60th anniversary of the Mk2

[cass3958]

I am staying over Friday night at the Travelodge so will already be at the meeting place.
The Ryton doors open from 0900 until 1600 and Ryton is 12 minutes down the road from the Travelodge.
Why not meet up for 0900 in the Travelodge/Mcdonalds car park, that will give those travelling time in the morning to get there without starting out at stupid O'clock and by the time we have all gathered together we can get up to the show between 9030 and 1000. If you arrive a little early say 0830 then the Coffees are on me in the Mcdonalds.
I am flexible on the day really as I will already be there and it is you guys who are travelling.

[Orlando St.R]

Why not meet up for 0900 in the Travelodge/Mcdonalds car park?

Sounds good to me.

[NigelW]

Good timing as I have to leave at 6am and this will give a steady drive as opposed to thrashing it up the M1.

[deelcee]

due to health reasons i wont be able to attend on saturday
i hope you all have a great day

[cass3958]

due to health reasons i wont be able to attend on saturday
i hope you all have a great day

Sorry to hear that. We will get some good photos for you so you will not miss out too much. Get well soon.

[deelcee]

thanks Cass
look forward to the photos

[cass3958]

Well I have to say I was a little disappointed with the organisation and attendance (not from the Forum I add) of the 60th Anniversary of the Mk2 Jaguar at Ryton on Saturday but what a set up they have there. I would go again and again and again to see that place.

First of all the turnout of Mk2 Jaguars was about at the most 40. There were only 6 S Type Jaguars of which five were from the forum, Myself, Nigel, Orlando, Vaultsman and JCS then a sixth S type that had driven over with some Mk2s from Switzerland. The rest of the cars Ignored as they seemed to be a collection of company cars with a Jaguar badge on and the occasional F Type whose owners had something sticking out of their foreheads as every time one drove away it was done at maximum RPM until they were out of ear shot which was about the outskirts of London.

Back to the pointy end. We all met up at the Travelodge safely and on time apart from JCS who went direct. It allowed us to get acquainted and look over each of our cars, point out all the faults and differences and then drive in convoy down to Ryton. The organisation was poor and although they had said all the S Types would be allocated an area to themselves, once the five of us had parked up next to each other the next car that came in, a very nice XK120 was parked up beside us leaving no room for anymore S Types. When JCS arrived he had to park 50 metres away in another row. The Swiss S type was even further away.

Now the best part. Ryton is the Jaguar Landrover jewel. This is where in an area about the size of three football pitches they make the additional XKSS cars, the additional D Type Jaguars and the Reborn E type Jaguars. They also restore the Jaguar XJ220 for customers and have a large area for building new defender 90 LandRovers and restoring original RangeRovers. They also have a service area where you can send your Jaguar to be services at a cheaper rate than a main dealer. There was just too much to explain here, it was mind blowing.

Then to cap it off you walk in to another room at the back of the hall where there were 25 rows of car ramps on either side each with a classic cars on each. Impressive yes but these 25 rows of hydraulic ramps were two high and four deep on both sides. In this area I estimate 200 cars, then off to the side were at least another 20 rows of ramps four deep full again with cars. Too many to mention here and there were no signs or labels depicting what the cars were so it was just a case of walking along the rows peering in to the shadows as far as you could see to guess what was in there. I personally saw four Jaguar XJ220s, five Mk10s numerous Mk2s, XJ6s and XJ12s, There were Mk7,8s and 9s stacked high. A collection of Mk4s and 5s some hard tops and some soft. Jaguar SS sports cars. Some experimental cars and prototypes. There was E Type after E Type. There was the Daimler version of the Jaguar XJS with a different designed rear window and a Targa top called a DoubleSix. There were other makes as well. We saw Rolls Royces and Bentleys all along the back row. There were Mini Cooper “S”s lined up. An original Fiat Abarth 500, a very rare 1947 Duncan bodied Alvis TA14. I even saw two Austin Allegros in the lineup. 50 Plus LandRover and RangeRovers from the very first built to modern day.

Unbelieveable. We could not even see all the cars as the top rows three and four back to us could not be seen, obscured by the cars in front and to the sides of them and only tiny glimpses gave a clue that they were there but not what they were. I have explained all this in words as Photography was not allowed. All cameras were taken from us at the door. All mobile phones were sealed in tamper proof bags and could not be used.
Back in to the main hall and th staff were amazing. I mean what a job. The work stations which were about 20 foot by 20 foot each had a single car in. Each car was on a purpose built jig. The engines if not fitted were sat on a jig. In most car workshops when you finished work you would need to wash your hands. Not here. You washed your hands before you went anywhere near your work station. The staff were amazing and answered every question you threw at them.

The XKss cars being built and the “D” Types are brand new cars. No second hand parts here. They are being built using the missing chassis numbers from the Jaguar records. Each car although technically a replica (a hotly debated subject) is brand new built to the original designs from the 1940s and 50s. I think they were making 16 XKss and a similar number of “D” Types. As soon as they were announced all were sold within a day. An XKss is sold for £1.4 Million and a “D” Type was £1.7 million. Some people have too much money. These cars are not even road legal in the UK. I asked one of the staff about getting the cars road legal as having built Kit Cars in the UK I know a little about the stringent laws and tests new cars have to go through to get a registration plate for the UK roads. A 1950s car would not be able to pass these tests due to noise levels, emissions, design faults like straight steering columns with no ability to collapse, sharp corners, different materials used, light heights and designs, seat belts fixings and sharp objects like old switches in the cockpit. A lot of these original design features would just no longer be allowed on the road so they are not road legal in the UK. £1.7 million and you are not even allowed to drive it to the shops. We were told a story of one owner who paid his £1,4 million got his XKss delivered and then sent it back to Ryton and asked for it to be made road Legal, to pass what is known as the IVA. (Individual vehicle Approval) They refused to he employed another company to do the work for him. Our staff member stated that this company did £500,000 worth of damage to the car altering things so it could go on the road. New engine for emissions. Carb changes, Power bulges in the bonnet to accommodate the new engine, New exhaust to make it quieter. Wheels, switches, seat belts and so on. Once the work was done the owner was given not a new plate bute in the UK what we call a “Q” plate meaning the car is made of not new parts and parts whose age cannot be identified. In other words a Kit car replica. The owner once the car was on the road with his new “Q” plate immediately sent it back to Ryton where they are spending a further £500,000 on the car putting the car back to its original specifications and righting all the wrongs this other company did to make it road legal. The stupid thing with this IVA rule we have in the UK is once you have passed the test you can then alter the car as much as you want, so it is being put back to its original state. This owner has now paid £2.4 million for hi XKss and to make it road legal but if he turned up at a show you would take one look at the registration number starting with “Q” and obviously think this was a £30,000 replica made of fiberglass.

More money than sense some people.

More stories and pictures of our cars together outside to come but right now the wife is dragging me out to meet some friends.

[NigelW]

Thanks Rob for setting the scene of the day, not more I can add to the description of the event, I'm sure others can add to this but to echo Rob's words "unbelievable" inside of the building.

I traveled up there with two friends in the car one being Glen who has given me untold hours of help removing and refitting heavy items like engines and axles and is a master at fabricating metal items, also accompanied by the latest member of our Register - Glenn who has recently acquired an S Type but felt it wasn't prudent to bring it as it's yet untried on long trips

My own experience of the trip in my car was not with out indecent with the ignition warning light glowing dimly and a slight discharge of the ammeter on the way up there, no problem on the way home - time to replace the alternator. Checking under the bonnet outside the Travelodge for lose wiring it became apparent that something was amiss with the head gasket as there were streaks of dried coolant running down the block behind the exhaust manifolds, with very little coolant loss in the rad it wasn't enough to stop us. Another job on the list to sort out. Below are some of my photos in no particular order.

[NigelW]

More Photos.

[JCS]

Thanks Cass for the write up, which covered the event nicely and to Nigel (I don’t think we met) for the image of my Carmen Red S type.

I did not arrange to meet you all prior to the event because I had to make sure my wife’s carers had arrived before leaving home and I did not want to be holding anyone back waiting for me. In the event all parking spaces had been taken when my grandson and I arrived, but later we were able to obtain a space albeit not with the group.


Cass..... my car chassis IB 4722 DN is listed on the register, but David inadvertently listed it as an automatic !!
It has mostly been rebuilt from bare metal having been placed on a split pole for spraying by others, however I have just completed a seat change and seat re-trim in Ivory with red stitching and piping. Just before that I completed a part engine rebuild with new pistons, chains, gears, B/E bearings, valves, guides, inlet seal conversion, high torque starter motor, overhaul of all motors including dynamo and much more etc,etc. Presently I am tracking down oil leaks mainly on the gearbox and axle. I will rebuild and fit a new crown wheel and pinion set, probably this next Winter and cure what axle noise/ leaks now exists.

Thank you all once again.

Norman (JCS)

Peterborough, England
Chassis IB 4722 DN