By 1988, the Egan and Walkinshaw combination ultimately took Jaguar to the top at Le Mans. Photo: Graphic Images
Legends Speak

Racing with Walkinshaw

SportsCarDigest
Photo: Mike Jiggle
Photo: Mike Jiggle

At the end of 1981 when our (Jaguar) turnaround story was just unfolding, a most remarkable man came into my office, demanding some time. His name was Tom Walkinshaw.

By then I had realized there had to be a place for racing in the scheme of things. Our heritage there was very powerful. We were turning the company around on the back of a 12-year-old product, the XJ6. It seemed to me that the years of waste in between the car being designed and my team arranging to build it properly held a clear message: Racing had given the old Jaguar designers the capability to create products that were better than those of their competitors.

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Steve Natale has been playing with cars ever since he was old enough to first hold a matchbox car in his hand. A lifelong enthusiast of anything old with an engine in it or wheels on it, Steve has been active in the hobby for over 35 years. Currently he owns a successful marketing company with his wife Mary, is an automotive photographer, blogger and writer for several automotive magazines and regular contributor to various automotive websites. Steve has attended vintage car events and visited car museums and collections around the world.
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