SAVING A CAT
The cofounder of Millbrook Resort, Graham Smolenski, went looking for his Jaguar back in the late ’80s. After some searching, he eventually discovered a forlorn 1969 Jaguar E-Type Series 2 Roadster stored in a barn in Southern California.
“It had been in storage since 1973, and the owner was a young fellow who had started stripping it to restore the car. He had gone overseas on military duty, and when he arrived back he lost interest in doing anything with it,” Graham says.
The body was in reasonable shape, despite its many colours. Many of the mechanical items were non-original, but at least they were in good condition. A deal was done and the project was shipped home to New Zealand in late 1989. Graham enlisted the services of well-known local restorer Lex Emslie to coordinate and complete the restoration of the Jaguar, which would see it on the road in 1992.
Once the boxes of parts and the car had arrived in New Zealand, it was time to sit down and talk with Lex about exactly what sort of restoration the E-Type would be.
“Lex Emslie had a brilliant business restoring cars at his Lake Hayes garage at that time. He led the restoration pathway, which involved several
