[Carruthers]

Owner of classic E-type Jaguar crashed car just moments after having it restored

The owner of a £100,000* classic Jaguar crashed his beloved motor just moments after starting the vehicle's engine - following years of work to restore it to its former glory.

Photos of red 1973 V12 Jaguar were uploaded onto social media after the crash after it crashed into a road lamp on Monday 6 June.

The images show the vehicle's front bonnet and head light crumpled around the metal pole, situated several metres from a busy commuter road in Ely, Cambridge.

Cambridgeshire Police posted the images on social media in order to to raise road safety awareness.

PC Ali McKenzie, who dealt with the crash, said the car had only been on the road "briefly" before the crash - but that the owner escaped unscathed.

"The car had recently been fully restored with a painstaking attention to detail, and had only been out on the road briefly before the accident happened," he said.

"We've seen a lot of vehicles damaged on our roads recently, but I can honestly say that I haven't seen anything quite as nice as this one in a long time.

Responding to the post on social media, local residents in Cambridge appeared less than sympathetic to the car's owner.

Jay Rodgers asked officers if the "lamp post was okay", warranting a similarly mocking response from Cambridgeshire Police, who said that the local council would be "very upset" about the damage caused to its "beautiful 1973 vintage" lamp post.

Rob Blair wrote: "Poor bugger. What a beautiful car. Still, his safety is a blessing. The car can be repaired."

Local Giles Saunders, 49, said: "What a real shame - to have spent all that time and money restoring a beautiful car only to have a prang as soon as you get behind the wheel. "The guy must be gutted, but at least it's repairable."

The cost of repairing the vehicle is expected to run into the tens of thousands of pounds.

"It's a great shame.We are having to deal with very unpredictable conditions on the roads at the moment, please do take care."

* $143,000!

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Daily Telegraph