A Man & His Car

ANTHONY BERGER...
and the ‘Sir Stirling Moss’
Series 1 Semi-Lightweight E-Type Jaguar

BY: RENEA DAYTON | PHOTOGRAPHY: DUTCH DOSCHER

Tony’s roots are in Pennsylvania where he grew up on a small gentleman’s farm raising sheep and Hereford beef cattle, and he still refers to Pennsylvania as ‘home’ - even after making Westchester his residence for most of the past 40 years. …And his most important connection with his hometown is his wife, Cate, whom he met and married there 41 years ago.

After Tony graduated from Hobart College, and then graduate school at Syracuse University, Cate and Tony moved to Bedford, and later to Waccabuc - where they raised two daughters and a son.  Along the way they had some brief corporate relocations to Pittsburgh and Chicago, as Tony advanced his career as a marketer and general manager at Unilever, Pepsi, Kraft, and ultimately as the Chief Operating Officer of Wyndham Hotels and Resorts.  He left corporate life some time ago and is now involved in various entrepreneurial ventures.

Tony has impulsively acquired some cars over the years…but they never really scratched the itch until now.

As a teenager growing up on a small gentleman’s farm in Pennsylvania, there was no shortage of machines to play with. His dad owned a 1953 MG TD, and of course there was an assortment of tractors,  an International Harvester, pick-up trucks, and a 1948 Willy’s Jeep…the initial source of Tony’s fascination with cars.  When he was driving on public roads before he had his driver’s license and seized-up the Jeep’s engine, he says he, “...made a note to himself to pay attention to the oil pressure gauge! …My father was decidedly unhappy, but he gave me the latitude to fix the problem myself, even though I was wholly unprepared for the task.  Fortunately, I was generally comfortable working with machines and was blissfully ignorant about what I didn’t know!”  What followed was a summer-long immersion with friends in rebuilding that engine.  Tony chuckles now at the complete lack of preparation, knowledge, or organization involved with that project, commenting, “With Led Zeppelin, the Stones, and the Allman Brothers music playing constantly in the background, and looking like a bunch of hillbillies, we just started to take it apart and put all the bits and pieces into one big pile.”  The boys put in hours upon hours to rebuild the engine through trial and many errors, resulting in what became his great automotive summer adventure.

While in high school, Tony lusted after the Ford and Mopar muscle cars. Then, when he lived in Southern California at the start of his career and attended the 1979 Long Beach Grand Prix, his passion for vintage cars was solidified.  In 1999, when his company was acquired by Kraft Foods, he received a small stock buyout and used it to acquire his first vintage car, a 1970 Regency red Series 2 E-Type Jaguar.  “I didn’t think too much about it, I just bought it because I loved the look,” Tony recounts. Although it was a quick purchase, he ended up keeping the Jag for almost 20 years. At the same time, he dove in deeper and impulsively acquired a bright yellow 1976 International Harvester Scout…and, much to his wife’s surprise, displaced her spot in the garage with that Scout. It was a connection back to his childhood Jeep.  “I never gave much thought to what I really wanted, I just bought what I thought was cool and affordable.”  …And, as a result, neither the Series 2 E-Type nor the Scout ever fully scratched the itch.

Nineteen years go by and Tony’s eyes started to wander. He concluded that what he really ‘needed’ was a modern, higher performance toy that would be more usable every day. …So he sold the Series 2 E-Type and bought an obsidian black 2006 Aston Martin DB9 Volante - with 12 cylinders and manual transmission. “It was a ton of fun to drive, and I didn’t have to put on foul weather gear when it rained, unlike my others!  I guess that if I could have managed to have a fleet of cars then I wouldn’t have been constantly searching for the ‘right one’, but practicality and domestic tranquility didn’t allow for a large collection. I must say though that my wife, Cate, has generally been accepting if not enthusiastic about my passion for cars and my constantly wandering automotive eyes…or, maybe ‘resigned’ is more accurate!” Tony says with a laugh.

After what lasted about five years, Tony concluded that the Aston Martin just wasn’t doing it for him and, he recalls, “For the first time, I sat down and really sorted through what I wanted in just one car. The priorities were simple…it had to be vintage, it had to be unique and nothing like anything I’d seen at Hayfields already, and I wanted it to be street legal but track ready, and very high performance with a well-earned patina.”

…Enter this Series-1 E-type ‘Semi-Lightweight’ Jaguar, with aluminum body panels and significant performance upgrades to the engine, brakes and suspension. This Jag was raced in 1991, in the Manx Mountain Challenge on the Isle of Mann to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the E-Type by none other than Sir Stirling Moss - the famed British Formula One driver from the 50s, whom Tony was honored to meet at Lime Rock Park in 2015! A decade later, this Jag was raced at Donnington Park in the United Kingdom to commemorate the E-type’s 40th anniversary, with Win Percy -a tremendously accomplished European Touring Car Champion driver - at the wheel! And this Jag has been featured in many magazines and motorsport books.

The Series 1 E-type was best known for its sleek long-nose design but this particular ‘Semi-Lightweight’ is far from an ordinary E-type. It is noteworthy for its aluminum ‘bonnet’ or hood, doors, top, and ‘boot’ or trunk, creating a car that weighs a svelte 2200 pounds.  Under the bonnet sits a 4.2 liter E-type engine which has been significantly modified with, among other things, three Weber carburetors, a lightweight flywheel, a Sigma cylinder head, performance cams and pistons, and a five-speed ZF gearbox….all resulting in a reported 350+ horsepower at the fly wheel. To keep this beast grounded, the suspension was upgraded in the U.K. with stiffer springs and adjustable shocks by Jaguar engineering experts Pearson Engineering, among the world’s most noted preparers of C, D and E-type Jaguars. The usual complement of safety features including 4-point harnesses, a roll bar, and a full fire suppression system keep the driver safe. Despite its race capability, the car is currently in a ‘fast street’ tune, enabling Tony to enjoy its attributes on many weekend drives with friends. The car has been shown at numerous notable events in Europe and has been invited to appear at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. It always attracts a crowd wherever it goes, but for Tony the real attraction is both the thrill of ‘exercising’ it on frequent drives and its connection to the legendary Sir Stirling Moss and Win Percy. For Tony, the message that Stirling scribbled on the roof of the car captures it all…”You know what fun it is. Enjoy!”

“I came across the car in 2022,” Tony smiles.

“Although I wasn’t necessarily looking for provenance, this car has that! It was an added plus, on top of meeting all my other criteria. …I immediately said to myself, ‘that’s it’!”

“It took a bit of time and sleuthing for me to track down the owner from Biddenham, England, who was an auto sport journalist and a personal friend of Sir Stirling Moss. I sent an unsolicited email expressing an interest in the car and struck-up a correspondence and Richard, the owner, was receptive to selling it. …I had to get over the idea of buying it without seeing it first, but I figured that’s how I’d bought my other cars.

…And then, while the discussions with Richard were progressing well, my sale of some real estate which was to supply some of the funds for the car fell through and, although disappointed, I figured it just wasn’t meant to be…,” Tony tells the story. “...By then, Richard and I had developed a warm correspondence and also occasionally chatted on the phone, and we kept in touch over the next couple of years,” Tony continues. “Richard continued to show the car at occasional events in the U.K. and he would send me a photo or two here and there. …I never could get the car out of my brain!”

“April 2024, the previously cancelled real estate deal was resurrected,” Tony continues. “I woke-up early and was sitting at my desk at 6 AM on the day the deal was going to close and coincidentally received a WhatsApp call from Richard. …In his wonderful British accent he said, ‘Hello Tony, I thought you might like to see some photos of Stirling’s car alongside Graham Hill’s E-Type at an event that I attended this past weekend’.

…I remember the day so vividly! I thought, ‘If God is a car guy, then this is divine intervention!’. Richard calls me on the same day that my deal closes!  It was meant to be! …And by then, I’d learned more about the car’s pedigree, and about Win Percy and Sir Stirling Moss. …Richard wanted the car to go to someone who really appreciated it and would honor the connection to his friend Stirling, and he felt good about me becoming the car’s next steward.”

“We agreed on a price…and then I had to get my wife, Cate, on board with the purchase,” Tony says half-jokingly. “I consulted my good friend Duncan Dayton, who has extensive knowledge and experience with all things cars, and received his ‘100%!’ endorsement for the purchase - and I gave that text to Cate to get the conversation going.

…Of course, Cate consented…but not without extracting the promise from me that this will be my last serious car.  …I guess only time will tell whether I remain true to my promise or not…”

“The only mistake I made during the transaction was declining to accept Sir Stirling’s personal race stopwatch, which he’d given to Richard, who had graciously offered to include it with the car,” Tony adds. “I was certainly very tempted, but told Richard that because it was a personal gift from Sir Stirling, that he should keep it as a memento of their friendship, and that ‘I couldn’t accept it’. …But maybe one day the watch and car will be reunited…”

The Sterling Moss Jag made its way Stateside after almost two months of agonizing logistics delays. “It finally got delivered to our house in Waccabuc in August 2024, I checked the fluids, and Cate and I took it for the first spin. …Everything was how I’d hoped it would be! The sound is the best part! It’s loud! it growls! It’s vintage! It’s certainly unique! It’s fast! …And it’s really fun!!”

That summer Tony showed the car at the prestigious ‘The Bridge’ automotive show in Bridgehampton, New York, and put the car in the garage for the winter to have it fully sorted-out and ready-to-roll in 2025. “I enrolled in the VSCCA Race School in May 2025, in order to become certified to race in future events. …I took the beautiful drive to Lime Rock and the Jaguar drove perfectly. Friday morning, the first day of school, I got in all my gear – the fire suit, the gloves, the shoes and the helmet. I was nervous, but ready,” Tony laughs as he leans into the tale. “Literally, the first day, on the first lap, I was in a lead-follow session, right behind the instructor’s car. It had rained the night before. At the top of the Uphill, I saw a few drops of what I thought was water on the windshield and as I started the Downhill the entire windshield was suddenly drenched in clear liquid! …I could reach out and feel it…and it was oil! …I missed the Pit entrance, so I coasted around to the Infield off of the Big Bend turn, and shut it down. …I watched morosely for twenty-five long minutes while the other drivers did their laps. …Afterwards, as I was being towed through the Paddock, a fellow racer cajoled, ‘Hey Mate, Welcome to the wonderful world of racing vintage British cars!’, to which I could only shake my head and smile resignedly.

…I was done for the day, and for the weekend! I had the Jag flat bedded back to my long-time trusted mechanic. …And, luckily, it was just a blown oil line. ...Only a few weeks later, I took the Jag for a ride up to Litchfield and had it parked in front of a row of stores while I was having lunch with a friend,” Tony retells what is obviously not going to be a story about something good having happened. “Unbelievably, someone backed into the car and did some significant damage to the aluminum nose!” …Back to the repair shop, this time for some pretty significant and very careful restoration, and the car was finally returned to Tony in October.

“I’ve only had it on the track for a few minutes…but I can honestly say I’m fully satisfied! This car scratches the itch!” Tony declares. “…I certainly hope I can get it back out on the road in 2026 with a bit less drama! I’ve only had a couple of Sunday mornings when I could take it out to go get my coffee at the Bedford Post and enjoy the countryside…but I’m sure I’m in for a summer full of fun with it next year! And, although I don’t know if I have the guts to race it full-out in top-level competitions, I would like to race it in the Preservation Class. It would be a shame to have a car that can do what this one is capable of, and not do it!”

Rapid fire questions

Three greatest cars ever made?

1. Mercedes 300SLR in which Moss won the 1955 Mille Miglia.

2. Ford 1966 GT40 Mark II

3. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Can you describe a moment behind the wheel that changed how you think about driving?

“Yeah, when I was a kid. I was on a wet road driving much too fast in my father’s Impala and lost the back end at a high rate of speed.

It scared me, but I corrected the drift, and realized what a thrill it was to recover in a car.”

Do you think a car can have a soul? If so, have you ever met one?

No, it doesn’t, but it brings out the soul in the driver.

Is driving an art, a science, or a language?

Mostly science and art.

If you could go for a drive in any era, what year would you pick and what would you be driving?

1971, the first Cannonball Run, with Dan Gurney, in a Ferrari 365/GTB4 Daytona.

Which car would you choose to drive across a post-apocalyptic world—and who would ride shotgun?

The new Ineos (because it’s rugged) with Ken Miles - the famed English engineer and sports car driver, who you might know from the movie Ford vs. Ferrari.

You’re building a time capsule to explain car culture—what goes inside?

A Model T, a Delorian, and the movies Bullet and To Catch A Thief.

What is the most underrated car design detail of all time?

I need to phone a friend for this one…but it’s the rear view mirror. It appeared for the first time in 1911 in the inaugural Indy500 on Ray Harun’s Marmon Wasp race car.

What’s your opinion on patina: preserve it, restore it, or lean into the wear?

Lean into the wear.

If your personality were a car, what make, and model would it be—and why?

An American muscle car. Because deep down I’m still that high school kid.