June 2017 Volume 22 Issue 5 The newsletter of the Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis proudly serving St. Louis Jaguar enthusiasts since 1961 It’s Alive! Automotive comes alive in its new location Just My $.02 with John Testrake Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis “To promote, foster and encourage a spirit of mutual interest among enthusiasts of Jaguar automobiles.” was working over the weekend of May 20th, so I regret that I missed the Veterans Home visit and Alton tour. I hope it was en- ♦ Officers ♦ I joyed by many. I also missed Cars & Coffee at Westport. This leaves me with nothing to report. Our esteemed Editor has informed me President that having nothing to report is no excuse for not reporting on any- John Testrake Vice-President thing. Therefore, I shall try to enhance this honored publication with Matthew Johnson witty repartee. Treasurer Terry Carmack The European Auto Show is coming up in June. They al- Secretary/Membership ways say it’s “for the kids,” and indeed, moneys are gathered and Diana Schlueter 636.477.1763 donated to children’s charities. As noble as that sounds, I always chuckle self-righteously whenever I read the “for the kids” tag line. ♦ Board of Directors ♦ Why would I chuckle about that? Because I know how car guys are. Term expires 2017 We don’t bring out our show cars, worth thousands, and show them Tom Loew - Gary Schlueter - Kelly Waite off to each other for strictly altruistic reasons. We just like doing it. It Term expires 2018 seems somewhat incongruous to me to show off our cars while main- Allan Ellis - Marsh Riegert - Phil Taxman taining the pretense that it is to benefit others – as if to say, “Hey Term expires 2019 look at me … er, for the kids.” Having a charity involved might make Todd Dillon - Jim Hendrix - Lisa Hendrix some of us feel better about the showing off. Is that cynical of me? Probably. Am I just being obstreperous? Probably. Am I overthinking Point Tabulator - Cathy Riegert it? Yes. Concours Chairs - Lisa Hendrix & Matthew Johnson Chief Mechanic - Gary Schlueter The Blackhawk Race weekend is coming up the weekend Chief Judge - Jim Hendrix of June 17th. Phil Taxman will be there driving the Number 2 Jaguar E Assistant Chief Judge - John Testrake -type and we’re all invited to come along and see vintage racing first Historian - Gary Schlueter hand, stroll through the pits, cheer for Phil, and generally have a Advertising Manager - Tom Loew Webmaster - John Sippel blast. Some of the members of the St. Louis Triumph club are also planning to attend and President Steve Moore asked if there is going On the web at <http://www.jagstl.com/> to be a caravan of enthusiasts making the drive up from St. Louis. That sounds fun. I am hoping that I can attend the big weekend. ♦ Editors ♦ $.02 humbly submitted Allan Ellis Matthew Johnson [email protected] [email protected] Printing Kwik Kopy Printing - Chesterfield, Missouri On the cover: The showroom at It’s Alive! Automotive was ADVERTISING POLICY: veritably bristling with All submissions to The Jaguar’s Growl must be in a form suitable for reprint; .jpg for classic cars (including photographs; eps., .tif, .gif, or .png for illustrations. High quality .pdf files may work. this 140). JAGSL was ADVERTISING RATES - 12 months: invited to an open Business Card 1/4 Page 1/2 Page Full Page house on May 6. The $49.00 $111.00 $194.00 $375.00 story and more pic- All material for inclusion in The Jaguar’s Growl must be submitted no later than the 15th of the tures are on page 5. month preceding publication. The Editors reserve the right to edit all material submitted. The Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis, its officers, directors and the Editors of The Jaguar’s Growl expressly disclaim any warranty or endorsement for any of the services or products contained in any Photos by Allan Ellis advertisement or mentioned in any article. The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and not necessarily those of the Jaguar Association of Greater St. Louis, its officers, directors or the Editors of this publication. To Join: <http://www.jagstl.com/the-club/memberapp> The Jaguar’s Growl June 2017 3 Photo and drone-piloting by Gary Sudin The rain was heavy in the morning. I waited until the roads he 2017 Easter Car Show was held at the upper Munici- cleared, about 10:30 am, before making my way to the park. As pal Opera parking lot in Forest Park. Sponsored by the soon as I arrived, it started raining again, although it only lasted T Horseless Carriage Club of Missouri, the show is an event for ten minutes or so. I was a judge team leader, and we had that has been held annually since 1962. Many St Louis car clubs fifteen minutes each to judge seventeen cars, all of them 1950s participated, including the MG Club, the Model T Ford Club, the domestic. Some of those on display were spectacular (the Hud- Show Me Corvair Club, the Gateway GTO/Pontiac club, the Tri- son was my favorite). I left at 2:00 pm because the rain clouds umph/Austin-Healey/Morgan Club, Archway Olds, Moon/St Louis were developing again to the southwest. I made it home — driv- -built, and National Corvette Restorers. One of the featured auto- ing with the top down — in a bit of rain, figuring that if drove fast mobiles was the 1963 Chrysler Turbine car from the Museum of enough, then the rain would never get in the cabin … Transportation. Nine of these cars remain, and the one at the Easter Show is the only operational turbine car on public exhibit. —GARY SUDIN upe and I had just spent the week- able to stretch our legs out and recline for end in Boston, MA., visiting our the trip home. Thank you, Captain L daughter, Ilana. Our return flight had Testrake! a connection in Chicago. While we were —PHIL TAXMAN waiting to board, much to our surprise, a very dapper Captain John Testrake, dressed to kill in his uniform and cap, came over to say hello. We soon found out that he was the Captain on our con- necting flight to St. Louis. John wel- comed us aboard and invited Lupe into the flight cabin. I had taken our seats way back in the rear of the plane. The next thing I knew, Lupe came over with two glasses of wine and said that we had been upgraded to First Class, compli- ments of Captain Testrake. This was a great surprise and it was really nice to be 4 The Jaguar’s Growl June 2017 eff Homsher, owner of It’s Alive! Automotive at 11714 St. Charles Rock Road, hosted an open house on the J morning of Saturday, May 6. JAGSL members had a special invitation to attend and other car clubs were also invited. It’s Alive! started out in Waterloo, Illinois in 2013. The classic car restoration and sales business just recently moved to a new, 30,000 square foot facility one mile west of the airport at the intersection of I-70 and the St. Charles Rock Road. Everyone who attended was welcome to free donuts and T-shirts. Jeff (who is also a recently minted member of JAGSL and Growl advertiser) thanks everyone who attended. In a recent email, Jeff said, “My wife, staff, Ellie (my dog) and I truly appreciate all the effort you took to organize the event yesterday at our facility. We all had a lot of fun and felt it was a great success (measured by the amount of fun).” We wish Jeff the best in his new location! —ALLAN ELLIS Pictures: Allan Ellis, Jeff Homsher, & John Testrake The Jaguar’s Growl June 2017 5 Join us for a trip to the Crown Valley Tiger Sanctuary, in St. Genevieve, MO. The sanctuary is a rescue facility for beautiful big cats, where they can live as naturally as possible in a safe and healthy environment. We’ll meet in the parking lot of the St. Louis Bread Company at Tesson Ferry (Rt. 21) & Kennerly Road (behind the Walgreen’s on the corner), just South of Hyw 270. We will leave this location at 9:30am, backtrack to Hyw 270 and then go South on Hyw 55 and exit at Hyw 32. You will turn right on Hyw 32 West and immediately turn left on Hyw B. From there it is approximately eight miles to the sanctuary on your right. We will have an approximately one hour tour of the facility, scheduled to begin at 11:00am, when you will be able to get really close to the ani- mals, learning about them and watching them eat and play in their home. When we leave the sanctuary, you will turn to right and follow the signs to the Crown Valley Winery for wine tasting and you will have the option of taking a winery tour. The cost of the tiger tour and the wine tasting is $20.00 total per person and you can also choose to have lunch on your own at the winery if you wish. (There will be no event charge.) We must have the number of at- tendees for the sanctuary tour, so please e-mail a response to Thomas Loew at <[email protected]>. Our absolute deadline to respond to the sanctuary with the number at- tending is Monday, June 5th. Thank you. (Sponsored by Gary Sudin & Thomas Loew) SUNDAY JUNE 11 January 14 Annual Awards Dinner—Deer Creek January 28 CC&C @ JustJags February 4 Memory Lane Rallye February 25 CC&C @ JustJags March 25 STL Car Museum / Lunch @ Square One March 18 C&C @ Westport April 15 C&C @ Westport April 15 Judges’ Training @ Hyman Ltd.