You might think there would not be much left to say about Jaguar E-type restoration. And yet, after listening to model expert Paul Bridges, you begin to realise that there is still quite a lot we don't really know about how these cars were put together. The saga of Bridges' epic rebuild of this very early 3.8-litre roadster spans three decades, with surges of activity at either end. The restored car had its debut at Salon Privé last year, the first time it had been seen in public for 50 years.
Having won the combined Jaguar car clubs' 60th-anniversary concours in July, 160 RKJ is now widely accepted as the “reference quality early E-type roadster, so painstaking have been Bridges' labours in making sure that every detail - quite literally down to the last nut, bolt, screw and washer - is absolutely correct.
Το say that all of the numbers match is only the beginning. It would be fair to suggest that this Jaguar has been rebuilt with an attention to detail normally reserved for precious antiques and works of art. It is a lovely balance of preservation and painstakingly accurate restoration. Having spent 30 years squirrelling away new-old-stock parts - he even found a set of original, unused Dunlop RS5 crossply tyres that had not seen the light of day since the early 1970s - Bridges was possibly uniquely placed to hit these heights, not least because he also had a 31-year engineering career at Jaguar, latterly as the programme manager for JLR's 'Reborn project and setting up the reverse-engineering for E-type body tooling. Since 2018 he has worked for himself as Heritage Classics, based in Kenilworth, having by then put several award-winning E-type restorations under his belt.
Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
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Denne historien er fra June 2022-utgaven av Classic & Sports Car.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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A Breath of Fresh Air- Alfa Romeo's exotic, V8-powered Montreal was like nothing the marque had made before, but can it compare with a Porsche masterpiece, the 911S 2.4?
The stereotype of the ItaloGermanic automotive rivalry is that the Latin car will be brilliant to drive, but poorly built and ergonomically flawed, while the Teutonic will be the opposite. Yet these 2+2 sports coupés both ran against orthodoxy. In the Montreal, Alfa Romeo created an outlandish-looking two-door more comfortable, more powerful and more refined than anything it had produced for decades. Meanwhile, Porsche continued to refine its back-to-front, austere and increasingly aged 911. Neither took a traditional development path, but both created thrilling and individual cars that have echoed through the decades.
Daring to be diminutive
AMC's Gremlin and Pacer, and Ford's much-derided Pinto, led America's response to the threat of imported European compacts
THE LONG WAY ROUND
There is a great tradition of overland trips by Land-Rover, but the tale of this 70s Aussie epic and the car itself was discovered by chance
Handsome cab
The Phantom V limousine marked the beginning of the end for coachbuilder James Young, but this Rolls-Royce represents the craft at its very best
DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES
Racing for their own F1 teams brought some drivers success and an enduring legacy. For others, it turned into a nightmare
20 30 LITRES CYLINDERS, 400BHP......AND MORE THAN A CENTURY OLD
Thunderous torque, flame-spitting stub-exhausts, white-knuckle thrills - and hopefully no spills - aboard a trio of Edwardian racing titans
ICON.
The three top-selling vehicles in the USA in 2023 were pick-ups, topped by the Ford F-Series. This is the truck that started it all
Blurred Lines
lan 'Del' Lines blended the V8 burble of Triumph's open GT with real practicality in his Stag V8 saloons and estates
Home of the brave
The innovative Silverstone proved a hit with keen amateur drivers. To mark its 75th, Healey's club racer returns to the circuit for which it is named
PLAYING ALL THE ANGLES
Alfa Romeo's wild RZ eschewed the jellymould styling of the period to offer a striking, wedge-shaped take on open-topped performance motoring
