Old Flames Reunited

Amazing birthday surprise makes former owner’s day

By Bill McLauchlan

“I was a fool to ever leave your side
Me minus you is such a lonely ride”

Those words from Reunited by Peaches & Herb back in 1979 could well ring true these days for former Royal Navy Commander Bob Reed as he recently rekindled a young love in somewhat surprising fashion.

You see, the sixtieth E-Type to leave Jaguar’s production line in 1961 went back to surprise its previous owner on his 83rd birthday after undergoing a full ‘nut and bolt’ restoration.

When Reed put his pride and joy, a rare Jaguar E-Type into auction little did he expect that it would sell for £109,000 (223,450 Cdn) or that it would be purchased by someone who would spend substantially more than the purchase price to bring it back to its former glory.

Bob bought the car in February 1965 and owned it for more than 45 years, raced it and only decided to sell it because he couldn’t afford to restore it and didn’t want to see it deteriorate further.

He hadn’t seen the car since it was picked up by Bonhams and taken to their auction at RAF Hendon on April 23, 2013. At the auction, the car caused a huge stir among collectors and sold for more than three times its highest pre-sale estimate.

Photo: Newspress/John Colley
Commander Reed's classic 1961 Jaguar E-Type before its 'nut and bolt' restoration.

Bidders from all over the world fought over the tatty 1961 Roadster, one of the most desirable of all E-Types. The car was a very early 'flat floor' 3.8 litre model dating from the first few weeks of production, also one of the earliest surviving right-hand drive E-Type roadsters and had never been restored. It had covered only 65,000 miles (about 105,000 km) from new.

The E-Type eclipsed its £25,000 to £30,000 ($51,250 to $61,500 Cdn) estimate with eight telephone bidders on the line but it ended up going to the man in the room who opened bidding at £40,000 ($82,000 Cdn).

James Knight, Bonhams International Group Motoring Director said: “Although in a pretty tired looking state, this E-Type was so inherently original we attracted an unprecedented level of interest when offered at the auction. It has evidently been bought by the right buyer, who commissioned Classic Motor Cars, one of the world’s leading Jaguar specialists, to bring it back to life, sympathetically restoring the car to its former glory, expertly retaining as much originality as possible during the process.”

Photo: Newspress/John Colley
Chassis No. 60 after its 3,500-hour refurbishment.

New owner Chris Anderson said: “I sent the car to CMC and asked them to bring it back to the condition that it would have left the factory in 1961.”

Because of his affection for the car Bob contacted its new owner and kept in touch with the restoration process.

When Bob’s daughter Katie contacted the restorers and asked if she could have a picture of the car for his 83rd birthday Managing Director Nick Goldthorp said “of course but I think we can do better than that.”

Conversations with Chris Anderson took place and it was jointly agreed that the car, which recently won Best of Show at the 2015 RAC Midsummer Drive-In, should go back to celebrate Bob’s birthday in mid-September.

“The car took 3,500 hours to restore,” Goldthorp said, “and since then has received many accolades. It was a real pleasure to bring the car back to someone who enjoyed it for so many years. The look on Commander Reed's face when the car turned up was fantastic and I am sure that it was a day that he will never forget.”

Photo: Newspress/Paul Gillis
A delighted Bob Reed reunites with his former love. 

Commander Reed said: “This was an amazing birthday surprise I was absolutely flabbergasted. I wanted to see the car once it had been restored but thought I would have to travel to it at some point. Little did I think it would be brought to me. I can’t thank CMC and Chris Anderson enough. It made my day.”

He added: “The car is fantastic and the level of detail and time that CMC have put into it is just fantastic. I am sure that it is better now than when it first left the Jaguar factory in Browns Lane, Coventry.”