For me, it started at age 13 when I saw this ad in my dad’s Business Week magazine. Six years later I got my first car, a tired and abused four year old 1963 silver blue XKE Roadster. Decades later I deduced it had been a rental car when I got the Heritage Certificate listing Hertz San Francisco office as the original owner.
Fast forward. A few years ago walking down Champs-Élysées I recognized the bright awning.
Note to self: Add to bucket list. Drive my E-Type to Fouquet’s for dinner with Claire.
I grew up in a small town in Illinois (and have now returned to live there again after 20 years away). When I was a kid, one of the two brothers who owned the local seed corn company owned a primrose Series II (I think) OTS and used it as his daily driver. When I would play catch in the field next door with the older neighbor kid, we would often take a break to ogle the E. The neighbor kid (Brent) was a big car guy who helped cultivate my love of cars.
Fast forward 40 years and I’m finally purchasing my first (presumably only) E-type. Last weekend, when I went over to the seller’s shop to move cars around to try to get the E out, I took my friend and former neighbor Brent along to help. We had a great time reminiscing about our youth.
When I was 16 we used to drive down to Ft. Leonard Wood, Missouri and haunt the used car lots on the strip outside the main gate. I’d seen maybe 2 Jaguars in the flesh in my life at that time. One day they had an E-Type, a Black OTS with what I remember as more switches and dials than an airplane. The thing just screamed “exotic” and “sex on wheels” I fell in love.
Grew up in the UK and when I was 16 I saw a pic of the new Jaguar in a magazine. Love at first sight, but, I was 16, no-one on the UK had that kind of money so, move on 50 years and after raising a family (twice) I finally had the $$ to buy one…always having an eye for value I bought the 2+2…never regretted it, can’t wait to get the car back on the road, if only Robey in the UK can make a bloody LH rear bumper more than once a bloody year!!!
Fall, 1964. I was 12. Parked outside when I left the library was a brand new Carmen red over black OTS, top down. I walked around and around and around that car. The smell was amazing. It was a very early 4.2 in retrospect, having that extra bit of script on the bootlid. I think at that very moment I entered puberty and vowed to own one someday. “Someday” took almost 18 years. A man:car love affair now going on 37 years.
I got my first E-Type when I was 6 or 7 from my parents “E” TYPE JAGUAR Made in England By Lesney. Just like this one, only in a silver blue color. Hooked for life - couldn’t believe it when 25 years later my brother-in-law sold me his basket case '63 for $500. Work in progress, but hooked for life.
Sold my Austin Healey 3000 when i was 19. bought a used 1964 E Coupe from our local Dentist for 2500$ ( 1968) . Only had it a short time and didn’t get another one till I was 59. Its almost on the road now, im almost 70! what a time machine its going to be! its very hard to wait . in reassembly mode now.
My sister dated the son of a wealthy restaureteur. He drove a primrose yellow drop top etype. While he was in the house putting the moves on sis i was in his car making vroom noises.
It was my first car love. Ive wanted a car exactly that one for 50 years. I had to build it myself but i finally got one.
When I was 5-6 years old and my brother a year older, there was a hot stewardess (flight attendant) living in the apartment across the narrow street from us in Copenhagen. Either my brother, I or my mum must have been friendly with her because one day she showed up with two brand new e-type model cars. That was it.
Forever smitten and about 45 years later, an abused S3 OTS showed up on a flatbed as the biggest car-buying mistake of my life. Now an other 9 years down the bumpy road of restoration, the car I have owned the longest and I proud to say get the most attention.
When I was a kid, the family used to vacation in Minnesota. In August of '61 or maybe '62 when I was 13 or 14 y.o. we were on the freeway passing through Minneapolis when my brother and I saw a red OTS coming up from behind us. As he passed us, I noticed that the driver had a black full beard and was dressed in green coveralls; perhaps a mechanic out on a test drive? I had seen pictures of the new E types before, but this was the first live, breathing cat that I ever saw. It was one of only two times that I experienced love at first site; the second was about 15 years later when I met the beauty that is now my wife. I had to wait about 47 years to satisfy my first unrequited love by buying my E.
Oh great thread! My avitar tells the same story as Craig above - the maroon Matchbox I received in a Christmas exchange in 1st grade. My ongoing RESTO will be the full size version of that.
Since then the love has been reinforced multiple times.
I have the same one, (maroon seems popular?) but it was the second one I owned. We had a small matchbox E in the BMW when I was 10…12 and our neighbor subsequently gave me his collection. His story was that the medium (made by Tekno) one was what he blew his first lunch money on when he was my age.
The V12 is a bit annoying due to its size but I like the small ones. It took a while until I saw the first 1:1 version though.
In 1961 I was heading up to the family cottage in Parry Sound Ontario. We stopped at a place named Barney’s 400 on highway 400. There sitting at the gas pump was a brand new XKE roadster. I had no idea what I was looking at but knew I had to have one. From 1965 until today I have always owned British sports cars. The closest I ever got to the XKE was an XK150 that I bought from the original owner in 1967 for $750.00. It took over 50 years but I finally own the car of my dreams.
