Carole Simpson-Hadley

Come on folks, let's hear/read views reference the London Charges

Likewise, very careful checking (and double checking) revealed : Our '07 2.7D S-type is liable for Congestion Charge (CC) and T-Charge (TC); when the Ultra Low Emission Charge comes in, also liable for that Our '98 3.2 XJ8 is likewise liable for all three Amazingly, our '07 XK 4.2 V8 is only liable for CC, not TC and, neither, when it comes in, ULEC I spoke with a person who is involved with TFL who stated quite clearly that if the checker says you are liable, you are liable; and vice versa. Both significant other and myself have blue badges which exempts us from CC and TC, but when ULEC comes in, the exemption will not apply to ULEC. Confused?.....you will be. Bottom line is that once the ULEC comes in, if you have no exemptions and a non-compliant vehicle, it will cost you £35 a day to sit in the London traffic. That is, until the charges are increased....wonder how long that will take. We are not particularly anti or pro-green, but imagine the day when we all visit Trooping of the Colour astride a polar bear whilst the Red Arrows dump coloured kerosene all over us!

Spot on. No more need be said.

Claude is very in favour of anything meaty, is looking forward to doing some bartering and notes that he always brings his own chargrill apparatus.........stick it on his tail and he'll just breathe on it. He is also very partial to a packet of humbugs (how did you know) or a tin of Fishermans Friends. How silly are we?! We have just come back from a "Celtic Women" concert in Nottingham and partook of very hot Cajun Chicken Pasta in TGIF beforehand. We have bought the doggy bag back for Claude as a reward for looking after the Jaguars whilst we were out. The S performed very well throughout the various M1/M42/M6 closures and enjoyed the sights of various B roads which we had to take to in order to circumnavigate the heavies who were doing a very good impression of NY Broadway at theatre turn-out time. Groan. We did enter a request at the Celtic Women concert but for some reason O'Rafferty's motor car (or O'Rafferty's Jaguar) was not deemed suitable. Time for bed said Zebedee

I do know that the Invader estate is now in France. Perhaps Ms B Tyler bought it and got lost? Groan. Don't wish to cause concern, but we did notice Claude studying Google maps and streetview last night, and with a pack of hot chilli sandwiches under his left wing. Even managed to drag himself away from his box set of "Gavin & Stacey" DVDs. Looking forward to Stoneleigh where we might pick up some useful bits and pieces for the XJ8, and interesting to look over the cars for sale, just in case. What has just come up on a certain vintage & classic vehicle sale at Leominster at the end of the month would be intriguing......a '63 Wolseley 6/110 barn find, once Met Police and for sometime used as a historic rally car. Plenty of work there, as can be seen from the photos; alas, not a Jaguar so we'll have a gander and carry on eyeing up the Mk2s!! is coming

Good morning Steve Firstly, ref the e-mail, none taken with regard to mispronouncispelling my name. I get called all sorts of things, usually a little more polite than what my partner's KV6 was called. With regard to the 4 Gilberns......the first was a Mk111 Invader with a Broadspeed Bullitt V6 Essex lump.....went like sheep poo off a farmer's foot. Next was an Invader Estate (one of 68) called Glyndwyr which required much restoration including removal of "aftermarket" fibreglass rear fins a la Cadillac (!). Third was another Invader Mk111 named Gilly once owned by a jeweller and all the chrome was gold-plated, and the fourth was a Mk11. Another came along which was a GT (MGA 1600 engine) aka the flying flea. I became quite expert at spotting fibreglass issues! I was once show secretary for the Gilbern Club (hence the black pointy hat at Classic car Show stands). Couldn't part with any of them, and as I had the storage space, just kept them!! I did have my eye on the T11 but it was early days and they were still in the prototype stage. The moulds were found in the factory when Gilbern went bump, but nothing became of plans to proceed and it all went pear-shaped. Sadly, my husband of the time, during our divorce, managed to sell/dispose of them all out from under me, plus my MG Midget, and I was left with a k.......d old BL Metro. He (the ex-husband) was later seen being pursued into the Welsh Hills by a very angry dragon named Claude,intent on revenge. He left this mortal coil some time ago (the ex-husband, not Claude!). So I (and my partner) have gone from Dragons to Pussycats. Must say the Jaguars are more in-keeping with our slightly advancing years, although it was quite amusing recently, when we visited the Jaguar Reborn and Classic Collection, that we spied a Gilbern on the storage racks and had to explain to the guide exactly what it was, as he had no idea. Oops. Meanwhile, we are looking forward to good weather on Sunday when we can get the XK out of the Carcoon and go for a tootle to the Restoration Show at Stoneleigh. Pass the Welsh cakes

Da iawn, Peter, da iawn. (Welsh for well done, Peter, very good). It is, indeed, annoying when we pay our dues and then some inconsiderate s....e carries on like that, with a strange sort of entitlement. At the moment we are paying VED and insurance on our 3 Jaguars (the XK, the S, and the XJ V8) plus the Citroen "lorry" Grand Picassa, but at least we have nothing to fear from the NPR cameras and/or the DVLA tow/lift truck!! Onwards and upwards

Gadzooks, as they used to say in Tudor England, or "Pam mae'r defaid honno'n fy ngwylio" as they used to say in Tudor Wales....look it up! We have Myfannwy............our '07 9K mls XK X150; Daffers..........our '07 S-type (Daphne -very Jam and Jerusalem); Ruby (our '98 XJ8 X305) My partner once had Grommit.....Range Rover Vogue 3.9EFI and Wallace.......1950 Wolseley 6/80, at the same time. No, we didn't have a Singer named Shaun (after Shaun the Sheep.....leave it). I also once had 4 Gilberns at the same time, one of which was, imaginatively, named Gilly. My partner also once had a Rover 825 KV6 with various assorted (as was usual for the K-series) cooling issues....that was called all sorts of things, mostly unprintable. Pass the scones, vicar. We should like to add a Mk2 to the stable....probably would be called "blank cheque". There's lovely

Hello Martyn What a good choice of future ownership! My partner says that the particular issues to look out for in the earlier V8s are : 1. The power units had Nikasil cylinder liners which could fail resulting in lack of compression and eventual engine failure. More of an issue pre 2000 when high sulphur content petrol was about. There is a thread on another forum (not the JOC) which we recall which went into great detail and gave vin numbers/engine nos which could be affected. 2. Timing chain tensioners and timing gear. Originally the tensioners were plastic and could wear prematurely, causing the chain to jump a cog. This would result in erratic/rough running. Jump two cogs and oops, one wrecked engine. Proof should be looked for that the tensioners/chain etc have been replaced with later metal type tensioners. Give away is a clatter when starting from cold. 3. The throttle body was known to fail on earlier models, thus you could be sailing along at 60 or so mph and suddenly find you are at idle....not good on the motorway!! If you can find the aforementioned forum thread, there is a really in-depth article covering all of the above (we recall it may have been written about the XJ8, but the power unit is the same). Try entering "Jaguar X308 buying guide" in Google and have a good look through the results. It was a really in-depth item. We have just bought a XJ8 V8 to go with our XK X150 and late S-type and, happily, the engine is a non-Nikasil unit , the bill for replacement of timing chain and tensioners (at 51K miles) is present (some £900+), and the throttle unit likewise. The car has covered just 65K miles since new in 1998. Good luck with your search, and meanwhile we should agree wholeheartedly with Paul's comment about the sills. As always, happy growling

Hi Paul My partner says he had a '65 S back in the 1970s and recalls that the collar, when removed, did not mean you could remove the lock/latch. As Ron says, you do need to get inside and undo the screws securing the latch from inside. The collar simply ensures a flush fit and helps to hold the lock barrel tight. Otherwise, it would be very easy to access the glove locker even when the latch is locked. Hope this helps Happy growling and enjoy your early S

Thinking back to the Haynes Classic Runs in the 1990s and early 2000s, significant other says "are there any other JOC folk out there who partook?" They really were great fun, attracted quite an audience, and were well organised. The founder of Haynes Manuals, and hence the museum, John Haynes, was usually in attendance, handing out comemmorative plaques and cups etc., it would be interesting to hear of any memoirs. Significant other well remembers the SU electric fuel pump suffering from vapour lock half way through the driving test at the Fleet Air Arm Museum at Yeovilton; great embarassment, and it is held for posterity on the VHS recording which was available, of each event, and which still gets played from time to time. A study in nonchalance!! As always, happy growling

Everyone has their favourite, but a little surprised that the Mk2 isn't on the list! Never mind, whilst everybody is falling over their Paddy Hopkirk leather and string driving gloves after the E-type, we'll make off with a XJ220. Happy growling as always

Much travelling then, Ron. Significant other has, likewise, been all over the shop and so is now quite content to poodle along the highways and byways of his native Wales, South and South-West England and Northumberland and the Borders. Either in the XK or the S, whichever takes our fancy. He says having spent time in most parts of the USA, including Alaska, Canada and the Northern Territories, Singapore, Oz, New Zealand, various unmentionable parts of places you really would not want to go on holiday to, plus an overland trek from UK to the Greek islands, nearer home ticks the boxes now! Some grand (and not so grand) experiences though. A trip across Europe, or down to the Lanquedoc-Rousillon region of Southern France might be interesting in the XK, but we should be putting many miles on the clock then.....always a trade-off as she is an '07 and now has covered just 9K miles. Hence the regular visits to the classics auctions where we might pick up something delectable that has some miles under its belt. Sure that you are still enjoying the S .......we went to the Leominster sale in our S on Wednesday and the SW Worcestershire/Herefordshire B roads were almost as much fun in the S as in the XK, although the XK does, of course, have the upperhand due to the CAT suspension. We haven't been brave enough to switch off that and the traction control yet.......we like to view the scenery rather than be in it. Significant other says he might not be so "quick with the flick" now as he was in his Production Car racing days!! Evening all. Broadchurch is available as a DVD box set, but we think that several trips out in your S would probably take precedence??! As always, happy growling

Nice one, Ron!! We are sure you realise, but just in case.......Broadchurch was the title of a 3 series run of a crime mystery/drama which was set in the fictional seaside town of Broadchurch and had amongst its cast David Tennant, Olivia Colman and Jodie Whittaker (two Dr Whos in there!). It was mainly filmed in West Bay on the Jurassic Coast (near Bridport), Clevedon and Portishead. The locations used in West bay are easily identifiable although the cliff shots have changed somewhat recently, and since filming, due to a major rock fall which you can make out in our photo. We did fancy we could see Corbyn J Mr bobbing out to sea in a beautiful pea-green boat, possibly Brighton-bound, but quickly woke up and realised it was a M&S shopping bag going out on the ebb tide. We have, also, dropped a note to Trinity House in case of the failure of Portland Bill lighthouse, informing them that Mr R2E would likely park his LED-lighted S-type on the waters edge for a small consideration. Happy growling

They have, indeed, increased the size of the buildings, Trevor. As recently as a few years ago. The old main halls, including the "red hall" are still in place, whilst the old cafe and shop area is now the Supercar section (including the XJ220) and a couple of small side halls have been added by the old cafe area, including one devoted to the Mini, with a rather clever virtual paint your own Mini item. The Duesenberg still sits in pride of place on the raised dias. There is a nice new foyer area with a good cafe, much enlarged shop and additional exhibition hall off the red hall. Plans are, apparently, afoot to further extend, whilst the restoration and engineering area is way up the back of the site; the test track is still there and used, although my partner says that by the time you have got rolling it's time to stop again if you are doing just one lap......at least that's how it felt in the Wolseley back in the '90s! There is no denying, though, that this is mostly a true museum, unlike the Jaguar Collection at Gaydon which is very much a working collection (except, of course, for the concept cars). Both very much worth a visit (or two, or three!! Well, ok, we have annual passes (via Gift Aid) for both......definitely good value). Incidentally, back to the photos......the one of the Jurassic coast at West Bay includes the white chalet house on the left which doubled as D.I. Hardy's home in the final series of Broadchurch The Helyar Arms Hotel in East Coker (near Yeovil) provided a warm and friendly hostelry with ample parking; they must have thought they were hosting a Classic car event as the XK got a valeting each evening! As always, happy growling

Ouch, Peter. That seems a reasonable quote, hope there's a tone match. With regard to the Minis......an early (starter on floor) model (strangely enough, in red) went for £27K at a recent Classics sale. It didn't have an "As driven by Peter round the works" certificate, but was quite cute. Beautiful unmolested condition but who would have thought! Us, we'd rather spend our pennies on a good Mk2!

Yes, we particularly liked the Mk2 which, somehow, we feel looks better with the slimline bumpers than with the original thicker "fluted" bumpers (as on the MkIX pictured). Personal taste, of course, and the white car shown is actually a 340......the "run-out" version of the Mk2. The fitting of the slimline bumpers necessitated moving the horns (originally domed windtone) from behind the bumper to inside the engine bay, where flat horns were used which don't have the same tone as the originally fitted items. Back in the 1990s and early 2000s Haynes used to do Classic Runs ...such as The Spring Classic and Autumn Leaves. Significant other used to partake in his 1950 Wolseley 6/80 and says they were great fun. One started at Castle Combe circuit where 6 laps in the Wolseley, mixing it with Healey 3000s, E-types, Mini-Coopers and 100E Anglias, for example, was hairy, to say the least! Another started at Haynes Museum and went right across Southern England via Porchester etc, ending up at Goodwood, where a good time was had by all. B long way back to the Midlands though! One change in the museum since those days is that, back then, it was claimed that most of the exhibits were run and came out into the big world now and then. Now, sadly, apart from some exceptions such as the Bentleys (which go out for wedding hire etc) and some others, the exhibits are, apparently, "embalmed" with regard to fluids , batteries are removed (H&S, of course) and only get pushed around if the exhibition halls are being changed around. We thought of offering to run up the various Jaguars from time to time, and take them for a ride around the Somerset/Dorset countryside, but thought we might get escorted from the premises so decided to behave ourselves and enjoy the XK instead. Attending a place such as this is also helpful with regard to pointers when looking at older vehicles in the Classic Sales.........for example, at a recent sale it was alarming to note a "restored" Mk2 already showing signs of inferior workmanship at the bottom of the front wing where it met the A-post and sill........and what the eye can't see etc etc!! As always, happy growling, pass the wet wipes.

Thought it time to add a few pics of the delectable Jaguars at Haynes Motor Museum, near Yeovil. A couple of weeks ago the XK had a weeks outing to Somerset and Dorset, partly to take in the Haynes Museum (where we managed to spend 8 hours one day, and a further 3 hours another day), and partly to take in the Jurassic Coast around Bridport and West Bay (where we could pretend to be players in Broadchurch, although not very convincingly!, also Portland Bill etc. The A and B roads in the area were a delight for the XK to stretch her legs, although we still prefer our more local A and B stretches in the Welsh Marches/Herefordshire & Worcestershire etc. Much dribbling was done whilst viewing some of the Haynes Collection, and we should have been delighted to have left the area with one of the Jaguars.....have to keep visiting the Classic & Vintage sales!! As always, happy growling.

The booking e-mail tells you, but do be aware that this Experience is NOT at Castle Bromwich, Solihull or Browns Lane.........it is at the ProLogis Park on the sight of the old Chrysler-Peugeot works just past Coventry Airport. Happy growling but do forget your cheque book!! E-type Reborn comes in at about £250,000 to £280,000 including the donor car. Ouch.

Forgot to mention, cameras not permitted due to high profile customers' cars being present. Minor problem. Can't wait for our return trip, although we now know that XJ220 is well and truly out of reach, as if we didn't already know!!

What a day Thursday was! Myself and significant other were booked up for the new JLR Classic Experience Tour at the JLR Classic centre at Ryton-on-Dunsmore, near Coventry. We attended on only the second day of holding the tour, and what a great experience. Just short of 3 hours duration, covering the entire E-type Reborn project including the donor cars, the XK SS project including close up of car number three under build, the Land-Rover Series 1 and RangeRover Reborn project, the XJ220 servicing area (tyres at £5000 per set!!), and various other Jaguar models in for rebuild, repair, updating etc. Not to mention the Jaguar Collection hall where most of the collection is on view, stored on racks at present (remember the large collection bought by JLR from a dental surgeon). The technicians etc working within the facility are happy to interact, and the whole affair is quite relaxed. Still dribbling!!!! Well worth the £49 per head cost and easily bookable through the Jaguar Experience website.....we shall be going again, as there is always something new to see, apparently. Extremely happy growling

Hello Di Welcome to the VAPTC .... the Very Annoying Plastic Trim Club! We don't have the problem on our XK as it has always lived inside, now in a Carcoon and doesn't go out in the wet. However, we do have the problem on our S-type and, after much effort and enquiring at restoration shows etc., we have discovered that the plastic trim cannot be returned to its original state. Minor improvement might be achieved but nothing noteworthy. Sadly, a case of penny pinching by using plastic and coating instead of proper chromed metal. The only surefire way for our S is to remove and replace with new, at a cost of around £600 for parts; the XK would probably be a similar price. As the trim is plastic, it can't be re-chromed whilst although you may find second-hand items on that well known auction site, they are probably going to be going the same way. None of the Jaguar parts specialists do repro replacements yet. Sorry to sound a little defeatist but believe us, we have tried all ways!! If you come up with anything....do let us know! Meanwhile, happy growling, as always

Congratulations Knut Are and favourite wife, we can only echo all of the above comments, and ditto that you may now become fully-paid members of the JOCGD (jaguar Owners Club Grin Department). Out of interest, we did have a closer look at the rules and regs reference importing; what a headache! Have a great Thursday, and here are your whistley friends all ready to welcome your new acquisition. As always, happy growling (with a modicum of whistling)

As stated, this fella definitely likes his "Jagwar", but his driving style is c..p! We got the distinct impression this particular Jagwar was in New York City. Watch the clip and you'll see what we mean! Potholes in NYC.....yes, but not a patch on the roads around London, Cardiff and the West Midlands conurbation. Good entertainment though...................happy (NYC) growling

Yes, thanks John; we are considering such. Even at the first approach to the selling dealer, a cursory examination of the tyre (still on the S-type) brought forth a curt "kerb or pothole damage", and this seems to be the default setting of both supplier and Pirelli. Thing is, we are demons for NOT even touching kerbs and we both know full well that we haven't clobbered any potholes. My partner, in particular, and he's the one that drives the S (we share the XK driving) is very fussy about avoiding even slightly sunken manholes (where the road has had a surface dressing but the manhole cover hasn't been raised by the thickness of the dressing). I suppose you could call us Mr & Mrs Angry from Jaguarland, but it is more a matter of principle than the money involved. Enjoy your XKR!