Innholdsfortegnelse for Dec/Jan 2024 i Classic Jaguar

For the first time in my editorship, our twin test is guided not by one anniversary but by two – as well as the Jaguar X300, the Range Rover P38a turns 30 in 2024. And while many magazines compared them in period, we felt a classic comparison with the benefit of several years’ ownership experience would be instructive. I hope you enjoy the results. Again, we have another full and exciting issue for you. Andrew Roberts will tell the tale of a one family owned 240, we've gone down under to meet a man with an XJ13 obsession, and we'll show you how to buy the very best XJS V12 you can with the help of our friends at KWE Cars. Rob Hawkins is back with more tech tips, and…

The second Caffeine & Machine location has now officially opened. The Bowl in Bedfordshire follows the outfit's first successful location near Stratford-uponAvon, which first welcomed petrolheads in 2018. The former roadside pub on Bedford Road, Ampthill, has been lovingly reworked as a new destination for car enthusiasts and has been named in reference to the nearby Millbrook Proving Ground. Caffeine & Machine founder, Phil McGovern, said: “I'm blown away that Caffeine & Machine has resonated with the automotive community to the level that it has since we opened our first location back in 2018. “The growth of the brand and the support we've had from both our community and the one in which we sit has been humbling, and I'm incredibly excited to see it continue with a new site.…

YOUR CARS JAGUAR 240 AND E-TYPE S2 Rob Collins is the owner of two crucial Jaguars. His garage not only houses a 1969 E-type 2+2 Series 2, but he has also recently become custodian of a 1968 240. Whilst both were very fine vehicles, during the 1980s, some self-appointed cognoscenti– i.e., utter snobs – tended to overlook both models, yet they played a crucial role in their respective model ranges The 240 is now in the third generation of same-family ownership and has covered 43,000 miles in 5 years. John “Moggy” Morris, Rob's father-in-law, placed the original order, and Browns Lane supplied it in February 1968. Intriguingly, the factory records show it as a ‘staff car’ as it was not supplied through a dealership, and Rob explains: “As an employee,…

STORYLINE 1951-1952 Ernest Holmes, Managing Director of Ernest Holmes (Langley) Ltd listened patiently as Arthur Whitaker, the Jaguar Director and General Manager outlined over the phone what was required in moving the Jaguar Cars factory lock stock and barrel the seven miles from Holbrook Road, Foleshill to Browns Lane, Allesley, as the crow flies. Whitaker concluded by saying, “Of course it's only a ten-minute journey via Keresley Heath and Brownshill Green, so we want you to give us your very best firm price, Ernest.” Holmes had done some of the biggest, heaviest haulage jobs in England, including moving whole tank regiments during the war, any amount of 100-ton plus power station turbines with his Scammell trucks, and naturally, being Midlands based, lots of vehicle manufacturing machinery with his fleet of…

RUNNING REPORT X300 DAIMLER SIX LWB While preparing to write this update on my Daimler I wrote a list of all the jobs I've done in the last few months of ownership. And I've realised as a result that I'm not going to be able to bring you up to date with this update alone – even in note form the list reached very nearly a third of the length of this feature. Suffice it to say I've been busy… So I'll go through the issues in order. The most vital issue was to put the exhaust right – which necessitated a trip to a tyre and exhaust fitter in a local town to replace one of the back boxes. Having successfully put my foot through a hole in the…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS A new star-rated grading system is to be launched to help de-mystify new sustainable liquid fuels to both consumers and the historic vehicle industry. The Historic & Classic Vehicles Alliance (HCVA) aims to cover every sustainable gasoline in the UK, with the results set to be revealed before the end of the year. Sustainable liquid fuel is an umbrella phrase used to cover fuels made from reduced amounts of fossil-derived ingredients, essentially cutting down on the use of first-generation oil that's just come out of the ground. There are two main chemistry bases currently at work — bio-gasoline and e-fuels, which both involve recycling carbon from our surroundings. Sustainable fuels are key to the future of the historic sector, as…

UP FRONT NEWS AND VIEWS A longstanding technical error on the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) website is leaving motorists frustrated. Anyone with a passport issued since 2016 is unable to renew their driving licence online, forcing them to use more expensive and time consuming over the counter Post Office services. Unsuccessful users receive a message saying that their application cannot proceed because their postBrexit passport is invalid. The website advises customers to renew at a participating Post Office but that costs £21.50 – £7.50 dearer than the online fee. Only 1200 of the UK's 11,775 branches are participating. Postal applications are available at £17 plus postage, but forms have to be obtained in-branch and customers then run the risk of their passports going missing in the post. According…

TWIN TEST JAGUAR X300 v RANGE ROVER P38a The Range Rover P38a was a vast step above what had come before – it offered not only go-anywhere ability but luxury beyond that the outgoing car could hope to match. Land Rover was bullish about the new product – it believed that not only was it capable of seeing off the best that Jeep could throw its way but also that it could compete on equal terms with the Mercedes S class and Jaguar XJ. Few outside the motoring magazines had the chance to compare the two when they were new – and as they age, few enthusiasts like the idea of having two large and costly classics on the driveway. However, at Classic Jaguar we're different. These two cars have…

FROM THE CLUBHOUSE JAGUAR DRIVERS’ CLUB It's all change at the NEC this year for the Lancaster Classic Motor Show on 10-12 November because the Jaguar Drivers’ Club stand in Hall 1 has been completely redesigned. Gone are the roped-off concours finalists for Champion of Champions (which moved to Gaydon this year) and instead we will have some very exciting Jaguars on show including an XJ220 and one of the 1988 Le Mans XJR9s – possibly even the winning car. And there won't be any restrictions on the stand – you will be welcome to get up close and personal with these amazing cars, peer under the bonnets and inside the cockpits. Also on show will be this year's Champion of Champions winner – probably the best E-Type roadster you…

The Goodwood Revival meeting, held over the weekend of 8th-10th September, offered an unrivalled opportunity to view Jaguars (and lesser marques) in a period environment. Not only in action ‘on track’, but also in the paddocks and car parks. We sent our team of motorsport photographers to capture the best of the action for you. ST MARY'S TROPHY – FIRST RACE ST MARY'S TROPHY – SECOND RACE SUSSEX TROPHY FREDDIE MARCH TROPHY RAC TT…

TECHNICAL FITTING A NEW SOFT TOP The hood fitted to most convertibles is secured to the back of the vehicle and a metal folding framework. This enables it to be opened and closed with ease without having to follow a complicated routine of inserting hoops and pulling the fabric across them. It also means the hood can be watertight when up and folded down with ease. Replacing the hood fabric means detaching it from the back of the car and the hood frame. This is a relatively skilful job but not as skilful as correctly fitting a new hood, which can go horribly wrong if you don't know what you are doing. An E-type's hood is held to the framework and bodywork with staples, screws and glue, so it's quite…

Experienced motoring journalist and photographer, Paul Walton, is offering motoring enthusiasts a personalised book dedicated to their pride and joy. Paul has been responsible for many of the photographs seen in recent issues of Classic Jaguar, and is the editor of our sister title Aston Martin Driver. Auto Biography gives owners the opportunity to experience the excitement of a professional photoshoot plus a bespoke history of their car. Paul's words and photographs are then brought together in a beautifully-presented hardbound book, the perfect keepsake for any classic car owner. Prices start at £299 for a photoshoot, rising to £499 for the full Auto Biography service which includes a 11in × 8in, 22-page book (other sizes available at extra cost, all prices excl. VAT). Owners will then receive a minimum of…

The world's longest-established Jaguar dealership has closed the doors of its best-known site ahead of the electrification of the complete Jaguar range. Hatfields of Sheffield was founded by Ernest Hatfield as a Jaguar dealer 1922, and has operated its Sharrow Vale Road site since 1982. Now part of a dealership chain including 9 retail premises, Hatfields has stated that the physical point of contact for Sheffield customers will now be at its Wakefield showroom. In a letter sent to customers, manager director Gareth Williams said: “As long as there have been Jaguars, Hatfields have been selling and servicing them, and we look forward to taking care of our Jaguar clients for many more years. However, our facility in Sheffield is simply not capable of taking that leap into the future.”…

YOUR CARS XJ13 REPLICA Okay, the XJ13 is a replica (only one original was built) but the owner not only lays claim to owning – or has owned – more Jags than just about anyone else I can name, but he is also an ace on the cricket pitch and blows a mean trombone and has done so to support such luminaries as the Bolshoi Ballet and Moscow Circus when they toured Down Under. Add that to the fact that he has raced Formula 5000 single seaters on tracks as wide afield as Goodwood and Indianapolis. Then there is the small matter of the day job; running a highly successful bus company transporting children safely to school, route services and coach charter work over this beautiful part of Australia's eastern…

Built in January 1988 for the forthcoming World Sportscar Championship and usually driven by Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries, the Le Mans-winning XJR-9 (chassis J12-C-488) initially didn't have much luck, retiring from all of the season's first four races. At Jerez the car suffered from transmission failure and during the next race at Jarama while under pressure from Jean-Louis Schlesser's Sauber-Mercedes, Dumfries spun to retirement just 12 laps from the end. The car's luck didn't improve at Monza four weeks later when its massive V12 refused to fire at the start and Lammers only got the car rolling after a push from the marshals. Yet worse was to come at the same race when, following a collision with a Sauber-Mercedes, Dumfries lost control at the Curva Parabolica while making his…

JAGUAR ON TOUR 1958 JAGUAR 3.4-LITRE SALOON Did you know that according to the internet TOX 1 is an android TV box. In the interests of research I read several reviews, although was subsequently no wiser as to what its function really is. The only word I recognised was video. However, there is another, rather older and somewhat more analogue TOX 1; a 1958 Jaguar 3.4-litre saloon that resides in the vehicle collection of the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust (JDHT) and something far more suitable for the content of this comfortingly antediluvian publication! Having said that, the viewers of the digital TOX 1 may well mistake this car for the one in a period television series, where a younger ‘Inspector’ Morse drives a similarly black Jaguar on his crime solving…

BUYING GUIDE JAGUAR XJS V12 A production run of 21 years makes Jaguar's most controversial coupé also one of its most successful, with more than 115,000 cars sold worldwide during that time. But when the dramatic new XJ-S first took a bow in 1975, many onlookers doubted whether it would be such a hit. Comparisons with the outgoing E-Type were inevitable, despite British Leyland's insistence that the XJ-S was not an official replacement. Not everyone appreciated the XJ-S's styling (particularly its trailing rear buttresses), nor the fact that the only power option was Jaguar's lessthan-frugal 5.3-litre V12 at a time when the most recent energy crisis was still fresh in everyone's mind. But despite a slow start, Jaguar didn't give up on the XJ-S; and through a long-term process of…