JustBritish

As the 50th anniversary of the incomparable Jaguar E-Type draws to a close, British Motor Heritage (BMH) has been celebrating an E-Type milestone of its own – the production of its 100th replacement bonnet.

Best known for the manufacture of replacement bodyshells and individual panels for the MGB, MGR V8, MG Midget, Austin Healey Sprite, Triumph TR6 and original Minis etc, BMH these days also produces bonnets for the Series 1, 2 and 3 Jaguar E-Types.

Supplied exclusively to Unipart Jaguar Classic and distributed by Jaguar Classic Parts, the bonnets are manufactured using the original Jaguar tooling and the 100th one (that for a Series 1 model) was completed on September 11 by Stephen Fry, Martin Pollard, Alan Stacey and Dave Jeffs, who between can boast over 40 years’ service to BMH. The E-Type bonnet is just one of a range of body panels now made by BMH for Unipart Jaguar Classic.

Said BMH’s Managing Director John Yea, “Enthusiasts restoring or repairing treasured classics are increasingly particular about the fit and finish of any replacement panels, and never more so than with the bonnet of the E-type, which forms such a large percentage of the car. Not only are our pressings identical to the originals, but they benefit from the quality of hand finishing for which all our products are renowned.”

Further information on BMH’s replacement parts for the Jaguar E-Type; Mini; MG B, F, TF and Midget; Triumph TR6, TR7, TR8, Spitfire, GT6 and Stag; Austin-Healey Sprite; Morris Minor etc can be found at bmh-ltd.com.

Morris Minor enthusiasts from Ireland and the Netherlands joined British motoring fans to celebrate the history of the icon. This year marks the 50th anniversary of the one millionth Morris Minor rolling off the production line.

To celebrate the million mark, 350 bright lilac models were produced and 10 of the special cars took part in Sunday’s rally. Enthusiasts travelled from far and wide to be part of the event, which took the cars from Steeple Aston to Bourton-on-the-Water in Gloucestershire.

Oxfordshire was chosen for the event because the car was produced at the Cowley car plant. It was 40 years ago the last Morris Minor was built in this country.

Denis Lynch, 69, owns one of the limited edition Minors and travelled from West Limerick in Ireland to be part of the event. He said, “I am a Minor fanatic – my first car, back in 1962, was a Minor – and we like going to these events. It was a very enjoyable event because everyone was so enthusiastic about the rally and the anniversary. The Minor was one of the first cars people were able to afford back in the late 60s, and it is a British icon.”

Ken Giller, 54, from Wageningen in Holland, also owns a lilac Minor and travelled down in the vehicle on Friday with his son, Onno, 22, to be part of the event.

He said: “I have had this car for 28 years and, to me, it is very special. The Morris Minor is a car that is very, very easy to work on, it is amazingly reliable and it is part of English history.”

Assistant organiser Andrew Dyer, originally from Oxfordshire, said: “The Morris Minor was the first British car that ever sold one million units. At the time, to celebrate Morris made a specially edition of 350 cars, the idea being to send them out to each of the dealers for publicity.

“They are spread all around and today was about getting to see how many of those special edition cars that have survived we could get together. We think there is somewhere around 40 of the 350 that were originally made on the road and we managed to get 10, which is pretty good.”

Another retro sports car is being revived. The Jensen Interceptor was a British V8-engined coupe built between 1966 and 1976, and these official pictures show how a modern interpretation of the elegant GT will look when it gets its public unveiling in late 2012, before going on sale in 2014.

CPP, a Coventry-based coachbuilder and owner of Spyker sports cars, has won the contract to engineer, develop and build the new Jensen Interceptor from the brand’s Swiss owners, Healey Sports Cars.

Based on an all-new aluminium platform with aluminium bodywork, the newcomer will be extremely light for its size. It will use the same four-seat layout as the original and features many of its forerunner’s design cues – including the wraparound rear screen, vents behind the front wheel and quad headlights.

Annual production numbers and pricing are yet to be released, but will be capped to maintain exclusivity. There’s no word on the engine or gearbox either, but as the original used an American V8, a powerplant borrowed from the current Corvette seems likely.

Brendan O’Toole, founder and co-owner of CPP, said: “The Jensen Interceptor design team has respected and honoured the great heritage and attributes of the original Interceptor, while injecting a contemporary edge and advanced technologies that will ensure it appeals to the passionate, discerning motoring enthusiast of today.

“This work is at an advanced stage, and married to CPP’s expert coachbuilding, craftsmanship and engineering skills, the new Interceptor will be an exceptional example of British automotive excellence.”

Source: AutoExpress

The spirit of the British sports car tradition is reflected in the aesthetics of Schlegelmilch’s photography and in Lehbrink’s knowledgeable text in British Sports Cars. I am not sure whether to classify this book as a coffee table book because of the beautiful photography or a reference book due to the exhaustive cataloging of the cars and their features. Whichever way you go though, the works is both fascinating and of very hight quality. Without reading a word, I can sit and stare at the imagery for ages.

Of the authors, this is said, “There is a persistent rumour that Rainer Schlegelmilch’s birth was initiated on the back seat of a Mercedes Benz 170V. Whether or not this is the source of his ongoing affinity to anything that has four wheels, his fascination with cars is vividly expressed in his photographs. How do you get from German and English philology to automotive journalism? Chalk it up to car racing: the appearance of the Silver Arrows (Silberpfeile) in Spa, Zandvoort and at the Nurburgring, says the Germanist and Anglicist Hartmut Lehbrink. Numerous books on automobiles and racing penned by Lehbrink testify to the long-term impact of these early experiences.”

Check out British Sports Cars by Schlegelmilch and Lehbrink and let me know what you think. I don’t believe you will be disappointed.

I was one of those people very disappointed by the Jaguar XJS, the car that replaced the E-Type Jag when it came out in the mid-Seventies. To me, it wasn’t a sports car at all, but more of a boulevard cruiser. Since then, there have been sporting Jaguars, for sure, but no real sports car. The E-Type is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cars of all time, so making something as gorgeous again is an incredibly difficult task. But 50 years on from the creation of the E-Type, Jaguar has come closer than ever to matching its beauty.

Its latest model, though, the C-X16, which is being shown in Frankfurt at the moment, has all the styling clues of a Jaguar sports car and especially the E-Type. I love the rear end; the twin exhausts look great, as do the rear lights. The whole car works and looks like a modern interpretation of the E-Type. I don’t have a lot of interest in the convertible though, to be honest. For me, coupés are always where it’s at.

Crucially, I think it shows that the age of Jaguar in desperation is over. It’s now an extremely successful company, it’s making a profit and it’s making a car that it is enjoying building. Let me qualify that; if the new XJ had not been the tremendous success that it is, the C-X16 wouldn’t even have made it to the drawing board. Jaguar built the car it needed to build and now the company is planning to build the fun car it wanted to build. It’s a measure of the confidence Jaguar has when it goes into such a highly competitive market.

The preceding is part of an article written by famed talk-show host and auto enthusiast Jay Leno published in The National. For the rest of the fantastic article, please check out their site.

Classic and Sports car Magazine reported on the first and last of the fabled E-types recently coming together for the first time ever at Sandown Park in Surrey. The cars in question were 1 VHP, as featured in the October issue of C&SC, the first production right-hand-drive fixed-head coupé commonly known as Chassis Number 1, and HDU 555N, the last S3 V12 to leave the Browns Lane factory.

The Sandown event was a collaboration between Jaguar Heritage, Classic Motor Cars of Bridgnorth and Barry Potter Fairs, yet another outing to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the landmark British design.

More than 4000 visitors to the show also saw other important E-types, including two more from the current issue of C&SC: the famed Lindner-Nocker Lightweight and 1600 RW, the first E-type to be sold.

Other highlights included Jag test driver Norman Dewis signing copies of his new book, the launch of Peter Driver’s The Toy Jaguar Book and a 28-car concours that was won, appropriately, by the 1969 Series 2 roadster of Michael Quinn, Sir William Lyons’ grandson.

The picture shows Quinn, along with Dewis, CMC’s Peter Neumark and Barry Potter with the “first and last” E-types.