Classic Motor Cars Limited of Bridgnorth and Jaguar Cars marked the UK public debut of the all-new F-TYPE with a stunning display in front of a crowd of more than 500.000 people at this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show in London on Saturday 10th November.
CMC provided two iconic parts of Jaguar’s Heritage: E-Types 1600RW, the first one to be sold, and Chassis No. 24, the Daily Mail car, which escorted the F-Type that was driven by Olympian and Jaguar Academy of Sports Ambassador Jessica Ennis.
Nick Goldthorp, CMC’s Managing Director, drove the E-Type 1600RW and said: “We wanted to accompany the all-new F-TYPE with two iconic E-Types, which showed the strong historic links that exist between the two cars.”
Jessica Ennis commented: “It was great being part of the Lord Mayor’s Show in the Jaguar F-TYPE. I was amazed how many people turned out to watch the procession.”
Pageantmaster Dominic Reid OBE said: “It was a great honour for us to welcome such an outstanding Olympian as Jessica Ennis to the Lord Mayor’s Show. It was wonderful how the crowd reacted to her.”
He added: “It was great to see Jaguar Cars back in the parade and the new F-TYPE making its UK debut supported by two important E-Types. This was particularly poignant as my father’s E-Type was driven in the show in 1973 by Graham Hill.”
E-Type 1600 RW or Chassis No. 4 was the fourth E-Type to leave the production line and the first one to be sold. It was completed and despatched in April 1961 to its new owner who was none other than Jaguar’s own Racing Team Manager, Frank ‘Lofty’ England. After sitting in a garage for 25 years, the car was bought and restored by CMC.
As part of the preparations for the Show, E-Type 1600 RW remained one week on display at the Grange St. Paul’s Hotel, where it had a special cocktail, ‘The E-Type’, designed for it.
The second E-Type was Chassis No. 24 or the “Daily Mail” E-Type, which was one of the two examples that the newspaper gave away in a competition it ran in 1961 to win “the most wanted car in the world”. The car also underwent a full restoration carried out by CMC and is now in excellent condition.
This year’s event saw more than 6,500 people, 21 carriages, a Sherman tank and a steamroller taking part, which filled the whole area between Mansion House and the Royal Courts of Justice in Aldwych. The procession was cheered by thousands of people and watched live on the BBC by millions more.
CMC took part in last year’s Lord Mayor’s Show when it celebrated with Jaguar Cars the 50th Anniversary of the E-Type. CMC is delighted to have supported them again with two of the most famous E-Types ever.
