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Automotive Industry

Jaguar: Putting the Past to Work

Automotive Industries, May, 2001 by Ken Gross

Forty years ago the E-Type put a languishing Jaguar back on the map. When the F-Type debuts in 2003, it will have the same lofty goals.

March 14th, 1961: Jaguar PR manager and former race driver Bob Berry set out for Dover, England, in the first registered E-Type, The coupe, a test mule, was hastily refurbished to compliment the static car on Jaguar's show stand. Publicity-savvy Jag boss Sir William Lyons knew he needed a car journalists could see in action. A man on a mission, Berry's task was to drive as fast as possible to the Geneva Motor Show for a key press conference the next day, debuting Jag's radical new 150-mph model.

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Dashing out of Coventry Berry sprinted to the Channel ferry. Held up by London traffic, he arrived just in time. Fog across France and rain and snow in the Alps dictated he take a longer, more circuitous route to Switzerland. Driving at speeds that at times topped 125 mph, Berry made it to Geneva with barely enough time to clean the car before the excited press flocked around it. An angry Lyons chewed Berry out for arriving so close to the critical event, not realizing his plucky PR exec had risked life and limb to reach the Pare des Eaux Vives in time.

Two days later, Lyons asked that a second car be sent from the factory to accommodate all who clamored for rides on the old Geneva test circuit. Jag's chief tester, Norman Dewis, performed virtually the same feat in a roadster. For days both men conducted countless test drives of the sensational new model. The new cars never faltered, and a legend, really an icon, was born. Jaguar produced 72,000-plus E-Types before ceasing production in 1974.

At Geneva this year, 40 years later, Jaguar's new X-Type all-wheel-drive sedan was in the spotlight -- it's a car that could double the company's output yet again and knife into BMW and Mercedes-Benz volume. Unwilling to upstage its new baby, Jaguar was forced to play down the E-Type's anniversary. But Berry's and Dewis' epic drives weren't forgotten. Three-dozen E-Type owners and their vintage cars, along with the freshiy restored 1961 show cars, gathered for a commemorative drive from the U.K. to Geneva.

Fittingly, Julian Thomson, chief designer of the new F-Type, addressed the gathering. Acknowledging the "huge impression" those first E-Types had made, Thomson said they represented "a tremendous leap forward." He confirmed that while working on its future, Jaguar was mindful of its past. He was cheered when he told his audience that when the new F-Type bows in Geneva in 2003, he and his staff will work hard to replicate the stunning effect of the E-Type.

Car and Driver Editor-in-Chief Csaba Csere, himself an E-Type owner, and I had a chance to drive the beautifully restored and priceless first two Es over the same challenging Alpine roads Berry and Dewis conquered so long ago. The car is still stunning. It's clear why the E-Type put a languishing Jaguar back on the map and set competitors back a step.

Jaguar's commemorative event was a fine example of a company celebrating its past. Supportive owners made the pilgrimage to Geneva in their own cars. Can a car company put a price on this kind of loyalty? Probably not. But if your marque covets historic models and moments, it's arguably worth the expense to consider re-staging and promoting some of them.

Looking back, no automaker today would leave a major launch to chance the way Jaguar did in 1961. But its men and machines rose to the challenge, and the result is still the stuff of legends.

Does your company have great models and significant events to celebrate? Do you cultivate enthusiasts who revere and restore your historic cars? No amount of advertising and self-aggrandizement can substitute for real accomplishments. But fair warning: if you evoke the past, it's how your future will be judged.

KEN GROSS is an internationally known author and marketing consultant. He has been writing about automobiles and the auto industry for nearly 30 years.

Automotive Industry

Jaguar: Putting the Past to Work

Automotive Industries, May, 2001 by Ken Gross

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