Robin Davies – 1974 Jaguar E-Type Roadster

The E-Type has long been considered one of the world’s most beautiful cars, and in Roadster form it combined those gorgeous looks with wind-in-the-hair driving thrills. What we have here is one of the Series 3 models that was powered by a 5.3-litre V12 engine.

“I’d always wanted one but early cars were too expensive, so I settled on the later Series 3 instead. After a long search I found this one in Houston, Texas back in 2018 and drove it sparingly for a few years until I’d decided what to do.”

Attending a 60th anniversary celebration of the E-Type at Shelsley Walsh led to a meeting with Andy Waters of CBR Restorations, and it was the beginning of Robin’s plan for his dream car. The work would take the best part of two years, but the result is nothing short of stunning.

One of the biggest tasks was preparing for a bare-metal re-spray - the ‘bullet holes’ that were discovered were actually from the original manufacturing process - and the Jaguar would also be treated to a restored interior. The non-functioning air-conditioning was removed at the same time.

The proud owner got his car back in July of last year and says that after the drive home he just sat in it for a couple of hours while he admired the superb workmanship. Three weeks later there was an incident that Robin describes as a nightmare.

“I was putting the car away in the garage and managed to scrape against the door, taking the paint off a wheel-arch. I was devastated.” Back at the restorers the car was soon returned to perfect condition.

It’s great that there was a happy ending, and we are sure that all enthusiasts will agree that this really is a dream classic. We love it.