Jaguar Cars got the official celebrations of the E-Type’s 50th anniversary under way earlier this month over two days at the Parc des Eaux-Vives in Geneva, scene of the original press launch in 1961.
The idea for the event was for selected journalists and other VIP guests to recreate the original 1961 demonstration runs from the Parc, but to do that Jaguar was going to need a lot of E-Types (in fact more than 20).
Jaguar Heritage brought along several of its own cars, including the original OTS demonstrator 77 RW. Other E-Type ‘royalty’ present included the prototype E2A and the Lightweight 86 PJ. But none of those were going to be entrusted on Geneva’s busy roads to the assembled hacks!
So the word had gone out for E-Type owners willing to entrust their cars to Jaguar for the duration of the event and allow them to be driven by Jaguar’s guests. WAS 158 was one of the cars to receive an invitation, and had been duly transported by Jaguar to Geneva. Whisper it quietly, but having the car taken by covered transporter and the owner flown down afterwards by plane was quite possibly preferable to driving down through France in late February!
Jaguar had tried to retrace the route of the original demonstration drives up the hill from Lake Geneva as faithfully as possible, but what was a deserted hill climb in 1961 had since become a prime piece of lake-side residential real estate, so two routes were offered – the ‘short’ (original) route and a ‘long’ route taking in some of the countryside east of the lake (complete with speed limits and cameras).
Waiting to see if WAS 158 was picked by a journalist from the mouth-watering selection of cars available brought back memories of school playgrounds – would it be picked for the team?
I needn’t have worried, and made plenty of trips as passenger while a stranger came to grips with the car. Most of the journalists were experienced road testers who drove the cars with skill and respect, but it became apparent that some of the invitees from Jaguar’s newer markets didn’t quite match those same high standards and showed a worrying propensity (among others) to hog the middle of the road.
Word of mouth passing between the owners soon resulted in a short-list of guests who would be ‘encouraged’ to try the short route only (and with maybe a lengthy photo opportunity in the lay-by overlooking the lake)!
Centrepiece of the event was a formal dinner for 120 guests, attended by some of the great and good of the motoring world including most of Jaguar’s top brass as well as Ratan Tata himself, surrounded by E-Type memorabilia and with ‘our’ cars on display outside the restaurant. It was evident that the whole event was a big deal for Jaguar in terms of brand image and goodwill, and they pulled out all the stops for a memorable evening.
My personal highlight was undoubtedly meeting Jaguar’s legendary test driver from the era, Norman Dewis, listening to his anecdotes, sitting in his place in 77 RW, and having him pose for a picture with WAS 158.
Truly a special couple of days – thank you Jaguar (and thank you E-Type).
Nick Bromfield (Eagle Engineered No 36)