The 'E' Type Forum

Visiting my father this weekend in Dorset - he was reminiscing about his boyhood holidays where he met Billy Cottons sons and as a result went to school with them. This then reminded me that Billy Cotton was a great motoring man and had raced pre war with an ERA and I believe a BMW 328 which is still known to exist. As we know anyone who was anyone back in the day of the etype launch was desperate to buy an E type and the story goes that BC pulled a few strings/favours and managed to be one of the first to own an etype, apparently a white fixed head with the reg no BBC number(s) unknown. One morning he drove to the studio for rehearsals parked up the car only to find that on return it had been stolen! The story goes that he made contact with some friends in the underworld offering a handsome reward for its return - the car was returned later that day...

Does anyone know the chassis number and does by any chance this car survive?

Wakey WAAAAAYKEY! :-)

Ex-racer eh? Well I'd never have guessed old pudding face had oil under his baton-wielding finger nails...

Pete

You could go to XKEdata and browse through from 860001. Usually if there is a car with provenance like that it is mentioned in the text. I happened to be browsing there one day and found a FHC 1E20746 owned by Charlie "Hello my Darlings" Drake. It was originally yellow and he called it "My Custard Torpedo"!

Peter

Like so many wealthy individuals pre war he did a successful stint in the ERA.

PS I sent you a PM yesterday did you receive it?

Richard

William Edward "Billy" Cotton (GB)
27 May 1899 - 25 Mar 1969
Born in Westminster, London, Billy Cotton is more famous as band leader than as a racing driver. He hosted a hugely popular BBC radio and TV show "The Billy Cotton Band Show" for much of the fifties/sixties. His son, who is known as "Bill" was at one time the controller of BBC 1 TV channel.
Cotton bought and raced the ex Seaman ERA-B in 1937. He died in 1969 in Wembley, England, while watching a boxing match, seven years after suffering a stroke.

1937: 3 Dublin (Voiturette) / 5 Mountain
1938: ? JCC 200 (Voiturette + GP) / 7* Donington GP
1939: 2 Road Championship / ? Campbell Trophy

Could it have been the E-Type used by Simon Dee at the end of his show? Bill Cotton was head of light entertainment and commissioned 'Dee Time'.

David

Will be interesting to see how much this sells for!

Theres also a car in desperate need of an angel with deep pockets on ebayItem number:171046766907


Richard

That car belongs to Harry at E Type UK. Angus and I had a look at it whilst we were there. Basically it has been 'lumped' with a V8 so will need frames, floors, engine and gearbox. Nice project though for someone.

I do not think so for I believe BC's was an early 3.8FHC and the Dee car was a roadster. Still perhaps this story will come together. I will try to search for it as you suggested.

But wasn't the Dee car a FHC originally and then converted to a roadster? I'm sure I heard that somewhere.

Paul.

Heuer wrote:Could it have been the E-Type used by Simon Dee at the end of his show? Bill Cotton was head of light entertainment and commissioned 'Dee Time'.

Billy Cotton the band leader is not the same guy as was a high-up in the BBC. Might have been his son - he did look a bit like him.

Pete

Bill Cotton was Billy Cotton's son . On a slightly different subject, we had a first this morning : the E type got a mention on Radio 3 by Rob Cowan , referring to the famous dust jacket on an LP featuring George Weldon, the conductor, leaning over his E type

Edit : here's a link to the cover

http://www.discogs.com/viewimages?release=3254913

We have the albumn cover in our LP cover thread: http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1309

I have checked through to 860100 on XKEdata but nothing found on Billy Cottons etype and as the story mentioned him purchasing one of the earliest - not looking good - will try another route....

Richard

does by any chance this car survive?

another one to add to this thread?

http://etypeuk.com/forum/viewtopic.php? ... highlight=

Good idea - added!

I spoke with my contact re Bill Cotton, whose father used to run a dance troupe in Europe with Bill Cotton and there might be some publicity shots which included the E type.

The car was white and carried reg no BC1 - the number was apparently transferred from the Etype to his Rolls Royce.

I never knew Billy Cotton had an E-Type. It's quite surprising to hear how many stars of the day had an E-Type. Most people just think of the likes of Charlton Heston, George Best and Frank Sinatra; would love to find out what happened to Heston's E roadster. I've always wondered how people with his height (6ft 3") ever managed to fit into an E-Type, I suspect it would've been a challenge with the hood up. I saw a red FHC coupe very much like the one mentioned above that's for sale last Sat afternoon just outside St Helens in Merseyside, a short distance from the East Lancs rd near Carr Mill and Billinge. It was parked up in front of some terraced houses. Only saw it very briefly as I passed, but I don't think it was the same one mentioned here.

Jaguar quarterly 1991 shows 860031 Opalescent Dark Blue supplied to Billy Cotton.

From XK data:


....crucially it was last seen in 2005 so that is pretty much a certainty it is still around, my contact is however certain it was a white car!

Does the information show a picture and the registration number?

Richard