The inimitable Norman Dewis
Ahead of the delegation of 50 owner-driven E-Types that are heading to Geneva from Britain this week, Jaguar lined up a juicy selection of cars at the Hotel du Parc des Eaux Vives yesterday to kick off local celebrations for the famous sportscar's 50th anniversary.
Legendary Jaguar development engineer Norman Dewis was guest of honour at a 50th anniversary dinner last night, and he entertained fellow guests with tales of his famous overnight dash from Coventry to Geneva for the E-Type's first motor show.
Setting off from Coventry at 7.45pm, he arrived the following morning at Hotel du Parc des Eaux Vives twelve minutes before his 10am deadline - averaging 68mph for a journey that pretty much pre-dated the motorway network. The hotel was used as a base for demo drives for potential customers wowed by the E-Type at the show - drives which according to Norman got faster andfaster as the E-Type competed with demo drivers from Mercedes and Ferrari. "At the end of the week we were really going for it, and customers were getting out with white knuckles," he quipped.
Jaguar design boss Ian Callum was also at the event to sing the praises of the E-Type's design. "I've often wondered what made the E-Type so special, and it's this - Malcolm Sayer the designer went back to first principles, wrapping the mechanicals as tightly as possible, and keeping the form pure. We still try to put that into our cars today."
Global brand director Adrian Hallmark also spoke about the future of the Jaguar marque, and how the company intends to 'leverage' the brand in future. "The XKR-S we're showing this year is distinctive and bold, and opens up the envelope of performance and styling," he said.
"Jaguar's first priority is to leverage the full potential of cars we already have. Our powertrains don't meet all market needs - for instance 70 per cent of sales in the XF sector are 2.0 diesels and we don't compete. And Audi has moved the game on from where BMW left it, so 50:50 weight distribution is no longer sufficient and you've got to have 4x4 as well. If Jaguar is to be successful in global markets, we can't just rely on the powertrains we've grown up with."
Jaguar's move back into the smaller executive car sector was also mentioned, with Adrian saying that 'reaching down into lower price segments is very important to us' before jokingly thanking the assembled media for providing "drawings of cars that we haven't even designed yet".
Wherever that all takes us, the principles that inspired the E-Type remain true at Jaguar today it seems. "We are determined to be leaders in style, technology and driver involvement," he said.