- Story by Sean McIntyre Photography by Don Denton

From West Shore Life + Style

It takes a specific combination of factors to create the perfect drive. When youB次元官网网址檙e driving a 1961 Series 1 Jaguar E-Type roadster, the hills shouldnB次元官网网址檛 be too steep, the curves should be many and the traffic should be fast and light.

David Moisik is fortunate enough to have just such roads only a few minutes from his Colwood home.

B次元官网网址淢etchosinB次元官网网址檚 Kangaroo Road is one of these roads that is constantly curving and has just the right combination of turns and hills that makes driving the E-Type roadster so much fun with the top down. You can smell the forest and feel the wind blow through your hair,B次元官网网址� David says. B次元官网网址淗ighways arenB次元官网网址檛 necessarily a lot of fun in a car like this. When youB次元官网网址檙e in an open car, you donB次元官网网址檛 really want to be flying down the highway with enormous semis that you can practically drive under on both sides.B次元官网网址�

Drives like Kangaroo Road and East Sooke Road are the kind of places one is likely to come across fellow Jaguar enthusiasts out for a B次元官网网址淪unday prowlB次元官网网址� through West Shore communities and beyond. David says itB次元官网网址檚 coastal roads like this that explains why many classic car aficionados decide to settle in southern Vancouver Island.

B次元官网网址淲e call this area classic car heaven because of the roads and the weather,B次元官网网址� he says.

Though heB次元官网网址檚 been enjoying the rewards of life in classic car heaven for a few years, DavidB次元官网网址檚 relationship with his E-Type Jag began four decades ago and 2,000 kilometres to the east in Regina, Saskatchewan, where the young architect spotted a used model at a local detailing shop in the late B次元官网网址�70s. David had become infatuated with this type of car years earlier at age nine, when he spotted a sparkling new 1961 model in the Regina Jaguar showroom.

B次元官网网址淚t was love at first sight,B次元官网网址� he recalls. B次元官网网址淚t was a magnificent yellow roadster and the salesman made it clear to look but not touch. I made a promise to myself that one day I would own an E-Type.B次元官网网址�

David instantly made an offer, but it took the carB次元官网网址檚 owner over a year to finally agree to sell the car. The original ownerB次元官网网址檚 sudden change of heart was terrific news to David. Fortunately, David B次元官网网址� who was living in an apartment at the time B次元官网网址� had a very generous mom who agreed to park her Toyota outside, where it would endure the harsh prairie winter, while the Jag stayed snug in her garage. She also thought it was a car unlike any other.

The Series 1 3.8 Jaguar E-Type rolled off the assembly line from 1961 until October 1964 with the E-TypeB次元官网网址檚 final Series 3 car made in September 1973. Automotive journalists of the day were quick to hail the car as a design triumph that mixed beauty and high performance. The carB次元官网网址檚 3.8-litre engine produced 265 horsepower with a top speed clocked in at 241 km/h, and it was capable of going from zero to 100 km/h in under seven seconds.

So impressive was the car, that none other than master car designer Enzo Ferrari lauded the 1961 E-Type as the most beautiful car ever made.

In 1996, the car was added to the New York Museum of Modern ArtB次元官网网址檚 permanent design collection whose curator, Christopher Mount, said, B次元官网网址淭he carB次元官网网址檚 beauty and overall harmony of line arises from the designer basing its form on the ellipse, giving it a universality of the mathematical proportions, which by definition are not subjective but absolute.B次元官网网址�

The model was based on a Jaguar race car that had been tearing up the track and smashing records in the 1950s, including three consecutive victories at the annual 24 Hours of Le Mans auto race, considered the worldB次元官网网址檚 most prestigious automotive race and often called the B次元官网网址淕rand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淭he technology was really a racing-car technology,B次元官网网址� David says. B次元官网网址淚t was famous for being a fast car with tremendous handling.B次元官网网址�

The design of the Series 1 E-Type roadsterB次元官网网址檚 lightweight monocoque structure was inspired by aircraft-design principles and used elliptical mathematical curves to maximize its aerodynamic performance. ItB次元官网网址檚 exactly those smooth lines that David finds visually exciting even four decades after he brought it home for the first time.

Now, itB次元官网网址檚 long been part of the family, he says. When his kids were born in the 1980s, David set out to rebuild and restore his aging treasure, dissembling and then reassembling it over many years. As he and his wife, Susan, raised their two children, David recalls using discarded baby food jars to store all the nuts, bolts, gaskets and other parts that were accruing on the garage floor. As they grew older, DavidB次元官网网址檚 kids were slowly able to piece together the task that infatuated their father for so long.

B次元官网网址淔or the first number of years, my kids didnB次元官网网址檛 know what it was,B次元官网网址� he says, B次元官网网址淚 donB次元官网网址檛 think they actually knew what the car looked like or what it was until they were nine or 10. All the parts sat in our garage for years and yearsB次元官网网址� until one day David took it all to a Jaguar shop where it was reassembled over a 4-year period.

And what a car itB次元官网网址檚 become.

Did you know:

Kudos for the car: Sports Car International magazine ranked the car in top spot in its 2004 list of the top sports cars of the 1960s, and the Jaguar E-type ranked first in a list of the worldB次元官网网址檚 most beautiful cars by the Daily Telegraph in 2008.

The E-Type Roadster was the car of choice for the international man of mystery in the Austin Powers film series. More recently, Don Draper took the car for a spin in the popular Mad Men television series.