Carole Simpson-Hadley

Congratulations, Steve..........you are hereby awarded a pebble signed by Claude, freshly picked from the causeway at Sully island, near to where our photo was taken. Reference the Austin K2/Y, well, we have, in the past, enjoyed re-runs of "Ice Cold in Alex" featuring the aforementioned John Mills (oops.....Sir Mills J), Sylvia Syms, Anthony Quayle and Harry Andrews. Filmed where it was hot and there was lots of sand, so not Penarth! Ditto opinion on the Quatermass film/s; even in MOH's boyhood years he realised how bad it was. The pits, you could say. Doh. Sad to learn of the unchivalrous behaviour; the opposite was true of (Sir) Stanley Baker, who MOH came across several times whilst, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, teaching and coaching swimming, when a relative of Sir Stanley was one of the group. Relevant, we suppose, to the forum because he was driving a Mk2 Jaguar at the time! At quite an early age, MOH also came across Mary Ure (later to become wife of the late Robert Shaw) on a Cardiff trolleybus. MOH's father asked the said Mme Ure (clearly not realising who she was) what the time was. The theatrical response which came...."time, time, what is time; time doesn't worry about you, so why should you worry about time". There was, actually, a very good reason....they were en-route to Tiger Bay to catch the White Funnel Fleet steamer to Weston-Super-Mare. Oh, and by the way, Mme Ure was later seen getting into a chauffeur driven Mk9 Jaguar at the Cardiff New Theatre......just in case somebody thinks the story isn't relevant! Happy growling, mind how you go

Whilst on the Tiger Bay topic, this (first photo) is the dock area, with the Custom House behind, as it is now............the wooden jetty supports are visible in the film, as is the Custom House. Dr Who and Torchwood fans will doubtless recognise! Photo two, with the XK, is the esplanade at Penarth, which featured in Gavin and Stacey, as did Penarth Pier (photo three) which is where the intrepid "gang" went to bingo..........."alright, leaper, how ya doin', alright".......which will mean nothing to folk who didn't watch Gavin and Stacey! The XK was great fun along the coast roads; we would have liked to travel down the M5, M50 and onwards to South Wales in the XJS but that is in with the JLR Classic recommended indie having the front suspension bushes/rack mounts, anti-roll bar links and bushes, track rod ends etc etc replaced with new, plus the front beam mount bushes, so that she is as new in that area. No polybushes, just the standard Jaguar as Mr Jaguar intended. Note : this was brought on after a Hunter's alignment check showed that instead of 3 degrees of toe-in on the front, we had 15 degrees of toe-out, hence a slightly odd feel and a bit of tyre squeal! All will be well once complete........the JLR recommended place we use is run by three ex-Jaguar Development and Testing Engineers from the E-type/XJ/XJS era, so they know what they are at. Happy growling and/or leaping

Ah well, MOH says perhaps we set the bar too high......... Picture One is at the end of the coastal lane east of Penarth (Glamorganshire) which runs to overlook Sully Island at Swanbridge................at the end of the 1959 film "Tiger Bay" the police car carrying John Mills and his very young daughter, Hayley Mills, is seen rushing along here, keeping in sight the ship which has just left Cardiff Docks carrying the fugitive. The islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm, visible in this photo, can be seen in the film of 60 years ago. Picture Two is of the church in Tiger Bay where Hayley Mills' character, Gilly, is a choir member and where she flees from the fugitive (Horst Bucholz) who later becomes a "friend".....the door behind our XK is clearly seen in the film, although in 1959 it was an old wooden door with metal straps. Apparently, much sought out by fans of the film. The film was set in the Tiger Bay part of Cardiff, much changed now since the opening of the Cardiff Bay area, although quite a number of the set locations remain. MOH clearly remembers, as a young lad, walking the tunnel beneath the bay (seen in the film), and seeing some of the filming taking place. One oddity is that the fugitive leaves his ship on arrival at Cardiff Docks, and is seen minutes later crossing a suspension bridge, whuch is actually at Newport, some 12 miles away........must have a rapid walking speed (or borrowed a Jaguar?!)

Here's one for the film buffs...... Yesterday (Wednesday October 24) we visited South Wales in Myfannwy, our X150 XK; the location of picture 1 is the end of a coastal lane which featured towards the end of a well known film, east of Penarth; picture 2 is of a location from the same film which has been,over the years, much sought out and photographed. But exactly where, and in what film. Clue : it wasn't Gavin and Stacey! Answers, on a Jaguar service book, to this thread. Don't stay awake all night wondering.

Following on from last thread about the Grand Prix Collection Jaguars at Donnington (closing November 05), entitled "Rather special bonnet badge".......Jaguar travels continue, and here are the Jaguar/Daimler offerings at this week's Bicester Heritage sale which we went to view today......yum yum, although there was another marque which also caught our eye. 1. Here's a quite nice ex-Met Police Mk2, somewhat changed in appearance from its Met days and with the addition of PAS and a VMC engine, not to mention the Coombs arches and Webasto sunroof (in place of the blue bottle and zippy headlining! 2. How about a MkV convertible to swan about, although some panelwork required, plus where to find the complete contents of a MkV boot mounted tool kit?! 3. A lovely C-type which, although billed as a replica, is, in fact, built using a genuine C-type body 4. One of only 108 TWR XJS V12 Le mans built, although we prefer the XJS (as our Phase One facelift) with the non-plastic bumpers 5 and 6. A very original one-owner-from-new Series 1 XJ6 4.2 manual.....tempting! 7 and 8. The non-Jaguar marque which was also tempting......a late 1940s Austin 16 as used several times in Foyle's War. MOH's first car was the similar but smaller version, the Austin 10......nostalgia rules OK! 9. A V8 Daimler in need of some TLC 10 and 11. A brace of Mk2s, red/black 3.4 not a standard colour scheme; BRG car very nicely presented and at a reasonable estimate, although probably because it has a non-standard 4.2 engine mated to the Moss box 12. A nice, reasonably estimated 3.8 E-type, although again, not as it left the factory...it started life as a coupe but during restoration became a drophead...nicely done, though. 13. Daimler Dart SP250 V8 showing none of the usual fibreglass issues (which is more than could be said for the nearby Lotus Elan +2 , which had more cracks than the Acropolis. 14. Hands off, not for sale........that's our Purrrdy! Viewing day at the sales is often more relaxed than the actual sale day; less folk about and the cars are unlocked. Anyway, at Bicester they do a mean toastie and hot chocolate, so yum yum again Happy growling but keep your hands in your pockets and, whatever you do, don't wink at the auctioneer ducky..................

Forgot to say.....there isn't a reduction on the £12.50 entrance fee; still worthwhile, though, to savour some good F1 history Enjoy

Now if you happen to sport a "bonnet" badge of this type then you are, indeed, a lucky person.................only to be found on the Formula One racers carrying the Jaguar name in the days of Eddie Irvine etc; long before Formula E etc! Photo taken at the Donnington Circuit Grand Prix Collection on Wednesday October 17 and, sadly, for those of you who haven't been.....time is running out as the entire Grand Prix Collection (including the Military Vehicle side) is closing down on November 05. The cafe and shop are already gone, and, on the day we attended, the display cabinets were either empty or in the process of being emptied. Most of the cars are still there, including the Vanwall Collection, many McLarens and Force India, and, of course, the Jaguar F1 cars........two in team colours and one painted to show the high and low pressure air areas - green for low and red for high, and everything in between. Feast your eyes, but remember there's not long to go! Meanwhile, our Jaguars will continue to sport the correct bonnet badges........drat the CCTV!!

Just to be clear, this isn't a restored D-type from the '50s. This is one of the "continuation" run of 25 D-types newly created at JLR Classic. The original intention of Jaguar was to build 100 D-types but only 75 were completed. Thus the "new" 25 fulfil the original intention, built in either short or long-nose form. The one pictured is long-nose. This is the third "continuation" production. The first was the missing 6 Lightweight E-types built in 2014/15, followed by the 9 XK SS which, in original form, were destroyed in the Browns Lane fire of February 1957. We can but dream!!

Thankyou Steve! The gent in the D-type is actually the engineer i-c, Kev Riches, a font of knowledge but very friendly. MOH, as always, was in the shadows.............. We are not sure about the block and tackle factory option but did witness the factory option bonnet nose protector masquerading as a kneeling pad....see additional photo. The second additional photo is of the electrics nerve centre of the D-type, from the days when things were repairable and OBD readers were subscribers to 'Otspur Beano and Dandy. Ref the Eventer, we take your point.......full payload might be one hamster, with a possible stretch to a guinea pig. Answer to question "why?"......probably because you can. But what a great experience; sadly, D-type and XJ220 are but a pipe dream, particularly when you consider that the 2 year service on a XJ220 includes new clutch and all engine belts, at a cost of circa £6K. And one for yourself, guv. Continue to enjoy your Black Bess but do consider a visit to JLR Classic if you get an opportunity; you will not be disappointed.

Yes, that's right.......Saturday last (September 15) gave us the privilege of lining up our XJS "Purrrdy" alongside the D-type at JLR Classic at Ryton; what a day to remember! The occasion was a special day set up by the XJS Cabriolet Club whereby all various XJS club members were invited along; similar to the Jaguar Breakfast Club "XJ at 50" event two weeks previously (subject of another thread under Jaguar Lounge) when 200+ XJs lined up at JLR Classic, with a further 140+ various Jaguars across the road at SVO. There were some interesting and rare examples of the XJS, including a Lister, a Le mans Edition, and an Eventer estate. The usual selection of JLR Classic staff were on hand, as always happy to discuss the various projects underway (XK SS, D-type, E-type Reborn, XJ220, LR and RR Reborn etc). They are all a credit to their profession. As always, the JLR Collection was also available for viewing. One of the senior project engineering gents (as seen on the TV series about recreating the XK SS on C4) kindly decided to bring the D-type around to the front (accompanied by some beautiful sounds from the XK power unit fed by triple Webers) as a photo opportunity............enough said. Spot the difference in the first photo! Wanda the mascot does, of course, have to have the last word in the last photo. The mascot in our XK is named Felixstowe, on account of his name was Felix but he stowed away. Also, he likes Suffolk. As Ryton is not in Suffolk, he stayed at home for this event. Oh dear. Pass the sedatives.

Absolutely right, Graham. Our XK, and all others, don't have that function; only the S-type. MOH finds that the previously mentioned process works perfectly, also in our XJS which is just as low! Don't strain that knee by using it as a lever or support. Good luck

Well said R2E........MOH has checked the shed and garages for removed redacteds, but didn't find any. It could be the case,of course, that Jaguar, in cohorts with NHS, have superseded the part number. With regards to the "little jump".......is the forum redacting programme on a weekend off??!! Happy getting in and out P.S. We do find the S-type easiest, with the auto seat movement. Perhaps, as you seem quite handy, you could fit a rise and recline chair?

As an additional comment, there were over 200 XJs at JLR, plus 140+ other Jaguars, from early XKs through E-types etc etc to F-types, S-types and so on, on the SVO car park across the road from JLR Classic......what a gathering! Take a look on You-tube.......the "Moves Like Jaguar" site where there is also coverage of the Jags at the Castle event at Warwick Castle. Next outing is again to JLR Classic, tomorrow (Saturday September 15), which is a special XJS event, ticketed, on behalf of XJS Clubs. Purrrdy is ready to roll!

Hi Graham As MOH would say...ditto. We have a '07 X150 XK and, last June, on our way from the Midlands to Haynes Museum, MOH, whilst alighting from the XK, suffered a desperate collapse of the left knee which resulted in me having to drive home, once, of course, we had managed to get him into the passenger seat. (Getting him out again was no mean feat). Turned out to be a bucket tear in the left knee which required surgery; all is now well, although full kneeling flexion is not advisable. MOH had commented that, on occasions, his left knee felt a little strained in the XK. The injury occurred whilst, as you put it, twisting the knee to alight from the car. Consequently, getting in and out of any of our Jaguars...the XK, the XJS, or the S-type is now a case of swivel round so as to be sitting facing the outside, thence stand upright. Getting in is a reverse of that process. We wish you well with the problem. Suffice to say, the Jaguar grin was temporarily absent, although, after surgery, we did recreate our trip to Haynes and the Jurassic Coast, and our enjoyment of various Jaguar events and ownership is undiminished, if carried out a little more carefully. Happy growling

Fortunately, Steve, Claude is having issues with his GPS and was last seen explaining why wisps of smoke were visible from the local shopping centre which once hosted Maplins, Comet, BHS, Toys R Us etc., all of which have gone up in smoke, possibly due to unauthorised marketing of Welsh memorabilia. Claude enjoyed visiting as he commented that the floor assistants usually had "dragon breath", particularly on a Monday morning. As a result of the aforesaid GPS issues, he may have by-passed your abode, although Black Bess may well appear on his dashcam footage. Meanwhile, reference the "afterlife ushers", we have recently gone quiet on the forum due, in equal measures, to spending our time spoodling Purrrdy (our XJS) and also watching our box set of "In Loving Memory" to see if we could pick up any tips. Finally, much agreement reference the classic credentials of the S-type. Our '07 run-out in Seafrost with Barley trim is an (almost) daily driver but receives as much attention from us as the XJS and X150.

Here are some more photos taken at the JLR Classic Works on the occasion of the 50 Years of the XJ event, put on by Jaguar Breakfast Club. Enjoy.

Having had a chat with MOH, who for some years had a four-wheeled car trailer which carried various vintage/veteran/modern classics, always pulled by a Range Rover 3.9 V8 Vogue, we concur entirely with Leo........there is a lot more to it than towing weight and the overhang aspect is crucial. MOH never once had a tail-snake; he once was offered loan of an Opel Senator to pull the loaded trailer (Spridget on board) whilst the RR was in dock and politely declined.......he considered the set up an accident waiting to happen. Looks like you have been very wise, Graham.......too much to lose and it is never pleasant running round the motorway picking up your toothbrush and evening snacks!

Agreed it is well worth a visit, Joe. We have been a total of four times, once right back at the start of public access when we went on only the second ever guided tour, and three times with the JBC. However, since your visit in May the protocols have changed and, although you are allowed freedom to wander at will, there are security at the doors to the workshop and collection who place your 'phone/camera in a sealed plastic bag. You can still use the 'phone as a 'phone, but the camera won't see through the opaquish plastic. Our vote this time was the "as found" Mk V with a lovely patina and ripe for a not too difficult restoration. The pristine MkV Convertible next door to it looks grand, but alas has no engine. Next visit for us is the XJS Club do later in September when, no doubt, there will be some changes to see. As always, happy growling

Saturday September 01 saw a special event, organised by Jaguar Breakfast Club, take place at JLR Classic Works at Ryton.........to celebrate 50 years of the Jaguar XJ. And what an excellent event it was. The entire JLR Classic car park was given over to XJs of all sorts, split into sections for Series 1 and 2, XJ40, X300 thro' X308, the current XJ, a small number of XJS, and even a number of XJ220. One lucky couple came armed with their XJ220 and a XJ13 "Copycat" which sounded delightful with its very rorty V12 burbling away.....lucky for some!! The entire JLR wokshop plus the Collection was open for wandering around (no photos in the workshop.....naughty, naughty if you did!) and the event lasted some 7 odd hours. There were entertaining talks from Nigel Thorley (well known Jaguar historian & author), Callum Mckechnie from Jaguar Classic Parts, and Norman Dewys, Jaguar's Chief development Engineer and Tester during the 1950s/60s and into the 70s. Anybody who had a Jaguar which wasn't a XJ (even the Mk2s etc) was relegated to the SVO car park which provided another show all on its own! We were delighted to take our newly acquired XJS "Purrrdy" along to take part, and a good time was had by all. Great, also, to be able to mingle and chat with some of the JLR technicians, many of whom were remembered from the TV programme about the XK SS reborn and similar. Here are some photos, including our Purrrdy at the main doorway, and a very delectable pink XJ Series Two.....believe it or not, a standard colour back in the day. The last photo shows that when we got home the butler had closed the gates (never mind, Cubist and R2E, Claude came to the rescue with the spare key which is always artfully concealed about his person. Isn't it. Weren't we. Don't you).

Hi Nigel (and fellow XJS owner!) Solvol Autosol is, indeed, good for medium to heavy tarnish, although the bottom line is that to do any good with rust you have to be able to make contact with the affected area, clearly not easy on wires. We don't know of any spray solutions that will do the job without contact. Another method is to rub aluminium foil over the affected area, believe it or not. The aluminium part of the foil is harder than the ferric oxide, although, again, you need to be able to make contact with the affected area. We take it that the wires you have are of the hub bolted type rather than centre spinner, in which case you could consider going back to the original lattice alloys which look rather smart and are far easier to maintain. All a matter of personal choice really. The lattice are no longer available new, but there are several places that will supply refurbished at a reasonable price. Good luck and happy growling

Seems a while since Purrrdy, our 92MY XJS Phase One Facelift 4.0 litre, was first introduced to the JOC Forum, having come to us from the auction sale at the Practical Classics Restoration Show at the NEC in early April. At last, hoorah, we have pretty much got to where we want to be with her, just in time for the Jaguar Breakfast Club XJ50 "do" at JLR Classic. We have learnt a lot about the XJS over the past 5 months, not least the fun to be had sourcing parts......such as lower front panel from Florida, for example, not to mention understanding the idiosyncrasies of Jaguar part number supercession, and how small items changed over different VIN ranges........pass the headache pills! We decided not to go down the XJS Reborn road of nut and bolt resto; firstly, she didn't need it, and secondly, the wallet didn't need it either. We confined ourselves to those jobs that needed doing, a great deal of elbow grease and time with the Autoglym products etc., with originality being the order of the day. The only variation from the latter was fitting of a quad headlight conversion, partly because one of our reflectors was a little dull, and partly because the original "insect eye" units are not known for great illumination. So it was that one rear quarter bumper was removed for rechroming (great fun removing the rubber finisher and rebonding it afterwards); replacement of lower front panel behind the bumper....this panel is invariably in fair degrading to rubbish condition on any XJS; new windscreen due to milkiness on one corner (fortunately, we found an ex-Jaguar rectification fellow who had "removed and replaced more XJS windscreens during the production years than enough"........handy when you consider that the aluminium brightwork is no longer available and doesn't take kindly to anything other than very careful treatment); new shock absorber top bushes and mounts.....usual XJS problem; and a myriad of small but time consuming items which included making sense of the Jaguar wiring diagrams (repeat thanks to joe.dot.com for coming up with the link to some accurate diagrams). Purrrdy lives in the garage but, for the moment, without her own Carcoon whilst Myfannwy (our X150 XK) who does live in a Carcoon says "yah boo sucks , I'm very cosy, thankyou". Acknowledgements are due to SNG Barratt for patience whilst we sourced our parts, Worcester Classic Cars who carried out the items which we couldn't manage, leaving us with time to tackle the many jobs which we did accomplish, KWE XJS Reborn for some helpful advice, and the good 'ole British weather which actually stayed dry each time we had a "work day", meaning Purrdy hasn't got wet with us yet. Any interchange of XJS views more than welcome........happy growling!

Good morning Nigel We have had much fun sourcing parts for our 92MY Phase One facelift. If you are happy to consider a used item from the US....... https://www.motorcarsltd.com/used-dac3152.html We have used Paul's Jaguar in Florida several times but don't have experience of Motorcars Ltd. You could also try Andy at Just XJS (located at Tutbury, Near Burton-on-Trent). Good luck

And then some! Ref another thread which we started concerning the main beam headlight issue on our 92MY 4.0 XJS Phase 1 facelift...............we found your post from sometime back and the relevant docs are invaluable. The XJS Help item is on the XJS Club members area but we weren't having much luck tracing down the correct Jaguar info, as contained in the pdf for which you provided the link. The Jaguar service manual (of which we have a hard copy) is full of inaccuracies! Just goes to prove the value of searching back through the forum, time well spent! Many thanks, Joe; we hope to have Purrrdy (our XJS) ready for the September Breakfast Club meet at JLR Classic, and the XJS Club do at the same venue 2 weeks later.

Good news, Nick...............yes, MOH and I are definite converts, so glad to have been of assistance. Don't forget that should the amber DPF FULL warning pop up at some future time, a 15/20 minute trip using the J-gate for manual gear selection ,keeping the revs up around 2500/3000 or so, will result in a regeneration and the DPF warning will disappear. You do have to switch off for a short while after the aforesaid trip, whereupon at restart the system will reset. Onwards and upwards, and, as always, happy growling

Good morning Ron, what a surprise that you got in first!!!! Reference the quote above................aw, you'll have to do better than that. Knowing that you are of a musical bent, the obscure reference has to be a recall from your YOUNGer days............ Meanwhile, we are still puzzling over the headlight issue, although we have discovered that the Hella relays sat on a bank of 5 on the N/S inner wing are known to not be resistant to moisture; we shall change each one in turn to later Jag/Barratt modified and see what that produces. Ably assisted, of course, by Claude with his full set of King Richard spanners (note deference to the moderator). As we wade through the wiring diagram, we remind ourselves that there is always hope in a hopeless world and we can usually iron out the rough spots.............further obscure reference. Pay attention at the back.