Miguel Sánchez
Along with the Aston Martin DB7, the Jaguar E-Type is the benchmark for elegant English sportsmanship. An icon of design and mechanics that millions of fans have sighed for decades, whether in its coupe or cabrio version or ... funeral. Yes, you read that right: his funeral version. But don't worry, although many would like to take their "last ride" on such a mount, the truth is that Jaguar never saw profitability in a version like this.
The model in question was devised for the mythical film Harold & Maude, the 1971 film in which a young man obsessed with death and suicide methods meets a cheerful old woman who loves car theft at a funeral. At the time, the film received misunderstanding and criticism from all sides: almost no one managed to see with enough irony the appeal of this black comedy signed by the winner of an Oscar Hal asbhy.
However, after more than 12 years the film began to enjoy great commercial success, becoming today a authentic cult tape. And not only for those of us who are followers of the director thanks to works such as "This Earth is my Earth" -in which he narrates the life of Woody Guthrie-, "The last duty" -with the great role of Jack Nicholson- or "Let's Spend the Night Togheter" -documentary with the tour of The Rolling Stones in '82 -.
A JAGUAR E FOR DEATH
In the film, the protagonist's mother is fed up with her son driving a hearse Cadillac. Being a wealthy family, he quickly bought his son a brand new Jaguar E-Type, a car that was far more appropriate for a young Anglo-Saxon aristocrat. But nevertheless, our gloomy protagonist immediately does his thing by turning the Jaguar into a hearse.
The car was prepared for Paramount Records production, ending up wrecked when thrown off a cliff in the film's final scene. Scene that, by the way, has an obvious relationship with another cult film: Quadrophenia. The 1979 film with a final scene very similar to that of Harold & Maude, in which rebellious young Jimmy blasts his Vespa off the cliffs of Brighton to put an end to his troubled life Mod.
Both the gloomy Jaguar E-Type by Harold & Maude and the beautiful Vespa by Quadrophenia are symbols of a youthful obsession that end up being thrown into the void by the protagonists, which escape in both cases, and at the last moment, to a death announced on the edge of the precipice.
THE RECONSTRUCTION OF KEN ROBERTS
Ken roberts He and his wife are a classic car collector from Arizona. But not just any collector: he loves movie-related replica cars. In fact, owns a replica of Little bastard: the Porsche 550 Spyder with which James Dean lost his life. And from what we see ... that is not the only "gloomy" vehicle in your garage.
After doing research through a multitude of Jaguar clubs, he realized that there was no one who had made a copy of the Harold & Maude Jaguar E-Type, so he decided to be the first. From an E-Type convertible began its recreation, the most complex part being the rear roof, which was obtained from a Japanese classic that, for its price, Ken prefers not to reveal. According to Ken hints, the copy cost a generous sum, but it is a unique copy that brings the film back to life down to its smallest details.
However, and as we have seen in a list of units in his collection, Ken Roberts also treasures a Jaguar E-Type convertible much more suitable for driving under the clear sky of Arizona.
