The Carriage Awaits

It is a long time since I was last in Stirling. I had been given the rental of an e-type Jaguar for the day as a retirement present. So we decided to make a short holiday of the occasion and stay in Stirling for a few days.

Tuesday the day of the car arrived. The owner has several classic cars, one of which is this e-type. After a short driving lesson the car was ours for the day. I think this particular model dates from 1971.

I drive a modern sports car so I was not expecting the e-type to be too difficult to become accustomed to to. I was pleasantly surprised by the responsiveness of the engine. Somewhat less impressed by the brakes, and totally unprepared for the steering. I had completely forgotten what is is like to drive a car that does not have power assisted steering, The steering appears to become increasing heavy as the car goes around a bend.

Once I got used to the brakes, a very heavy foot is required, the car is actually quite fun. I could have one of these as a weekend car, but would not like to have it for every day use. It also has one or two design quirks that somehow escaped common sense at the time.

During the course of the day we were very lucky with the weather which was largely warm and sunny. A big improvement on Monday. After a visit to the Famous Grouse distillery we returned the car to the hire company and returned to base in my car. Gave myself a couple of surprises in my car while readapting, but managed only one unintended emergency stop.