmet,around 1991 ,when

neitherofuscouldhaveimaginedthatthe

Eagledreamwouldhavesuchanimpacton

theworld.Then,theearthwasshatteredasa

WW2Spitfiresoaredoverhead,treatingusto

anincredibledisplay.FrankStephenson,who

designedtheBMWMini,newFiat500,Ferrari

FXXandMcLarenP1,wasourafter-dinner

speakerandhecaptivatedtheaudience.

Workpressuremeantthatwehadtoskip

thehorseracingatGloriousGoodwoodthe

nextday,settingoffforhomeinstead.Iwas

quietlyproudofourE-type.Itwouldnever

beadeliciouslyre-engineeredEagleE-Type,

somewithanall-alloy4.7-litreengine,five-

speedgearboxandamazingsuspension(all

basedonJaguar’soriginal,stayingtrueto

theethos).Insuchexaltedcompany,itstood

proud.Butitstilllooksextremelygood,and,

what’smore,withtheRobBeereengine,

itisprettyquick,too.Bestofall,forus,it

isperfectinheavytraffic,aswediscovered

onthedrivein,whenpartoftheM25was

closedaddinganhourtothejourney.

Eagleputonanincredibleshow,andeach

timeIthoughtitcouldn’tgetbetteritdid–

suchastheSpitfireswoopingoverGoodwood

House.Alltheteamworkedincrediblyhard,

butspecialthanksmustgotoDanCoggerfor

hisunstintingwork,who,despitehisyouth,

pulledoutthestopstomakethethreedays

runwithseamlessefficiency.

Havingtravelledthepathtocreateour

ownmodernisedfixedhead,thecostshave

beenhuge,leavingmetowonderwhyIjust

didn’thandthewholethingovertoEagle

inthefirstplace.AtleastthenIwouldhave

beenabonefidememberofthismost

elitegroup,andourcarwouldhavethe

distinctionofcarryinganEaglenumber.But

then,howwouldIhavekeptourmechanic

‘Bilko’occupiedoverthepastfiveyears?

And,ofcourse,ithasbeenfun.

LeavingEagleHQ

HenryPearmaninhisPirelli

Marathon-winningE-type

TheentireassemblyatGoodwoodHouse