DRIVING LIKE IT'S 1961 - DAY FOUR

All this week, 50 classic Jaguar E‑type cars are driving from Coventry, England to Geneva in Switzerland to celebrate the unveiling of Jaguar’s iconic 1961 sportscar. In the fourth of a series of daily blogs, US auto writer Howard Walker reports on the Tour from behind the wheel of the last E‑type ever built.

Sportscar driving doesn’t get much more joyous than this; 200 glorious miles of sweeping, tree‑lined, traffic‑free French country roads, from Reims heading south to Dijon.

On roads like these, our 1975 E‑type Series 3 roadster was in its element. Top‑down for the first time since Monday’s start in Coventry, big V12 purring under that pool table‑long hood, the ‘E’ wafted effortlessly along the arrow‑straight two‑laners through rolling French Champagne country.

We began day four of this magical Jaguar E‑type 50th Anniversary tour saluting Jaguar’s racing past with a stop at the old Circuit de Gueux in Reims.

It was here back in 1954 that Jaguar’s newly unveiled D‑type racer took first and second in the flat‑out Reims 12‑Hour race, with a C‑type taking third place.

This was sportscar racing at its finest. As with Le Mans, local roads were closed off and simply became the track. The Reims circuit is famous for its long, high‑speed straights which connect the sleepy villages of Thillois and Gueux. It was a race won or lost on the slip‑streaming skills of the drivers.

These days there’s little remaining of the old course apart from the original grandstand and empty shells of the pit garages. Back in 2008, Jaguar Heritage sponsored a freshening of its pit garage with new paint and the addition of a couple of the original lozenge‑shaped Jaguar logos.

More importantly, it commissioned a large brass plaque acknowledging the achievements of the six drivers who gave Jaguar its famous 1‑2‑3 victory in that hard‑fought 1954 race.

For the owner of any classic Jaguar, it’s a required photo op, and all but a few of our group of 50 stopped to position their cars in front of the historic pit box.

Then, we continued south along the N44 to Châlons en Champagne, on to Troyes along the N77, before joining the twisting, undulating N71 towards Dijon. These are driving roads made in heaven, and perfect for stretching the torquey E‑type model's long legs.

We headed for the Dijon‑Prenois race circuit for some hot laps around this roller‑coaster 2.4‑mile track. Built in 1972, it has played host to five Formula One French Grand Prix and, for some odd reason, the 1982 Swiss Grand Prix.

It’s a lovely, modern race track with lots of elevation changes, sweeping curves and a long, super‑fast straight. You could hear the squealing of E‑type tires from a mile away.

We ended the day in style with an overnight stop at the historic Château de Chailly on the outskirts of Dijon where multiple Jaguars were on display around the reception. Jaguar has held media launches here over the years, one of which includes the original XK8.

Tomorrow, weather‑permitting, we head over the towering Jura Mountains and down into Geneva on the final leg of this epic drive. We’re ending up at the Parc des Eaux‑Vives in Geneva where the E‑type was officially unveiled 50 years ago this month.

Check in with us on Interactive Jaguar tomorrow to see how we all made it to the party.