First victory for a V12 E-type
MANY THANKS FOR an excellent issue 220 celebrating 60 years of the E-type, and well done on finding new stories to tell. I hope you’ll let me add my own footnote to the fairly limited racing history of the V12 Series 3.
I was a Jaguar apprentice from 1962 to ’67, and stayed on for a further 24 years. In 1973 I bought XJ25/1 from the test fleet – the first V12 E-type, registered SWK 581H, chassis EX1001 – for £410. During that winter I rebuilt it, with the intention of racing it in the ’74 Prodsports season. When Lofty England got wind of my plans, he made it known that he was not in favour! However, with the arrogance of youth – and little thought of my prospects with the company – I pressed ahead regardless.
With help from a number of ex-apprentice pals, we prepped and ran the car throughout 1974, finishing 12 races out of 13 entered. To the surprise of many, we won the Titan Properties
