zroadster.net

Well you know how it is, the sun was getting higher, the sky was that shade of blue that you only get in the autumn, and the itch to awaken the Z3 and go for a drive could not be scratched!..... So today, Mrs. Bonzo and I drove out to the lovely little village of Heydon to have lunch, alfresco at the Tea rooms. Just as we were finishing our second cups of tea a beautiful red E type Jaguar roadster pulled up and parked just along from our table. The couple from it seated at the table next to ours. I could see that it was an early one and the licence number was pre date letter suffix. As I went to pay the bill I had a closer look and it was immaculate, and I asked the driver if it was a series 1 3.8 litre. He said it was, and that he just could not resist the chance for a drive out to eat lunch in the sunshine. I said I had a little convertible and had done the same thing, and he asked what it was. I felt like saying it's not in the same league as your roadster, but didn't! A brief conversation, and then we left to drive home. We pulled up in front of him before turning off left out of the village and he gave us a smile, a wave and a thumbs-up. A nice warm feeling came over me! No, I hadn't wet myself, but we had a meeting of minds for a while there, on his mind a car worth well into six figures..... And mine? To me anyway, worth an awful lot more than it's monetary value!

Cheers, all

Bonzo.

what a lovely post. We get so much about offsets, sensors, fault codes, tramlining etc, that its good to be reminded of the important bit of our Z ownership experience. And if the Z was away sorned in the garage, you would have missed out on the day.

Thanks John. I am very lucky in the fact that I don't have to sorn Z3lda, she has an attached garage where she lives all year round, and being retired I can usually take her out when it suits me. As long as it's dry, however cold I will wrap up, drop the hood and off I go, happy as Larry.

Cheers,

Bonzo.

I wonder who Larry was!

No matter what the breed those that drive roadsters are a band of brothers.

What's with the avatar Mich?

Bonzo wrote:What's with the avatar Mich?

It is a musical symbol indicating the "Bass Clef" I used to stuff around on the Double Bass before I became old and stupid

Yeah, I know it was a bass clef, as opposed to a treble clef. I'm a drummer, so you and I are brothers in groove and rhythm!
,
Bonzo.

Bonzo wrote:Yeah, I know it was a bass clef, as opposed to a treble clef. I'm a drummer, so you and I are brothers in groove and rhythm!
,
Bonzo.

Have sent you a PM.

Ironically, the 2.8 Z3 is almost certainly faster and better handling than the seriously more expensive E Type. I met a farmer in Worcester back in the 1980s and in his garage he had a 2.8 Capri Injection and a very early E Type roadster. He said that whilst the E was his pride and joy, the Capri knocked spots off it in all departments on the road: acceleration, cornering, comfort, and most of all in braking. The early E Type brakes were pretty dire apparently.

A had a 2.8i Capri as a company car straight after that testimonial!

The 3.8 E type could do 150mph, allegedly, and the early Moss gearboxes were supposedly not that good. But handling
The E type must have been the ultimate F**ny magnet though!


Autocar tested the 2.8 Z3 at 134mph.

In its day the "E" was way ahead of the rest it had independent rear suspension on a production car, all Aluminium Body Jaguar were one of the leaders in that, and it was a looker, its predecessor the XK range were very old school in comparison.

I was fortunate to see one in the hotel car park about 6 months ago (albeit with the bonnet up and an AA van beside it). Possibly the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long while...

IMO since then Jag have (for many reasons) been lazy/cheap in their designs making either substandard variants that look like bad rovers or poor Aston wannabes

However, the new stuff.... X-types.... XE... Hello!!!!

As mentioned previously in the post, we have an appreciation of our little cars, and, while there are still many fools who don't, I honestly believe that they are superb, and it's always nice to see classics together !!! Glad you enjoyed your day