Recovery experts find emotional letter while restoring Jaguar E-Type they found abandoned in Ohio barn 

Recovery experts WD Detailing found a heartwarming letter from a Jaguar E-Type owner’s daughter while rescuing the car after 30 years in a dilapidated barn.

Sometimes, life really gets in the way of your hobbies.

Whether it’s work, finances, family, time, or any number of other reasons, even your biggest passions can get pushed to the side.

In this case, the owner put off the restoration of his beautiful Jaguar E-Type for 30 years before experts were called in.

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WD Detailing rescue rotting Jaguar E-Type

WD Detailing has created a hugely successful channel transforming old and battered cars into dreamy vehicles that look as good as new.

In a recent video, they were contacted over a Jaguar E-Type, and they were ecstatic because they had been chasing the model for so long.

But their good moods quickly dissipated when they saw it for the first time, as it was covered in 30 years’ worth of debris and clutter.

Not to mention, it was at the back of a barn, blocked by other long-forgotten vehicles.

But in a bid to work on one of their favourite models ever, the team hauled for five hours through the thick Ohio snow, removing Ford F-150s from the path, and getting the Jag on the back of their trailer.

With a break for the occasional snowball fight, the vehicle was somehow pulled out of the barn, loaded up, and dropped off back at the WD Detailing studio for its first clean in 30 years.

WD Detailing got to work on the car, scrubbing down every inch of the exterior and interior, before glossing it over and bringing out its original beauty.

In the middle of their efforts, they were also contacted by the owner’s daughter, who revealed her father was now in assisted living and was over the moon that someone was taking good care of his baby.

An emotional letter from the owner’s daughter

The team read the emotional letter out loud, in which she explained that her 83-year-old father had escaped his home in Romania during World War II before moving to the US and settling in Cleveland, Ohio.

There, he grew up, went to medical school, became an orthopedic surgeon, and fell in love with a new Jaguar E-Type.

However, after a divorce, he parked the car in the barn after it proved too difficult to maintain.

That was 30 years ago.

His daughter revealed that he ‘regretted’ not looking after the car, but was overwhelmed with emotion that it was getting a second chance.

“It’s beautiful, yes, but it’s also bittersweet,” the letter read.

“The car he always wanted – the one he finally acquired – was something he never fully got to enjoy. In that way, it mirrors his life. So much devotion to work that the treasures right in front of him, including his family, remained partly untouched.

“Still, when I look at the Jaguar now, shining and whole again, I feel both love and grief. It’s a piece of him restored – a memory rescued – and in its polished curves and long, elegant snoot, I can see the young man he once was.

“The father I still have, and the stories he no longer remembers – but that I will not forget.”

The team insisted that the mechanics and engine still needed a reconstruction, and they even committed to finding someone who could do it for the family.

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