- 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 you91裸聊视频檙e driving a 1961 Series 1 Jaguar E-Type roadster, the hills shouldn91裸聊视频檛 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.

91裸聊视频淢etchosin91裸聊视频檚 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,91裸聊视频� David says. 91裸聊视频淗ighways aren91裸聊视频檛 necessarily a lot of fun in a car like this. When you91裸聊视频檙e in an open car, you don91裸聊视频檛 really want to be flying down the highway with enormous semis that you can practically drive under on both sides.91裸聊视频�

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 91裸聊视频淪unday prowl91裸聊视频� through West Shore communities and beyond. David says it91裸聊视频檚 coastal roads like this that explains why many classic car aficionados decide to settle in southern Vancouver Island.

91裸聊视频淲e call this area classic car heaven because of the roads and the weather,91裸聊视频� he says.

Though he91裸聊视频檚 been enjoying the rewards of life in classic car heaven for a few years, David91裸聊视频檚 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 91裸聊视频�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.

91裸聊视频淚t was love at first sight,91裸聊视频� he recalls. 91裸聊视频淚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.91裸聊视频�

David instantly made an offer, but it took the car91裸聊视频檚 owner over a year to finally agree to sell the car. The original owner91裸聊视频檚 sudden change of heart was terrific news to David. Fortunately, David 91裸聊视频� who was living in an apartment at the time 91裸聊视频� 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-Type91裸聊视频檚 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 car91裸聊视频檚 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 Art91裸聊视频檚 permanent design collection whose curator, Christopher Mount, said, 91裸聊视频淭he car91裸聊视频檚 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.91裸聊视频�

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 world91裸聊视频檚 most prestigious automotive race and often called the 91裸聊视频淕rand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淭he technology was really a racing-car technology,91裸聊视频� David says. 91裸聊视频淚t was famous for being a fast car with tremendous handling.91裸聊视频�

The design of the Series 1 E-Type roadster91裸聊视频檚 lightweight monocoque structure was inspired by aircraft-design principles and used elliptical mathematical curves to maximize its aerodynamic performance. It91裸聊视频檚 exactly those smooth lines that David finds visually exciting even four decades after he brought it home for the first time.

Now, it91裸聊视频檚 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, David91裸聊视频檚 kids were slowly able to piece together the task that infatuated their father for so long.

91裸聊视频淔or the first number of years, my kids didn91裸聊视频檛 know what it was,91裸聊视频� he says, 91裸聊视频淚 don91裸聊视频檛 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 years91裸聊视频� until one day David took it all to a Jaguar shop where it was reassembled over a 4-year period.

And what a car it91裸聊视频檚 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 world91裸聊视频檚 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.