60 years of the Jaguar E-Type with a difference
07/21/2021
A few weeks ago I was traveling with expensive cargo. The Geneva Jaguar E-Type had the honor of being invited by Philipp Porter to his E60 festivities at Shelsley Walsh. And its place in the paddocks was indeed honorable. There were 885 002 and 885 005 and - last but not least - 850 003, the oldest surviving open E-Type.
This was the first time in the history of these three automotive icons that they had met, although they had served as a threesome in Geneva in 1961.
885 005 always had a special status, as it was the car that was specially built for the world premiere in Geneva in the prototype department and had never physically met the other two, as 885 002 (9600HP) and 850 003 (77RW) were the test cars on the Route de Test, where they were committed to beating the Ferrari to the punch.
Now, for the first time in 60 years, they stood united as brothers. The overwhelmed reactions among the "cognoscenti" were corresponding! But we also heard: "What kind of car is this, we always thought 9600HP was the saloon car" and so we were able to provide some long-overdue clarification. The illustrious trio was allowed to drive up the mountain, or hill from a Swiss perspective, several times.
It wasn't until Saturday that it dawned on a photojournalist that this was a unique, unprecedented moment that needed to be captured on celluloid, or rather on a chip, and so we (Philipp Porter with 9600HP, the driver of the Heritage Trust with 77RW and myself as the driver of 885'005) were invited to a photo session at the top of the turning area of the race track early on Sunday morning.
Apart from our three legends, the collection of historic cars was simply overwhelming and hard to measure: Lightweight E-Types, D-Types, C-Types or even the legendary Old Number 8 SS 100 racing car from Jaguar were assembled. There was also no shortage of outstanding personalities from the national Jaguar world. What was missing, however, was anything foreign.
Many from mainland Europe as well as Australia and the USA would have liked to come, but were denied entry due to Covid. We felt very privileged to be able to travel as a freight carrier and to have to fulfill our obligation as caretakers of 885 005.
However, we bourgeois Swiss were astonished to see how casually the English participants interpreted the Covid measures and how we did not have to take any precautions, probably also because we did not meet anyone who was not fully vaccinated. And this was already on June 12!
Another highlight was the show about the legendary movie "The Italian Job". Suddenly, the famous song "Self-Preservation Society" played in the paddock at midday, followed by the arrival of a blue, a red and a white Mini, which was followed by 848CRY, another Jaguar E-Type and loudly honking drivers. Before escaping onto the racetrack, the convoy was held up by a mob in 60s clothing, before fleeing up the hill to loud jeers from the enthusiastic spectators. The original film bus was also on site, but unfortunately its brakes were weak and so it was unable to take part in this great show.
