Jaguar Heritage News

JAGUAR HERITAGE TRUST NEWS ISSUE 11 – October – November 2016 Welcome to the eleventh issue of ‘The Trust’ – Trust acquired from its original owner in 2005 the newsletter for the Jaguar Heritage Trust. when it still had less than 5,000 miles on the clock, and the last of the line XKR 4.2 model As we head toward the end of the year it is time from 2005 with the appropriate registration XK05 to reflect on the last twelve months – a period of JAG. This car is also the very last XK to have significant upheaval and change both on the been made at the Jaguar Browns Lane plant. gobal political stage (the less said about that the better) and also for the Trust. We have just passed the first anniversary of our move into the new Collections Centre at Gaydon and we are ten months into the new management agreement with Jaguar Land Rover, both of which have required some adjusting to during the year. That doesn’t mean that we have been idle as the car collection has a life of its own! Read on for more details….. End of Season Events As well as the huge line-up of XKs which Although the season generally slows down after included many examples of rare limited edition the autumnal equinox, there are always a few models, there were stalls from a number of events in the final quarter of the year - both specialist clubs and traders. large and small. Visitors were also invited to attend a special First up was the October 1 Jaguar Breakfast presentation session in the Conference Centre; Club meeting which was held as normal at the proceedings were kicked off with a short British Motor Museum. As previewed in the last introduction to the Trust and its car collection by issue, this was a special event to celebrate the Jonathan Partridge who was followed by the th 20 anniversary of the XK8 (X100) and it was main speaker, Peter Leake. hoped that it would attract a large number of XKs from both generations. Despite some rather inclement weather, the hopes were fulfilled with an incredible turnout; over 300 Jaguars (and their proud owners) came along – 238 of them being XKs (X100 and X150). As far as we know this is the largest ever gathering of XK models in one place! To greet the visitors, the Trust’s ‘bookend’ XK8s were parked up outside the Collections Centre. These two examples, in similar shades of Peter Leake giving his presentation on the metallic light blue, are a 1997 XK8 4.0 that the launch of the XK (X100) 1 Peter, who was Sales Training Manager at Although the parade only covered the short Jaguar for many years, delivered a fascinating distance from Wellington Barracks to talk about the XK (X100) launch and how Buckingham Palace, the honours of driving NUB important it was for the Jaguar business in the 120 and the XJ220 were given to well-known late 1990s. journalists Steve Cropley and Richard Aucock. Once the cars were all lined-up, they were Next up on October inspected by Prince Michael of Kent, a life-long 15 was an event car enthusiast who is also president of the Royal that had originally Automobile Club. Sadly, the Queen herself was been planned for not in residence at the time. June but was postponed until October for security reasons! This was a The month ended with the special parade to celebrate the Queen’s 90th Classic & Sports Car anniversary – one of many such celebrations Show which was held once that have happened during the course of 2016. again at Alexandra Palace The event was organised by John Cole on in North London from behalf of the parliamentary all-party motor group October 28-20. chaired by Richard Burden MP as a tribute to Her Majesty on behalf of all car-loving MPs. Former Jaguar Chief Test Engineer and now The intention was to include a car from every living legend, Norman Dewis, had been invited year of the Queen’s life but the temperamental to open proceedings and also to do a number of behaviour of some older cars resulted in a few interviews on the ‘live stage’ during the show. gaps on the day! To support this, the Trust sent down its most precious vehicle – the unique XJ13 from 1966. This was given pride of place in the Palm Court area where it attracted large crowds throughout the show. The Trust had been asked to supply four cars Norman cutting the from its collection to join the parade with an age ribbon to open the show Thanks are due to span of more than 50 years. The oldest was the Trust volunteers famous XK120 registration NUB 120 that is a Christian Sharland and Dave Rooney who 1950 car but carried the 1948 plaque as this assisted with getting the XJ13 in and out of the was the year XK120 was launched. The most show, also watching over the car and engaging recent was a 2003 XJ (X350) representing 2002 with visitors on all three days. with the Trust’s last of line Series 2 XJ12C and XJ220 representing 1976 and 1988 respectively. 2 The following weekend saw the staging of the the “Champion of Champions” award. These London to Brighton Veteran Car Run, included a 1933 SS1 (winner of the Jaguar celebrating the 120th anniversary of the first run that took place in 1896! As reported in the last issue, the plan had been for two of the Trust’s pre-1905 cars to take part – the 1901 Lanchester 12hp tonneau and the 1903 Daimler 14hp tourer, which is on long-term loan to the RAC. Unfortunately, in the run-up to the event, the Lanchester developed a serious engine problem that couldn’t be remedied in time (see Collection Update below) and so it had to be withdrawn. However, the Heritage Trophy in 2015), a 1937 SS Jaguar Daimler AP 221 100 that is a virtual twin of the one owned by the did make the Trust, a beautiful Jaguar Mark lX (complete with start line and was whitewall tyres), an XK 140, Mark 2, Series 3 E- driven by Peter type OTS and XJS 3.6 Cabriolet. Read who is The car voted as Chairman of the overall winner by the RAC Motoring judges was this Committee together with three lucky guests. immaculate 1955 The weather was fine (for a change) and of the XK140 OTS. 392 starters an amazing 351 made it to Brighton before the 4:30pm deadline. To see video Next door to this was highlights from this year’s run click here. the XJS Club stand with the usual fine display of these The final major event of the appreciating models – year in the UK is the Classic which occupy a special place in Jaguar history Motor Show which was held at with the longest ever production life of 21 years! Birmingham’s NEC from November 11-13. For the first time in many years there were no Trust cars on display but Jaguar was still very well represented in Hall 2 with stands from all the major clubs clustered round the large Jaguar Land Rover Classic stand. The Club celebrated a significant milestone during the show by signing up its 1000th member – an incredible achievement considering that the club was only formed in 2012! Congratulations to all the team that run the club and who have been so successful in drawing together owners of these great cars from all around the world. This was primarily promoting the range of One year on from announcing their change of services and products being offered by JLR name to the British Motor Museum, our new Classic and featured the clever ‘Airfix Kit’ display colleagues at Gaydon once again had an of E-type panels that are now available from imposing stand in Hall 2 on which they Jaguar Classic Parts. showcased three very special cars from their large collection. These were the 1899 Wolseley Alongside this, the Jaguar Drivers’ Club stand 3½hp voiturette (fresh from taking part in the had a mouth-watering display of SS and Jaguar London to Brighton run), the 1967 Monte Carlo cars, all class winners that were competing for rally winning Mini Cooper and the famous 3 ‘HUEY’– the very first Land Rover Defender Finally, were we honoured to host a VIP visit from 1948 registered HUE 166. from the Panasonic Corporation on November 16 that included its global President, Kazuhiro Tsuga and several of his senior colleagues from Japan and Europe. Panasonic is a key supplier to JLR and has recently become the major sponsor for the Jaguar Formula E racing team. Club and VIP Visitors The Collections Centre continues to be a popular attraction for visiting groups or individuals from the Jaguar clubs around the world. On October 6 we were pleased to welcome David Karslake and a group of fellow members of the French Jaguar Drivers’ Club. They were on a tour entitled “Rallye Terres de Panasonic President Tsuga-san (centre of Jaguar” which, as well as the visit to Gaydon, picture) admiring the 1954 D-type took in a factory tour at Castle Bromwich and a special viewing of the Jaguar Classic workshop The delegation was visiting Gaydon for an at Browns Lane. important meeting with a number of JLR directors to discuss future strategy and collaboration. The schedule allowed a brief period prior to the meeting during which the VIP guests were guided round the Jaguar displays by Martyn Hollingsworth and Jonathan Partridge.

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