For the 6th consecutive year, Lockton will host and exclusively sponsor the Club Trophy, offering car club members the opportunity to vie for both the Manufacturer's and Secretary's Awards. Lockton will select one car to receive the Salon Privé Club Trophy for the best club car on show, joining previous winners from McLaren, Lamborghini, Rolls-Royce, Ferrari and Jaguar.
Ahead of this year's award, we spoke to Phil Kenworthy, whose Jaguar E-Type took home the 2023 prize.
Your wonderful Jaguar E-Type won the Club Trophy last year. Can you tell us how long you've owned the car for and when you came about acquiring it?
Having searched for some time for the “right car”, I purchased our E-Type from a specialist UK dealer in early 2017. At that point, it was “fresh from a shipping container” from California but not driveable having been laid up for the best part of twenty years. We've done a rolling restoration on it since then.
The E-Type is one of the most beautiful cars ever made. But what inspired you to buy one?
This, literally, was a childhood ambition. I'd always loved the E-Type and I remember very clearly at the age of 11, being disappointed when my father purchased one of the first Jaguar XJS coupes as opposed to the heavily discounted S3 E-Type the Jaguar dealer had sitting in their showroom. It was simply then a question of when, and which version. Sadly, it took a further 42 years!
Can you tell us a bit about the car's history?
Our car was manufactured in June 1964 and exported directly to the US. Sadly, as is often the case with exported Jaguars, the first owner's details were never supplied back to the factory – which makes tracing the car's history more challenging.
We were fortunate that the owner before us had the car for 32 years, and was a Jaguar enthusiast – retaining every invoice (even down to when it was professionally waxed)! He had purchased the car in 1985 via a recognised restorer (whose Lamborghini restorations have subsequently appeared at Pebble Beach Concours). At the owner's request, they changed the car's colour from Golden Sand to British Racing Green (a good choice). The fact that the car's bodywork is very original points to it having been in a dry US state from day one.
Despite much research, we've not been able to find out more about the car's early history. However, we have been able to reconcile every element of the car back to the Jaguar factory build ledger, which is more detailed than the heritage certificate – even down to the door lock numbers, which are still present on the car. As such, the car is fully numbers-matching to the ledger, including where its body number had been written on components of the car at various stages during its production.
How often do you drive your E Type and what's the furthest distance you've taken it?
Our car is not a trailer queen and is used regularly for Jaguar shows and club events (plus occasional trips to country pubs). It is, however, laid up over the winter to avoid salted roads. It's done 200+ mile round trips with ease. I would like to take it on a continental tour once I retire.
How does driving a 60-year-old Jaguar compare to a modern car?
In short, far better than many other 60-year-old cars from other manufacturers. The E-Type was quite revolutionary back in its day with disc brakes all round, fully independent rear suspension, and a limited slip differential. Its engine is a peach – really smooth and tractable. The “Moss” gearbox which is present on 3.8 cars takes some getting used to, but is robust. On the flip side, the seats on a 3.8 are only adjustable fore/aft and the car does not have power steering (although some owners now retrofit electric power steering).
Last question (and we always ask this when we do a Q&A) – your E Type, last tank of fuel, where are you heading, who's in the passenger seat and what's playing on the radio?
The Italian Lakes (hood down), my wife beside me (obviously) and, actually, nothing on the radio. In an E-Type roadster, you cannot hear the period radio with the hood down. But the engine noise makes up for that!
More information about Lockton is available via the Salon Privé website.