Innehållsförteckning för Apr/May 2024 från Classic Jaguar

When I drove the MkX seen in our cover feature I was pleasantly surprised. Where I’d expected a large and lumbering machine I found a car that was much more engaging than I had expected. I’m not going to pretend it felt small, but when you compare the experience to the prices of cars sold at Anglia Car Auctions in January, you can forgive the slightly exaggerated proportions when you consider what you’re getting for your money. I reckon it’s Jaguar’s biggest underdog, and my tip for enthusiasts looking for a traditional classic Jag. But if you’re one of the many thousands for whom a MkX is too much, there’s still plenty of good stuff in this issue. If you like big saloons, check out our buying guide to the…

For Britain in 1961 there was no more influential place than America. We wanted their music, liberal lifestyle, clothes, and cars. Even Jaguar – conservative despite its image as the spiv’s Bentley – was briefly captivated, and in that year unveiled the MkX. Coventry’s new flagship owed more in its proportions to Cadillac than to previous Jaguars, and was loved neither in its US target market nor in Mini-Minor Britain. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. After all, the smaller Jaguars had been selling well in America, as had its sports cars. While its biggest saloon the MkIX still resembled the MkVII of a decade earlier, that car had caused a sensation in the States too. It seemed that a new big Jaguar would sell equally well, especially…

“S ir, I need to come and see you, now.” “What is it?” “It’s important. I need to see you.” “Very well, I’m at home for the evening.” “I’ll see you in about 30 minutes.” William Lyons replaced the handset into its cradle and looked at his wife. “Frank England is coming round. Says it’s important.” Greta Lyons looked up from the book she was reading and glanced at her husband, “It must be, is everything all right at the factory?” “Yes, everything’s fine. It will be something to do with the racing.” She looked at him again with a sharp intensity, “John!” she said, putting her book down. “Don’t worry, dear. John will be fine, he’s a big, clever strapping lad. Frank will be round in a short while.”…

TECHNICAL FOUR-SPEED MANUAL GEARBOX STRIPDOWN Jaguar’s four-speed manual gearbox was a breath of fresh air when it replaced the Moss ‘box, and was fitted to models including the Mk2, S-type and E-type. When we discovered that manual transmission specialist Stephen A Brear Gearboxes of Leeds was planning to strip a customer’s Jaguar gearbox from a Series 1 E-type 4.2, we asked to follow the work involved. This specialist only deals with the trade and has been stripping and rebuilding Jaguar gearboxes, both modern and classic, plus a wide assortment of other ‘boxes for over 40 years. The tools required to strip a Jaguar gearbox include an assortment of imperial AF spanners and sockets ranging from 1/2in to 11/8in. Drifts, hammers, screwdrivers, pliers, side cutters, scrapers and a breaker bar will…

TRIED & TESTED JAGUAR E-TYPE SERIES 1.5 Transitional models often blend the purity of the earliest cars with the usability of those improved with hindsight, and the Classic and Sports Car Centre’s E-Type fixed head coupe Series 1.5 demonstrates this perfectly. Many of the changes needed for the Series 2 had gradually been filtering onto the Series 1 via the Series 1.5 cars – reprofiled, open nacelle headlights, rocker switches in the cabin, twin cooling fans, adjustable seat backs – but without the styling compromises that were brought for the official Series 2 models. Arguably then, here is a car with all the purity of line of the original, with the compromises ironed out. Further upgraded by its previous owners, it covered thousands of miles all over Europe, but retained…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS T he Brighton Speed Trials will sadly no longer take place. The historic motoring world has been rocked by the news that Brighton Speed Trials, commonly thought to be the longest- running motorsport event in the world, is sadly no more after almost 120 years of history. Organiser Brighton and Hove Motor Club has confirmed that 2023 was the final running of the worldfamous spectacle, with rising costs at the root of the "heartbreaking" decision. Hosted on Madeira Drive, which lines Brighton's seafront, the annual event has been enjoyed by generations of motorsport fans. The story began in 1905, when local hotelier Sir Harry Preston persuaded the Town Corporation to lay a motor racing track using the pioneering material of Tarmac. The event, known originally…

Classic vehicle insurer Hagerty has released its UK Bull Market list for 2024, featuring the Jaguar and Daimler X300 as models tipped for price increases through the following year. The list, believed by many to be among the most accurate predictors of appreciating classics, targets models that offer the perfect blend between fun factor and investment potential – in short, the cars that enthusiasts want to own. The 8 models chosen overall are drawn from the results of private and public sales, Hagerty’s Price Guide, and insurance quotations sought by members of the public. Hagerty UK Price Guide Editor John Mayhead told Classic Jaguar: “We chose the X300 series because Hagerty believes it offers a lot of car for the money. For the prices these cars are now fetching, the…

RESTORATION DAIMLER SP250 Not only is Tim Mallyon a self-confessed Jaguar enthusiast but his passion extends to the company’s sister marque. His first Jaguar-bodied car (bought as a 19-year-old) was a Daimler V8-250, and the restoration project that he has just finished is a Daimler SP250. His enthusiasm bubbles over at every turn. He tells me, “I’m not sure where the urge came from to get my hands on a Daimler SP250 but it must have started back in the mid-1980s, when I was in my late teens. I’d just bought a Daimler V8-250. It wasn’t the most sensible of cars, especially for a cash strapped 19-year-old, but I wanted something different - and that’s what I got! There was just something about the small V8; the turbine like sound,…

SPARES DAY AT STONELEIGH There’s only one place to be on Sunday 17 March and that’s Stoneleigh Park in Warwickshire (CV8 2LZ) for the first Jaguar Spares Day of the year. All the main traders will be there, plus dozens of others, selling everything from new parts to used, and sometime obscure and hard-to-find, spares. The biggest spares day in Europe dedicated to Jaguar and Daimler parts, it attracts buyers and sellers from home and abroad, all keen to find the best bargains and track down that elusive bit vital to completing a rebuild. And it’s not just about classic Jaguars either because many of the traders will be offering goods and services for modern cars as well as the old timers. You don’t need to be a trader, either,…

JAGUAR ON TOUR SERIES III V12 The whispered silence of the Jaguar XJ12 was a paragon of NVH (noise, vibration, harshness), the parameters of comfort levels at which the XJ series excelled. My particular car was a late model from 1989, the Series III having been prettified by the Italian design house Pininfarina, although the fundamentals had been carried forward from the 1960s. The XJ formed the apotheosis of Sir William Lyons’ design career, ably assisted by a highly talented team of engineers. The Jaguar marketing department were a capable asset too and who could fail to be tempted by the slogans devised for the XJ12; one of my favourite’s being “under the roof, a penthouse; under the bonnet, a powerhouse”. When new, these cars were the choice of cabinet…

The UK's £3 billion classic car industry is to enjoy more protection thanks to the ratification of a 2003 UNESCO Convention aimed at preserving traditional crafts. The expertise needed to keep our cars on the road won't be allowed to die out after the government signed an international pledge saying so. Last year, our historic vehicle sector received a boost when the government finally recognised the 2003 United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Convention on the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, otherwise known as 'living heritage'. Classic car preservation falls into one of five categories identified by the UNESCO Convention: that of traditional craftsmanship. To that end, restorers, specialists and clubs are to receive greater recognition for the roles they play. To better understand those skills most important…

If you were a European executive in the late Eighties and early Nineties and wanted a luxury sports car to criss-cross Europe, there was only one real choice: a Porsche 928. With its powerful V8, bulletproof reliability and a luxury interior, it was the perfect gentleman’s express to commute between Strasburg and Brussels without so much as creasing their Armani suit. What then, if they wanted a more left-field choice, a car that offered all the same qualities as the Porsche but one that was built in much smaller numbers and was, therefore, more interesting? The XJR-S 6.0 fitted these requirements perfectly. Still partly handmade, it had more bespoke charm than the anodyne Porsche, but touted the same big-engined performance. Plus, from the outset, the long-legged XJS was designed for…

Just like the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club, I had my 40th anniversary this year. A great time was had with family and friends, but every year my birthday marks not only that personal milestone but also the point at which the nights get noticeably shorter, and thoughts start to turn to the year ahead. ALL CYLINDERS FIRING FOR THE SUMMER JAGUAR FESTIVAL THIS JULY If you put only one event in your calendar for 2024, then make sure it is this year’s Summer Jaguar Festival. Held at the British Motor Museum on 28th July 2024. It is going to be a truly memorable weekend for many reasons. We have already had huge support from the specialist trade, so there will be plenty of stands to spend your money on throughout the…

If we have any technically minded readers, I would like to pick your brains if I may. I have an issue with my Daimler that I had considered would be an easy fix, except for the fact that I cannot find what is wrong. Nor can anyone I have asked. I’m thus turning to you in the hopes that you, or someone you know, can put it right. Jaguar and Daimler X300s have a speed sensitive power steering system that uses ZF Servotronic components. There is an electronic receiver on the rack that varies the level of power assistance based on speed sensor inputs. This is fed by a relay-shaped ECU which lives behind the trim in the nearside front footwell. From there it follows the loom to behind the…

BUYING GUIDE JAGUAR XJ12 SERIES III The Jaguar XJ Series III is an unusual machine – a stopgap model that lived for longer than either of its predecessors. Because the XJ40 was running later, the XJ Series II of 1974 simply wasn’t going to last on the market for long enough, so Jaguar commissioned Pininfarina to revise the car to bridge the gap. And when the XJ40 did finally arrive, it had been designed in such a way that a V12 engine wouldn’t fit as a result of Jaguar’s desire to rule out the Rover V8. So customers who still wanted the Jaguar V12 were stuck – Jaguar was forced to continue production of the older car alongside the XJ40 almost until the latter’s demise. It was as a result…