Leading the convoy of cars, we descended down the reverse slope and re-joined the other traffic in order to pass through the Toll Booths.

At dinner the next day, following the Port and after the Loyal Toast, I asked if anyone at the table had driven over the new Thames crossing bridge the day before......... There was a stunned silence, and then an old WW2 Officer, minus an ear, retorted, "The bridge is not open yet, and not due to be for another 3 months."….. "Well, I crossed it!" I replied, but everyone looked at me as if I was either mad or drunk!

The next day when I returned to Yorkshire, I paid special attention to the South bank of the new bridge as I approached the North Tunnel crossing, and to my disbelief, there was no sign that the bridge was open or ever had been because various machines were still scattered across the carriageway and men could be seen working everywhere. I entered the Tunnel heading for the M11 thinking: "Was I dreaming on the way down?"

Three months passed, and I was watching the BBC 6 o' clock News. "Today the Queen officially opened the new Thames crossing Bridge and the traffic flowed across for the first time without a hitch. However," the newscaster went on, "Some 3 months ago a trial run took place when the bridge was opened for just one hour in the hours of darkness, and this was just long enough for the Traffic Management Team to assess the flow characteristics."

So there you have it, I was the first member of the motoring public to cross the bridge in my XJ-S, and quite sober!

Another first for Jaguar!

Tony Brown pays tribute to a dedicated Jaguar collector

It seems that recently several friends have shuffled off their mortal coil, but I was deeply shocked and saddened to hear of the death of Walter, whom I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing in 1992 at his ranch at Sewall's Point, Florida and with whom I kept in touch over the years. He was particularly interested in my C-type project*, and was most encouraging on the matter. I make no apologies for reprinting the article I wrote at the time, a history of a deep devotion to our marque which led to a collection sans pareil, one that today would take very deep pockets and many years to reassemble. (Walter is pictured above with his GT40 and SS90.)

*Tony's aerodynamic C-type has been invited to take part in the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year (2011), and we hope to have more news of this at a later date.

I want you to imagine that one day you open your garage and survey the contents therein, feasting your eyes on cars of which heretofore you have only been able to dream. Amongst the collection first of all you have two of the 16 XKSS' made by Jaguar, plus so many other important cars that you really cannot believe your eyes. You are the kid who has been given the keys to the candy store! This is what befell us when Walter Hill, that rare American who for many years was so passionate about our marque, opened up his garage for John Burton, George Gibbs and I to see back in February 1992. John and I had gone to see the Daytona 24 hour race, and it was George who kindly introduced us to this wonderful gentleman.

C, D, XKSS, lightweight E, XK120, XJR5 – the list goes on

Walter's fascination with Jaguars dates back to the euphoric age of the 1950's and he became determined one day to own an XKSS; his quest for this most rare of Jaguars began in 1968 with a phone call to his friend Reggie Smith who said that such things were unobtainable, but Walter persisted. After a fruitless year's search he once again phoned Reggie and was advised that if, a small if at that, such a vehicle was to come on the market it would probably be advertised in a magazine called Competition Press, something Walter had never heard of. Walter at this moment was in Miami and phoned around until he found a news stand that had a copy, went straight over and of all things there within was an XKSS for sale! Read below because the story of the acquisition is one of my favourite stories of all time.

XK120's - Chassis numbers 1 and 123

So began a collection that at the time I considered better than that of Jaguar itself!
Apart from the two cars mentioned above, the collection contained the D type that achieved fastest speed ever officially attained by a D type, four XK120's including LHD chassis no. 1 and 123, two C types and a replica C type, chassis no. 27 E type and a commemorative (these RHD), an SS90, the first I had ever seen, the lightweight E type, a Mk 7 and the group 44 XJR5's of Bob Tullius fame, plus several famous American cars and to top it all off a couple of crop duster planes. Later on there was also the "second" XJ13 but more of that later; oh and I nearly forgot the original 4 cylinder 2 litre Jaguar engine on a display stand and so many models and pictures that it would take a week to take it all in. I think it sums up Walter completely to see what was written on a beam above the collection:-

Tony says, of this picture...........it touches me to the core every time I look at the album!

To continue the story of the acquisition of his first XKSS, a garage proprietor in Olathe, Kansas, one Joe Egle (sic), was selling up and wanted rid of his personal collection. Walter took the first TWA flight out the next day but couldn't come to an agreement on the price and left empty handed. If nothing else, Joe Egle was a salesman and phoned Walter many times over the course of the next year, the price slowly coming down to half the original asking price, terminating one day with a phone call to say that he had found a buyer but felt that really, since Walter was so passionate about Jaguars, that he should if he wanted become the owner and not the other. Walter flew out the next day to Kansas, bought the car and arranged for it to be shipped forthwith out of the state of Kansas.

Walter in the 1970's got very interested in concours and originality, and having bought chassis no. 123 XK120 (for the princely sum of $1,500) he proceeded to turn this into a show car, culminating with first prize at the Pebble Beach concours at the beginning of the 1990's. This car has now been sold in the USA after failing to meet its reserve price at auction, reputedly for approximately £225,000.

One car that fascinated me was the Walter Hansgen D type, chassis XKD 529, which he campaigned so well that he was never beaten. This car was sold on in 1959 and was changed to a 3.8 litre engine, a 2.53 rear axle, and disc wheels as you can see from the photo, before running at Utah and achieving 185.47 mph. Finally, much later on in 1980, the car suffered tornado damage when a building collapsed on it and Walter Hill acquired it, restoring it exactly to the form it had when it ran at Utah. This car is internally a D type, but as you can see from the picture externally looks very different to standard; a fascinating piece of history.

Walter's SS90 was the subject of "a full restoration" in England, but when he got the car the engine lasted no more than 10 miles before it exploded. It turned out that the replacement pistons were the correct size but rather incredibly were designed for a slow revving tractor, not a high revving Jaguar! This car was "on the button" and I still have the tape of the throaty roar as he started it up. I believe that there were about 22 SS90's made and I feel privileged to have seen two during my lifetime since many have never had the opportunity to see one ever. I wonder how many survive over all?

Standing out from the crowd is Walter's 2nd XKSS, now in Briggs Cunningham D-type guise!

Walter was such a fascinating man but at the same time a self effacing one; on my tapes he is clearly asked when he will be writing his biography, and Walter is most emphatic that this would never happen. I hope that this article, while not being a biography, will at least commit to history some of the life of this most likeable man who was the foremost Jaguar collector in the world.

In his professional life Walter was a test pilot, a job of not inconsiderable danger and importance in itself, but when he was buying his collection he was expressly forbidden by Eastern Airlines to take part in racing. Their explication was that they paid him to take risks in the air, not on the ground! So Walter said to himself that buying a "sports car" was permissible, hence the acquisition of an XKSS.

Well, I have recounted part of the history of the first XKSS that Walter possessed but not the second, and this car, as you can see in the picture above, is now a replica D type complete with Lucas fuel injection. Walter had however carefully stored the original body of the XKSS and all relevant parts since this project was one he wanted to undertake without destroying the original car.

It is interesting to note that Walter was the tenth owner of this car when he purchased it in 1969, 12 years after it was built, and there is a historical reason for this; When the XKSS was envisaged it was to run as a racer in the C class and as such 50 needed to be built, a simple matter for Jaguar to do until the fire swept away all such thoughts in February 1957, as a result of which the XKSS had to run in the C modified class which was another kettle of fish entirely.

It is possible that Jaguar, fearing that such a number could not be sold, decided to use a bit of creative thinking when issuing chassis numbers, leaving a three digit gap between each car, thus XKSS 704 follows XKSS 701 and so on. They weren't the only manufacturer to use this ploy, but I doubt they'd get away with it today!

Originally Walter changed it to a short nosed D type but then he had the long nose D type bonnet made by RS Panels in England and it was then painted in the Briggs Cunningham colours exactly as it raced at Sebring in 1957; but to me the most fascinating part of the history of this car is the fuel injection system. Well, you might say, fuel injection is pretty well known in Jaguar circles, but not the original fuel injection on the 1956/7 D types which until then I had thought was the same system that the later E types sported, but no, this is not the case. The original system was made as a one off with, according to Walter, only eight systems being fabricated and which remained the property of Lucas at all times, so much so that when the cars were sold on they were returned to Webers and the injection system returned to Lucas as owners. The 1957 Ecurie Ecosse D type is one such car, winning the Le Mans 24 hours with fuel injection but being converted to Webers before sale.

One day in the early 1970's Walter was at Donington Park with Tom Wheatcroft, the owner, and saw on the wall of his museum a cutaway copy of the original 1956/7 injection system which was made for display purposes only. After some time and some discussion Tom allowed Walter to take away the cutaway show model and Walter, through his Aircraft connections had made a complete early injection system which the car still sported when we saw it. Walter recounted that these engineers worked to tolerances in the millionths of an inch range, far beyond our normal range as car people, and believes that this is the only early system remaining in existence, although I am not able to verify this myself. The car ran reasonably well with the system, but only in the upper range or the lower, and since I was there they spent several years getting the car to run correctly throughout the rev range. This car was sold recently and – happy news – is back in the south of England with all relevant pieces and is being rebuilt as an XKSS again.

Walter's 2nd XKSS before conversion to D-type

The acquisition of the second, red, XKSS (the one converted to a D-type) is a trifle bizarre in that the owner said he would sell it to Walter on the condition that he found him an Austin Princess! Walter hadn't a clue what that was but worked on it, found one, phoned the XKSS owner who then said he had changed his mind and wanted a London taxi! To cut a convoluted story short he ended up with neither but was aware that he had put Walter to a lot of effort and sold it to him anyway. Walter's original idea in purchasing this car was that it should be a spares car!

SS90, C-type, XKSS (before conversion) and number 27 E-type, with outside bonnet locks [above] - and seen again next to a commemorative E-type [right]

Unfortunately the history of the acquisition of his C types is lost both on tape and in my memory which is a complete shame, as is that of the early E type and the commemorative (interesting number plate though – any one know of it?), but there are other stories still to relate. Walter is above all a sports car man but had at one time a well used E type coupe which he traded with a gentleman for the Mk7 shown here, his reasoning being that while the XK120 was the test bed for the XK engine it was for the new MK7 that it was designed. This car, as all his cars at the time, was in absolutely stunning condition.

Walter Hill's immaculate low mileage Mk VII

So let's move on to his two group 44 cars, the XJR5's. Group 44 was of course the Bob Tullius connection, but later in life Bob grew tired of cars and got more and more into aircraft. I seem to remember, and I hope this is correct, that Walter, passionate of aircraft as well as cars, owned a P51 Mustang fighter and that this formed part of the deal when he acquired the cars. I know for sure that Bob Tullius had a P51. The "04" car was originally the "Salad Bar" car, being a rolling chassis for demonstrating at launches etc. but without running gear, but Walter being Walter this is now a fully functional racing car. Only he would do this I reckon, already owning one! (NB this car is now for sale in Sussex at £395,000) – April 2011

Since I was there a new acquisition came along which is both famous and somewhat infamous at the same time. Walter owned the "second" XJ13; I hear a collective intake of breath here but please bear with me. When you own all of the above cars and want to complete your collection, what car is missing? The XJ13 of course so Walter commissioned Bryan Wingfield to build a replica body shell, a task that was carried out so meticulously and which entailed Brian taking measurements of the original car at the JDHT so even the spacing of the rivets is correct. Well, there are many replicas of the XJ13 about, but this one is special for above all one very important reason – it sports one of the original V12 5 litre quad cam engines designed for the car, the precursor to the 5.3 litre twin cam E type engine.

This 5 litre quad cam engine was produced for racing but due to regulation changes was still born and several engines remained on the shelf at Jaguar since the mid 1960's when the car was built. However, how both spare engines came to leave Jaguar and one to be installed in the replica is a wonderful story but one I cannot relate for fear of making the slightest error in its recounting!

[Ed: Was there not a later court case relating to this car? Perhaps we should stick with the theory that there will only ever be ONE XJ13.]

Finally, having been a test pilot, Walter also remembered the planes of his youth and had several of the old crop dusters, as famously immortalised in the film North by North West starring Cary Grant.

The collection was sold if memory serves in 2007, a tale that was sad in itself because despite promises to the contrary by the buyer, it was immediately broken up and sold piecemeal. Two of his cars, chassis 27 E-type and the #04 XJR5 are at the moment for sale in the UK at Eagle E-types. What a pity that Jaguar themselves did not have the funds to acquire this fabulous collection.

Written by Peter D Wilson and published by Bookmarque Publishing, Minster Lovell, Oxford

Fancy building your own historic Jaguar Formula One car? Well, get hold of a copy of Peter Wilson's book and you are halfway there, because it contains a pull-out engineering drawing of just such a car!

I like this book because it's written by someone who was there. In my view it is the first-person account which is almost always the most valuable, because what they provide is primary-source material, gained from first-hand experience. Provided, that is, they can string words together effectively, have a good memory, are willing to consult records and are not given to line-shooting! Fortunately, Peter qualifies on all counts, and the result is a book which is both interesting to read and highly informative – many who buy it do so to obtain tips on how to set-up E-types and Mark 2s for racing, because Peter worked in Jaguar's competition department during the years these cars were being prepared for the likes of Graham Hill and Jackie Stewart to drive.

Peter joined the 'comp shop' in 1961 and stayed until 1966, during which time he was associated with all kinds of projects, including the cars mentioned, various other road cars, and the XJ13, which he helped build. Particularly interesting is the story of the E-type as it evolved from a modified road car to the racing lightweight. Some of the topics covered in the latest, augmented, softback edition (the earlier hardback is sold out) are listed below.

The Mk 2 GT saloon the four-seater E-type the E-type goes racing the Mk X convention building the lightweight E-type E2A and Maxaret brakes the 2+2 E-type the Cunningham Le Mans E-type Bob Blake & the S-type the Coombs power boat racing 4 WPD E-type works tuning booklet XJ13 Sir William's test drive

ISBN: 978-1-870519-75-5, 272pp

Soft bound with over 220 photographs, drawings and period reports etc

Price: £29.99 plus £5.00 P&P UK, £7.00 P&P Europe

For more information, or to order a copy, please visit the website below

by Letitia Mace

1991 XJR14 Cosworth powered, 1991 World Championship winner –
40% scale model (6 ft long and 18 months in the making!)

Introduction

At the beginning of 2006 I noticed an advert in JWM for a large collection of Jaguar memorabilia which was for sale. I enquired via the email address supplied and this turned out to be Paul Skilleter's email address, which he had allowed Leslie Thurston to use as he did not have an email address of his own and was a close and long-standing friend. Paul Skilleter gave me Leslie's address and I wrote to him to enquire about his collection of Jaguar memorabilia. Leslie answered my enquiry by phone, and we had a long and interesting conversation about Jaguars. I was completely unprepared for this and most of what he told me, unfortunately, went over my head. Some of the snippets which I did catch, are included in this account of Leslie. At the time I spoke to Leslie Thurston I was totally unaware of how important a Jaguar personality he is, and I have since seen information written about him, and by him. Neither did I have any idea of quite how important, or how large, his collection of memorabilia was!

In October 2008 I wrote again to Leslie. By this time, I had a far greater knowledge of all things Jaguar, and as usual, with this knowledge came the realisation that the knowledge I had still to acquire seemed larger than I ever imagined and I now feel that I know less in comparison to what I thought I knew in the beginning – if that makes sense?

By contrast to me, Leslie is an authority on the Jaguar marque, but I am keen to learn, and try to spread my enthusiasm as best I can. In the intervening time since first contacting Leslie, I was able to tell him that my eldest daughter (Esta-jane), perhaps inspired by my enthusiasm, had become a Jaguar apprentice and was very fortunate to be the only candidate of that year chosen for the design department! Now living in Coventry, she is a Jaguar Heritage volunteer in her spare time and keeps me informed of developments at Jaguar and the Heritage Trust. On the day that Leslie received this letter he was just off to Jaguar Heritage, who were celebrating the 10th anniversary of the opening of the museum at Brown's Lane, and took my letter with him in the hope that he might meet my daughter, but alas she was working at Gaydon that day, so he did not.

My own involvement with Jaguar is not so easy as I live in Devon and my husband is disabled. In order to become more involved with Jaguar I had recently created a website and email-newsletter, which I had named XCLUSIVELY JAGUAR. My aim being to offer advertisements for anything which is Jaguar orientated (whether private or trade); to publish items of news and events; and to create useful lists which are not always easily accessible elsewhere - or at least give details on where to find this information, which is not always obvious to someone new to the marque.

My recent letter to Leslie had been to seek his opinion and some advice, and I had not expected him to respond in the way that he did, when he again chose to reply by phone. To my surprise, he asked me if I would like to advertise the remainder of his collection of Jaguar memorabilia on my website and in my newsletter. I was very pleased that I had written to him again, and felt honoured that he had asked me to help him in the sale of his collection. I felt that I now had something worth advertising!

Leslie's Unique Collection of Jaguar TWR Automobilia

Leslie Thurston is a highly knowledgeable Jaguar enthusiast; a Jaguar Heritage volunteer of many years standing, and the author of "Jaguar Group C & GTP Prototype Racers" (published by, and available from Jaguar Heritage). Among other Jaguars, Leslie has owned a manual 3.6 XJS coupe and a 4 litre auto; three Daimler Sovereign variants; two XJ40 Sovereigns - a 2.9 and a 4 litre; a 4 litre X300; Series 1 XJ6, Series 2 XJ6 and S type. Now retired, he has sold his collection of Jaguars and the latter two are at the Jaguar Heritage museum. The S type (EKT979C) is opalescent silver blue, and was used to help design the new (X200) S type. Apparently, during a meeting of all the "top brass" as Leslie refers to them, which was held at Whitley prior to the launch of the new X200, the final decision on what to call the new model was made by Nick Scheele pointing to Leslie's car and saying "Lets call it the S-type!"

In 2000 Leslie began rebuilding a series of Jaguar Group C & IMSA cars built to one-fifth scale and created by TWR designer Tony Southgate with authentic upper body panels and undersides for the purpose of accurate wind- tunnel testing. He has also restored 2 full-size XJR show cars to showroom condition but says that restoring the scale models, down to the last authentic detail, was harder and more time consuming than restoring the real cars! The show cars referred to were replica's of an XJR8 and an XJR11, both in Silk Cut colours, and were used as display cars at race meetings where the "real" racing cars were competing. The XJR8 was acquired by The National Motor Museum at Beaulieu and is on permanent display and the XJR11 was purchased by an engineer from the South of England to be converted to race specification. Leslie has since lost touch with its whereabouts but would be very pleased to hear from the current owner. Please contact Letitia at Xclusively Jaguar if you know of the whereabouts of this XJR11.

The wind-tunnel models, parts and moulds, which included some interesting experimental ideas, represent the development of the XJR from 1985 and are part of the Jaguar TWR Partnership prototype race series from the 1980's and the early 1990's. They were acquired by Leslie in 3 separate lots, the last batch being purchased from the receivers, when TWR went into liquidation. Due to their intended use as wind tunnel models, they were never embellished with logos and were devoid of the finer details which would feature on their full size equivalent. By the time Leslie acquired them, some of them were also in very poor condition.

All models built for testing in wind tunnels during the earlier years were made to one-fifth scale (about three feet long) the scale of which, is more easily visualized by reference to the photos which show a 1/43 scale model alongside them. Tony Southgate, TWR's designer, supervised all stages of design, pattern making, mould making, then finally creating the finished mouldings used in the assembly of each individual model. Throughout the series, each chassis type underwent numerous changes and modifications in order to achieve maximum aerodynamics and running performance. This involved making a whole variety of model mouldings, all different in one way or another. Even when the cars were racing, new modifications were regularly being made and tested in an attempt to improve performance. All of this made for an interesting collection of models, many of them differing a lot from the actual racing cars appearing on the circuits. While most of them looked similar in overall appearance, the collection is made up of a whole series of unique models and as such, they are very rare collectibles on their own, without using them to construct finished display models.

As can be seen from the accompanying pictures the collection of main body sets i.e. nose section, monocoque and engine cover (tail section) panels contain some interesting variations. These panels, and much of the detailing, were made from fibreglass and resin.

They include the rare experimental spyder concept car, which never went into production. It is at the far end of the line-up, and below is a close-up.

twr spyder concept car

The blue sets are for turbo cars XJR-10 and XJR-11. Those in green represent V12 models from XJR-6 to XJR-12 variations. The body panels shown here,

and the underbody panels (below)

would have cost around £1000 (each) to have made by experts. The original hardwood bucks, from which the moulds were formed (as seen in this photo)

would have been very expensive to begin with, and each complete wind-tunnel model would, at that time, have cost around £5000 to produce! The pictures show only a sample of the total number of body panels, under-wing panels and moulds, which make up this unique and invaluable collection.

Leslie repaired the glass fibre bodies and fabricated missing or damaged parts from scratch. He then researched, reproduced, and applied, authentic decals for each model, in order to make them as realistic as possible. The many photo's which Leslie had acquired of the real cars served to aid him in this task, and in the publication of his book. Leslie commissioned a local graphics firm to make copies of all manufacturers name decals – Jaguar, Silk Cut, Castrol, Dunlop, Goodyear, etc. all in various sizes, as seen on the completed models. There remain a number of these, still unused, with the collection .

Making up completed models incorporating panels from the collection requires a certain amount of dedication but after the first one, the process becomes a lot easier. In addition to the main body panels, as seen in the photos, the collection includes a huge amount of other ancillary pieces such as wing assemblies, wheels, wing mirrors, wheel covers and many other parts needed to construct a fairly detailed model. They vary considerably and Leslie has used them as a guide to reproduce new sets of whatever is needed. The sheer number of components is very extensive, far too many to be listed. There are numerous boxes of them!

In total, Leslie has made up 7 complete display models, 5 of which have been sold. The two remaining are of the 1988 Le Mans winning XJR9 (chassis 488) and a particularly nice Castrol XJR-10 turbo Car. (both pictured below)

Anyone seeing the completed models might be surprised to learn that when Leslie first obtained the original batch of components, he had never made anything like it in his life. He had never been a model maker so embarked upon a fairly steep learning curve. Leslie's book "TWR Jaguar Prototype Racers" explains much about the development of the cars and was a direct development from all the research he undertook before attempting to faithfully re-create these TWR Prototype Racers in miniature.

The first model Leslie made (pictured at the beginning of the article) was the 1991 XJR14, Cosworth powered, 1991 World Championship winner. Built to 40% scale, it is 6 ft long and took Leslie 18 months to complete! This later Jaguar/TWR series wind tunnel model is one of the larger scale models and instead of glass fibre, they were now made in the much more expensive carbon fibre. This model is now in the USA, having been acquired by the lucky owners of the two remaining real XJR-14 race cars. Bearing in mind that Leslie had never made anything like this before, this was his first project! Not bad, taking into account that the panels were in an appalling condition, when he acquired them!

The 7 completed models comprise:

1. 1985 XJR6
2. 1987 XJR8 which features experimental grafting of a Porsche 962 long tail onto the body of this V12 engined race car
3. 1988 XJR9 Number 2 (chassis no: 488). The 1988 Le Mans winning car. This is a 1/5 scale model and is Leslie's favourite! [picture: below]
4. XJR10 Turbo Sponsored by Castrol, it raced in the 1989, 1990 and 1991 IMSA Series (1/5 scale model) [picture: below]
5. XJR12-D Bud Light Daytona
6. 1991 XJR14 Cosworth powered, 1991 World Championship winner – 40% scale model (6 ft long and 18 months in the making!) [picture: at beginning of article]
7. XJR16 Turbo Sponsored by Bud Light, it raced successfully from April to October 1991

	1988 XJR9 Number 2 (chassis no: 488). The 1988 Le Mans winning car. This is a 1/5 scale model and is Leslie's favourite!
	XJR10 Turbo Sponsored by Castrol, it raced in the 1989, 1990 and 1991 IMSA Series (1/5 scale model)

There is also a small collection of panels not seen in the pictures, along with a few other body moulds, not part of the XJR Prototype Championship Series, including one unusual set to make up one-fifth scale XJR-15 body mouldings. The others are for making up parts of racing cars which Leslie has not been able to identify.

Leslie's collection was sold in 2009, via Xclusively Jaguar, to a collector of Jaguar TWR automobilia

Below are details of the book which was written by Leslie as a by-product of his research into the topic.

by Letitia Mace

In August 2006 I was invited to attend a Jaguar Ride and Drive Day by Taunton Jaguar. By way of thanking them, and the Jaguar Ride and Drive Team, who organised the event on their behalf, I wrote the following article, as I feel that Taunton Jaguar and The Jaguar Ride and Drive Team did an excellent job, and therefore deserve my thanks! If I am fortunate enough to be asked again, I will very much look forward to the opportunity to sample and report on Jaguar's latest offerings!

So this is a female view of a Jaguar Ride and Drive Day and the then current Jaguar range of cars, and also a tribute to Jaguars Ride and Drive Team, who we thought did an excellent job. It is not meant to compete with the professional opinions of experienced motoring journalists. We hope it might be a more down to earth insight into new Jaguars, as seen through the eyes of a (female) driver of older Jaguars.

We arrived in plenty of time and drove into the Golf Club car park, past a selection of new Jaguars. We were warmly greeted by the Ride and Drive team and offered refreshments while we filled in the necessary forms. My daughter, Esta-jane, had come along with me just for the experience of going out in these new Jaguars, as she was too young to be allowed to drive them. This event took place a few days before she was due to move to Coventy and begin her career as a Jaguar apprentice engineer as part of the Design Team.

The selection on offer were:

1. New XK dhc
2. New XK fhc
3. XJ TDVi
4. X-type 3 litre petrol estate, automatic
5. S-type R
6. S-type Diesel
7. S-type 3 litre petrol Sport
8. X-type 2.2 Diesel estate, manual

We enquired as to the amount of time we could spend driving each car and were advised accordingly. I then decided on a route which was well known to me, between Bridgwater and Cannington, and stuck to this route for all the Jaguars which I tested, thus allowing me to compare the performance, handling, ride etc. of each model. My route suffered all the usual pot-holes and poor surfaces and included a built-up area, country lanes, a notoriously bad bend and a short stretch of well-surfaced fast road, ideal for trying out nought to naughty times – and never mind the Somerset scenery – these were spectacular!!!

The XK convertible was the first I had ever driven, and virtually the first Esta-jane or I had ever seen! It was also the colour we would have chosen (Indigo with ivory interior), although we would have chosen a wood veneer rather than aluminium. It was very quick, with a smooth take-off and indiscernible gear-change. Excellent brakes, excellent handling, smooth ride – the sports suspension was tight, but still soaked up all the bumps better than an X350, as we later found out! Flappy paddles seemed superfluous, in a car as accomplished as this, but were great fun for easing those moments of boredom when other traffic prevented you from driving as you wished, giving you something else to play with. (Probably not what the designer intended, but useful, nonetheless!) Usual Jaguar interior layout, so driving was VERY easy – the only other noticeable changes were, keyless entry/start and novelty start/stop button along with door mounted seat adjustment controls (a la Mercedes!) and a new take on the J-gate! Wonderful burble, with lid down, just pleading with you to constantly blip the throttle. I thought the scientific aerodynamics would eliminate all "wind-in-the-hair" but it was surprisingly draughty. The hood mechanism was very impressive – simply hold down the button on the roof mounted console on the top of the windscreen until the roof has safely removed itself, dropped the windows, and stowed itself under the metal tonneau and then bleeps to say it is all done (and vice versa to replace the hood). The rear window was about the size of a letterbox, compared with my XJ, so the park assist and large stylish wing mirrors were vital! There was absolutely no scuttle-shake whatsoever, not even a hint, and its performance lived up to its looks in every way. First class toy, serious posing machine and, dare I say - an Aston in Jag-rags? Driver optional!

Meanwhile, Esta had tested the Sat Nav. It was touch screen and you had to be very precise, which apparently could be difficult, depending on how the car was being driven! Fairly self-explanatory and easy to use – more so than the systems used in the other Jaguars we tested. If you took the wrong route it would calmly re-direct you along the next best route without causing you to panic with bleeps or warnings that you'd messed up!

There is nothing to choose between the dhc and fhc XK's except one has the edge for serious posing and the other has the edge for serious driving! The XK is too serious a driving machine for British roads, with cameras around every corner, it is definitely a Nurburgring job! And either XK is a match for its Aston counterpart! From inside the coupe the burble of the exhaust is deeper and more muted and therefore less intoxicating than in the open topped XK. Both XK's cornered brilliantly, and although not as quick, in a straight line, as an "R", they are plenty quick enough, by any standards. Ask and its there! When you drive it, it becomes part of you – or you part of it! It is the lightest, most nimble, and most responsive car I've ever driven, but without being uncontrollable – everything seems to be geared in harmony, making it the easiest car to drive. It responds as quickly as you can think and stops just as quickly, too. I was sorry that in my enthusiasm to try out all the other toys, I forgot to test the adaptive cruise control. I cannot wait to test drive an XKR – the combination of a burbling exhaust, whining super-charger and all that well-harnessed power must be phenomenal!

The new XK would be a hard act for any car to follow and so, despite being very nice, the XJ TDVi seemed "stodgy" by comparison – slow and cumbersome, like pitching a portly executive against an accomplished athlete. Since they are aimed at entirely different markets this is of no consequence and both cars do their job well except that, strangely, I felt the XK's suspension was smoother than that of this luxury saloon! Having previously driven an S type 2.7 Diesel elsewhere, I felt that the XJ TDVi was a very successful amalgamation of XJ body and diesel power. As with the S type, the performance is disappointing for the first 3-5 minutes and then you realise that it was only poor because it was cold, and there you were thinking it was because it was a diesel! Like the S type, the X350 has nice big doors and no sills, making entry and exit easier than in the older XJ's. The only time I felt the car was "big" was when I initially drove away after driving an XK – it felt large and awkward, but once it got into its stride, it was a normal, well-mannered XJ. As with the S type, if no-one told you this was a diesel XJ, you would never know – it was quiet, refined, smooth and responsive. Esta found that this Jaguar, as with all except the XK, had a different Sat Nav system which was not so quick to react to initial instructions or a change in the route. I didn't think there was much to choose between performance, handling and overall specification of an XJ TDVi or an S type Diesel – the choice, I'm sure, would be on personal preference between an XJ or S type body.

We then tested an X type estate, powered by the 3.0 litre V6 petrol engine with automatic transmission. It was very slow compared to the XK's and even the XJ TDVi, but the engine and gearbox were still quiet and smooth. The suspension was hard and lumpy by comparison to the XK and XJ – babies would not sleep on British roads!!! Although nothing special by Jaguar standards, it is still so easy to drive – everything is where it should be and it does what you ask, when you ask it. The interior is classy and comfortable, as you would expect of a Jaguar, with dark wood veneer, and steering wheel, complimenting the warm charcoal hide - an ideal colour choice for a family car!

The "R" is undoubtedly quicker, but the XK makes a smoother and more controllably predictable get-away. The XK was refined – the R is just brutal! It was so fast that you had to be sure you had enough room for the speed it would achieve in the available space, therefore, I was a little more reticent than I had been in the XK. Despite this we did manage to check out its nought to naughty capabilities and it actually beat the Sat Nav instructions to the approaching roundabout, which we found highly amusing, but admittedly very immature! It is too fast to be truly enjoyed on British roads – another candidate for the Nurburgring! It lacks flappy paddle fun and drop-top – but once inside, forget its an S type – its just an "Aarrh!" This car and the XK certainly provided the answer to what kind of Jaguar I would like in the future! When your right foot goes down the supercharger whines superbly – imagine the XKR with that whine AND the burble!

There was one more S type in the line up which I saw little point in testing as it was petrol driven with sports suspension and trim, a combination of the two I had driven, and if I was to buy an S type it would either be a diesel for economy or an R for indulgence!

This left us with an X type 2.2 Diesel Sport estate with 6 speed manual transmission. This car had noticeably less power than the 2.7 diesel which seemed odd as the last time I drove one of these I was running a 3.6 XJ40 and didn't expect much of the 2.2 diesel – I was quite shocked by the performance at that time! The ride also surprised us – it was better than that of the other X type we tested, and yet this was a "Sport" – the other I assume had touring suspension. Smashing manual box – much better than an X300 XJ Sport which I recently owned (sorry Firefly!) I just jumped in and drove off and halfway through our test route Esta said "Its got 6 gears!" "Yes" I said "5 forward and 1 reverse." "No" she replied "6 forward!" With that I looked at the gear lever for the first time and realised I'd been missing out on another gear so I set about making up for this oversight! I try to keep up with the latest Jaguar developments, but this proves that reading is no substitute for actually getting behind the wheel! Nice "ring-lift" reverse gear selector – very easy to use – if anybody is going to have trouble selecting reverse, it's me, and this one was heaven! The organizers thought I might be disappointed taking out the bottom of the model range last, but it was very refreshing to drive a manual after so many automatics, especially with the added novelty of an extra gear, once I'd found it! Gosh, I can remember when 5 manual gears were a treat, but to have 6! The manual fore and aft seat controls were the only thing which seemed out of place in such a plush modern interior, where everything else seemed to be electrically operated. I would be as happy to own a manual X type, as any other Jaguar. It might not spoil you like an XKR or a Daimler, but it does everything it should, and it does it well!

This then, is a Jaguar Ride and Drive Day from the female perspective. The young and the not so young female enthusiasts! While I had focussed on the performance and handling from a drivers point of view, Esta was able to focus on the comforts from a passengers point of view and on the electronic toys. She pointed out things that I may otherwise have over-looked on a test drive, and tried out the Sat Nav and blue tooth phone which, quite honestly, are beyond me!

The organization of the event was excellent, as was the venue, which allowed the cars to be tested on all road types. Choosing to test the high performance cars first proved to be wise as traffic built up later in the day and it was more difficult to put the last ones through their paces quite so easily or thoroughly. Every model we tested had something new to offer, making it really exciting and worthwhile. In common with all the cars was the silence – freedom from engine, road or wind noise. Gear changes were imperceptible and brakes matched performance. All were fitted with parking sensors, which I learnt to use confidently, having the benefit of someone patiently explaining the sequence to me and demonstrating the distance left. All models now have "one-touch" window down AND up mechanisms which I felt was an over-sight on earlier models. Steering was lighter than in the older XJ's which I am accustomed to and combined with the electronic hand-brakes, auto wipers/lights, cruise control, traction control, one touch window controls, Sat Nav etc, driving was totally effortless and I seriously wondered if I was the only superfluous accessory, or optional extra!

Esta-jane's pick of the day was, without a doubt, the S type R. I found it a little harder to choose, but think it would have been the XKR, had it been present! (It was on the brink of being launched when this event was staged.) Choosing the best Jaguar was not easy, as each had its own distinctive personality – the point being to produce a range of models and trim styles to suit different tastes and needs, and many people had come to the Ride and Drive Day to test drive a specific model. In my case, the object of the exercise was to test drive the current Jaguar range. I feel that as a regular buyer of used Jaguars it is important that I know what is available to help me decide on future purchases. In this respect I think I am as important to Jaguar as any purchaser of new Jaguars, as it is the buyers of used Jaguars who will hold up the re-sale values! I also wish to broaden my knowledge of Jaguars in general, so this exercise was as important in this respect, too.

At the end of the day I had expected to climb back into my own 1996 lwb X300 3.2 Sovereign and be disappointed with the car in general, and the performance in particular, but I wasn't! Mine still felt terrific! Was this because I had prepared myself or was it because a Jaguar matures well and develops its own charm? Do we forgive our older Jaguars their inadequacies because we know that they once represented the state of the art comforts and engineering that their new counterparts now represent?

It was a successful day – enjoyable and educational. It confirmed to me that in the future I will still want to drive a Jaguar – in my dreams it would have to be one with a super-charger, but, in reality I was re-assured to find that I could be perfectly content with an economical diesel powered Jaguar…….and as for my daughter – well, only time will tell whether she sticks rigidly to her plan to buy an XJR-S or succumbs to an S type R!

Reproduced by kind permission of the original author Brian Foster with later additions and updates by Letitia Mace

Brian's Story

In 1995, my wife and I visited relations in Australia, and our host, Derek King, mentioned in passing that he had spoken to a gentleman in Taree, New South Wales, who had restored a classic Jaguar for his wife, and was currently working on other models.

February of this year (1999) found my wife and I in Australia again, and staying with Derek and my sister. In general conversation I asked Derek if he had seen anything more of the Jaguar gentleman and when he replied no, I suggested that we try to track him down. This Derek did, and discovered our man was Norman Crowfoot of Hallidays Point, New South Wales.

A couple of phone calls resulted in a most kind invitation to visit his house and view his collection!

The visit was arranged for Friday 5th March 1999 with Derek and I arriving at 10.30 am. However we were both totally unprepared for what we were about to see.

Following introductions with Norman and his charming wife Jacqueline, the first car we saw was a 1984 XJ-S HE standing under the car port, and immediately behind that, in a garage and stripped down, a Mark V. Norman showed us the beautiful dashboards he had restored and the wiring harness, all of which was identical to the original, being encased in a woven multi-coloured cotton sheath.

We moved on up the hill behind the house, to a large steel framed building with roller shutter doors on each elevation. Norman operated the first shutter, and as our eyes became accustomed to the internal light levels, they nearly popped out of our heads!

There, standing in rows, beneath white dust sheets were the unmistakeable outlines of classic Jaguar cars of every conceivable model.

As Norman and Jacqueline lifted off the covers one by one I stood there absolutely transfixed as nostalgic memories came flooding back. I thought, here am I, 13,000 miles from home, looking at the largest private collection of Jaguars I have ever seen!

Each and every model, now standing pristine in full concours condition had a story to tell. This one, Norman explained, was used for years by school children across country to the highway school bus, and back again, every day without any form of maintenance. This one was involved in a smash and we bought it on the spot. This one lay on open ground for years and had a tree growing through it, whereas this one Norman said, was bought for cash in town by striking a deal with the woman who owned it, who promptly cleared it of dogs, kids and general rubbish!

When I mentioned to Norman that I would like to write an article on his collection, he suggested that I wait until after his Jaguar Day Meeting in June, following which he would forward to me in the UK, photographs of all his cars lined up, together with a short history of his involvement with Jaguar Cars in Australia.

The Open Day/Meeting at Norman and Jacquelines house at Halliday's Point in New South Wales took place on the 13th June 1999 and was in Norman's words "A great success"…………. how I wished that I had been there!

Norman, in his letter explained that they are members of the Jaguar Drivers Club (Hunters Region) and about 20 cars attended from Newcastle plus some 30 from the Forster, Taree and Port McQuarrie districts. Added to these was Norman and Jacqueline's collection of 20 cars, so in all they had 70 Jaguars on their property for the meeting and barbeque lunch.

In his promised letter to me Norman asked if it would be possible to trace the history of a Jaguar Drivers Badge No. 5483 which, at that time, adorned a Mark II brought back from England by Hugh Bryson as a present in 1964. (Was the question ever answered, I wonder?)

At the Open Day each and every restored car in the collection was separately photographed, and the cars under restoration collectively and captioned "Sick Bay".

I was naturally most interested in Norman Crowfoot's association with Jaguars over the years, and therefore felt that any article on his cars would be incomplete without this included.

In response to my request, Norman provided a draft for me and this now appears below in almost the form in which I received it from him.

Norman Crowfoot

His first Jaguar was a second hand XK120 in 1954, having graduated from a Vauxhall Wyvern, Singer 9 and a TDMG. That XK started the love affair which has continued. Norman raced at the Sydney circuit, Mount Druit, but because of the braking or lack of it, racing continued with aTR2, Open Wheel Special, Lancia Aurelia and Ferrari Monza. Tow wagons for these cars were a Mark V and then a Mark VII.

He then took a position with Bryson Industries, the Australian Jaguar distributor in 1960, in the sales department and ultimately graduated to Daimler marketing manager.

In 1963, having purchased the ex-Whithead 1955 Le Mans Cooper Jaguar, he raced at the Melbourne and Albury circuits in New South Wales.

Also, in 1963, Norman drove the Bryson Industries entry in the Sandown (Melbourne) 6 hour race, driving a 3.8 Mark II.

He parted with Brysons in 1967 to become Jaguar/Daimler dealer at Albury, New South Wales.

After selling that business he went into real estate, using a Mark X and then a Daimler Majestic Major as the appropriate work car.

On retirement Norman and Jacqueline moved to the coastal area of New South Wales at Hallidays Point, between Forster and Taree.

In 1985 they bought and restored a Mark II 3.4 overdrive for Jacqueline and Norman hunted for a 420G for himself.

On a trip to the UK in 1989 they bought a pristine 1985 Daimler Double Six and a DS 420 Limousine, taking both cars home. Whilst in the UK they naturally graduated to the Beaulieu Motor Museum where they noticed a plaque indicating that Lord Montague started that collection in 1970 with 5 cars. Their joint comment at the time was "we have 4 cars so why not start a Jaguar collection?"

The aim was therefore established to find and restore one of every body series from World War II to the time that Jaguar became "Forduar".

All restoration work is done at home except for trimming and panel work and any mechanical work Norman is unable to handle himself. All cars are finished with at least 10 coats of acrylic lacquer and each restoration takes about one year. Where necessary, chromework is repaired and restored to a high standard with double copper and "linishing" (its in the dictionary!) between.

In 1999 progress stood as described below
Restoration of the Mark V and the Mark IV is well under way and the Mark I is at "metal-work finished" stage. The XK150 is being stripped at present for sand-blasting. The remainder of the collection has been totally restored, and another 2 or 3 years should see the project completed.

When completed it was already planned that the collection would be offered for sale and the projected value at that time was estimated to be in excess of £300,000.

Ten Years On……….Letitia's Story

Having made the acquaintance of Brian Foster in 2008, he then shared the above story with me and I asked him if he knew what finally became of the Crowfoot Jaguar Collection. Brian explained that he had not been in touch with Norman Crowfoot since his visit and all he could tell me was that he was aware that Norman had suffered a heart attack and he did not know what had become of him or his collection of Jaguars. Brian gave me contact details for Norman and said that it would be quite in order for me try to get in touch, but with caution – bearing in mind his illness!

Meanwhile, I decided it might be wise to see if a fellow Jaguar enthusiast in New South Wales could throw some light on the current situation! David Love, was able to provide details of a website with all the cars advertised for sale on it HERE and an email address. Norman replied to me, thanking me for my interest, and thus completed the story and our investigations.

Norman's letter

Dear Letitia
Thankyou for your persistance in tracing me. I remember Brian Foster very well. He had a relative living in our area which is how he learned of us. I do not recall the extent of our collection at the time of Brian's visit but we finished with the 20 Jaguar's listed below (all totally restored to showroom condition)

Sadly our XJ-S was not a Cabriolet, but it was a very nice, very comfortable, very fast car and incidentally was the most economical car in the collection - up to 26 mpg on highway running. We are selling off the collection as we intend moving from our property to a beachside block just down the road, and will ultimately have room for only 2 cars. This is brought about by the fact of my age - now 83. I have been a Jaguar fan since 1947 and thankfully my wife is a bit of a petrolhead too, and a keen assistant in the restoration work.

We gave the D type a competition outing in the State Hill Climb championships at Newcastle in October 2007 and gained a 3rd in Sports cars class. But a real enthusiast from Geelong, Victoria called to see our cars and just HAD to have the 'D' Type outfit. It is now being used for Historic competition at many circuits in NSW and Victoria.
If you need any further information let me know.

Regards Norman Crowfoot.

The Complete Crowfoot Collection

Below is a list of all the Jaguars which were once part of the Crowfoot Collection. I am sure we would all love to hear from anyone who has purchased one of the Jaguars from the collection.

A collection of 20 Jaguars representing every model from 1948 to 1990. Personally sourced, and authentically restored to showroom condition, by Norman and Jacqueline Crowfoot of Hallidays Point NSW Australia.

Important: All information is believed correct, but no responsibility can be taken by Xclusively Jaguar for any inaccuracies

THOMAS WESTCOTT Chartered Accountants & Tax Advisers