The all-new F-TYPE public display by Classic Motor Cars Limited of Bridgnorth and Jaguar Cars marked the UK in front of a crowd of more than 500.000 people at this year’s Lord Mayor’s Show in London on Saturday 10th of November 2012.
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.
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.