Indholdsfortegnelse for October - November 2020 i Classic Jaguar

Saloon celebration Although the Mk2 saloon officially ceased production in 1967, it effectively stuck around for a while longer thanks to a pair of rebranded versions: the Jaguar 240 and 340. Out went the old 3.8litre Mk2 and in came rebadged versions of the 2.4and 3.4litre models, albeit only briefly thanks to rationalisation of the entire Jaguar saloon range once the new XJ6 was in full production. Their short career explains why just 4446 Jaguar 240s and 2788 examples of the 340 were built in all. I’ve always had a soft spot for the 340 in particular, despite its slightly less luxurious interior compared with that of an equivalent Mk2. I think the slimmer bumpers and over-riders used on the 240 and 340 suit the design extremely well, and give…

BUYING GUIDE AFFORDABLE CLASSICS BEST BUDGET BUYS You might think that a budget as low as £5000 won’t buy much when it comes to classic Jaguars… but for the canny buyer, there are some excellent choices out there WORDS: PAUL GUINNESS PHOTOGRAPHY: KELSEY ARCHIVE When it comes to favourite topics of the mainstream motoring press, how to achieve champagne motoring on a lemonade budget is always near the top of that list. Much has been written in the past about how for the price of a secondhand supermini you can cruise around in the lap of luxury, often with a Jaguar (or even Daimler) badge on the back of your upmarket steed. After all, what could possibly go wrong? Anyone who’s tried it and come unstuck will appreciate that a…

RACING LEGEND DUNCAN HAMILTON LIFE IN THE FAST LANE This year marks 100 years since the birth of Duncan Hamilton, the Jaguar works driver who won Le Mans in 1953 and – away from the circuit – pretty much won at life in general WORDS: RICHARD GUNN PHOTOGRAPHY: KELSEY ARCHIVE Motorsport is pretty good at creating larger-than-life characters. People like Graham Hill, James Hunt, Innes Ireland, Mike Hawthorn, Paddy Hopkirk and Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams, for example; men whose adventures off-track were often just as entertaining as their circuit and rally antics. However, even during the golden days of the sport, few drivers were more flamboyant, extrovert or boisterous than Duncan Hamilton. His exploits have become legendary, in the fullest sense of the word, because how much absolute truth there is…

TECHNICAL E-TYPE SEATS SEAT ASSEMBLY Rob Hawkins takes a trip to Midlands-based Aldridge Trimming to follow the fairly complex process of assembling a brand new seat for an E-Type PHOTOGRAPHY: ROB HAWKINS A car seat generally consists of a separate metal frame for the seat base and back, bolted together at the rear edges. Foam and rubber webbing give the seat a springy feel, but all of this is hidden with tightly fitted seat covers held in position with hog rings, clips, plastic edging and elasticated straps. A Jaguar E-Type’s seat, however, is a much older type of design – although in some ways just as complicated, as we discovered when we visited Aldridge Trimming and followed the process of assembling one using new components. At the time of visiting,…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS SERIES III RESTORATION E-Type UK has recently completed a period restoration of a 1972 Series III roadster, a car once owned by footballing legend Kevin Keegan OBE. Finished in a factory-correct shade of Jaguar Willow Green with a matching Biscuit leather interior and hood, the car is said to “retain the same charm as when it rolled off the production line in 1972”. The vehicle’s current owner approached E-Type UK to restore his E-Type to its former glory after suffering an unfortunate accident. The company’s team of craftsmen set about restoring the bodywork damage, and discovered that the roadster had been subject to previous poor crash repairs. The badly repaired offside sill and top scuttle were replaced before reshaping the vehicle’s bonnet back to its…

SUMMER FESTIVAL CANCELLED Another 2020 event cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic is the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club’s Summer Jaguar Festival, which had previously been re-scheduled for the weekend of August 21st-23rd. Government guidelines forced the decision, as the JEC explained in a recent statement: “It will not be possible for us to run an event on the scale of the Summer Jaguar Festival this year, and so instead the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club will focus on planning for a fantastic weekend event that will include our celebration of the 60th anniversary of the E-Type at Blenheim Palace next year.” The major celebration is scheduled to take place over the weekend of May 14-16th, 2021. Meanwhile, anyone who had already booked show entry tickets to the 2020 Summer Festival will automatically be…

NEW PRODUCTS LATEST ARRIVALS PRODUCT NEWS We catch up with the latest must-have products and accessories aimed at today’s classic Jaguar owner SMART TOOL ROLL Suitable for just about any ‘period’ classic car is this traditionally-designed leather tool roll (part number 77168) from Gunson, ideal for those owners looking to carry their tools smartly and neatly. The sturdy tool roll features strong stitching, reinforced with metal rivets and a buckled strap. It also has twelve slots for spanners or screwdrivers (tools not included), plus three useful press-stud secured pockets for smaller items like screws and fuses. The tool roll is made from pre-distressed, oiled leather and measures 305mm in length when rolled. It is available from any Gunson stockist, priced at less than £58. For a list of local and…

JAGUAR HISTORY STORY OF THE E-TYPE E-TYPE EVOLUTION With the legendary E-Type enjoying numerous updates during its lengthy career, we pay tribute to Jaguar’s most famous sportster – and investigate its many highlights WORDS: JIM PATTEN & CLASSIC JAGUAR PICS: KELSEY ARCHIVE If there’s one car that’s appeared in more ‘Best of British’ or ‘Most Beautiful’ listings than just about any other, it’s the Jaguar E-Type – a machine so stunningly elegant that even Enzo Ferrari remarked upon its aesthetic perfection. Intriguingly though, the E-Type’s sleek lines – surely its most famous asset – were the result of a function-first approach, its final shape being dictated by applying aerodynamic principles to automotive design. The primary purpose of the E-Type was to go fast, and designer Malcolm Sayer – who had…

SUPERCHARGED JAGUARS EARLY DEVELOPMENT ACCELERATING THE BRAND PART 1 In the first instalment of this exclusive two-part series, Sam Skelton explains Jaguar’s investigative foray into supercharging the AJ6 – a fascinating process emanating from the XJ41 project PHOTOGRAPHY: KELSEY ARCHIVE Ford’s takeover of Jaguar at the start of the 1990s brought fresh challenges for the American giant, not least the need to expand the Coventry-built line-up in order to widen its appeal and achieve increased sales. Existing plans to replace the XJ40 with a new saloon codenamed XJ90, and to launch the XJ41 GT project, were ultimately scuppered, however, by Ford’s money men. A year-on-year fall in Jaguar sales for 1990 exacerbated the fact that the company was haemorrhaging money it could scarcely afford to lose, although elements of both…

JDC’S NEW WEBSITE The Jaguar Drivers’ Club has launched a brand new website – jaguardriver.co.uk – that’s packed with information on the UK’s longest-established all-Jaguar club, as well as boasting a fresh look and easy navigation. It has been designed to complement the JDC’s recently redesigned magazine, Jaguar Driver. A notable feature of the totally revamped website is the introduction of a direct debit payment facility for both new members and renewals. And to mark the launch, the club is offering a number of special offers and discounts, including a free JDC grille badge for the first fifty members who join or renew via direct debit. Full details can be found online.…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS LIGHTWEIGHT RECREATION Marque specialist Eagle has created what it claims is “the best an E-Type can be” following an 8000-hour build of the car shown here: a Lightweight recreation that’s engineered for the road. Only twelve Lightweights were manufactured by Jaguar, each one being brutal and exhilarating – and so Eagle set out to create the ultimate user-friendly equivalent. Company founder Henry Pearman commented. “Three years ago, a customer asked us to create Eagle’s vision of Jaguar’s ultimate E-Type, the Lightweight. The result of that project is the Eagle Lightweight GT, rigorously developed and proven and now ready for further builds.” The challenge for Pearman’s team was significant: “The factory Lightweight was a stripped-out racer. We wanted to retain that special feel of a ’60s…

READER’S RECOLLECTIONS JAGUAR FAMILY THE WAY WE WERE With childhood memories often influencing our later car choices, Classic Jaguar reader Stephen Gregory recalls some special family holiday moments… and his subsequent Mk2 ownership PHOTOGRAPHY: STEPHEN GREGORY You can Google the facts but not the feelings. You can check the dates and the stats, but how do you recapture those memories? The sights, the sounds, the tastes, the smells… the feelings. A summer’s day, 1964. The rain on the windscreen, splattering so hard that the wipers – on full speed – are slapping it aside. Dad and Mum in the front, me and my brother in the back. We’re in a Jaguar MkX, all leather and polished woodwork. We’re parked at the top of a shingled beach in Brittany, and the…

AUTOMOBILIA RACING COLLECTABLES Automobilia THE TWR YEARS Our resident Jaguar automobilia expert takes a look at some of the most interesting collectables from the TWR era of Jaguar racing, which began in the early 1980s WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY: IAN COOLING Our previous two articles on automobilia for Jaguar’s earlier years in competition demonstrated the range, variety and depth of the artefacts now available to collectors. This third and final article deals with automobilia from the TWR years – with a similarly wide array of items to choose from. The TWR era for Jaguar began in 1982 with the Group A XJ-S team, entered in the European Touring Car (ETC) championship that Tom Walkinshaw eventually won in 1984. Motul, the oil company, was the initial sponsor until the full partnership with…