Chris Rooke

I was born and brought up in Oxford where I quickly developed an interest in all things mechanical, especially motorbikes and cars. Over the years I've owned such illustrious machines as: Raleigh Runabout, Vespa 125, Lambretta SX200, Casals moped, BSA Starfire 250, Suzuki 350, Morris Mini 850, Renault 6, Triumph Bonneville 750, Bedford HA van, Matchless 350 GLS Heavyweight Single, Morris Minor Traveller, Triumph Herald 1200 estate, Triumph Herald 13/60, Triumph Vitesse 2 litre MKII convertible and a Triumph GT6 MKIII. All of these I 'restored' to a greater or lesser degree during my ownership of them, but through all of these years I really only had one ambition - to own an E-Type Jaguar. It was to remain just a dream for many years whilst I got on with life.

Motor mechanics was not seen as a proper career by my parents and so I took a degree in History at Portsmouth Polytechnic. Whilst there I focussed on my other passion - music, and played in various bands. Having finished my degree I moved to Sheffield with the half-baked idea of becoming a rock star(!) Instead I discovered Drama, trained to become a Drama teacher and have taught ever since. I never lost my passion for classic cars and finally I managed to scrape the cash together to buy my very own E-type in 1997. Sadly it turned out to be a complete wreck and after tinkering with it for a couple of years I realised I had no choice but to begin a complete nut and bolt restoration in 1999, which took 8 years to finish. I now own the car of my dreams - and it feels good! Sorted.