At a party held in The Hospital Club, Covent Garden, the exact same car used for the test 50 years ago took centre stage as 200 of Autocar’s staff, ex staff, clients and friends gathered to celebrate the publication of the 5000th Road Test and the naming of the Jaguar E-Type as the Number One Road Test of all time.
Microphone-wielding Master of Ceremonies, Henry Hope-Frost, spoke to many of the luminaries, including Stuart Bladon, who conducted the original test in 1961 and Philip Porter, owner of the iconic model that Autocar tested.
Autocar publisher Alastair Lewis commented: “To gather together so many of Autocar”s legendary road testers past and present and automotive industry leaders was the perfect culmination to our celebration of this fantastic milestone and is a real testament to the incredible strength of the Autocar brand and the importance placed on our road tests by the industry and our peers. Many thanks to editor Chas Hallett and head of events Wendy Stonebridge for organising such a great evening.”
