Hello everyone. I've had a membership here on JOC for a few months now, but not yet taken the time to introduce myself. I've always been a fan of Jaguar most probably because my father worked right there at the Coventry factory in Radford when I was a child. I remember as a child of only 5/6 being involved in the family activities of the business such as the drawing and coloring competitions, and of course being taken by my mother to meet my father as he left the factory at the end of a shift. I'll never forget the british racing green fences and Jaguar faces ebossed on the entrance walls. Both of my grandmothers lived on Telfer road, just around the corner from the factory and at the bottom of that road outside the shops was a beautiful Daimler owned by one of the shop keepers. Later I'd use the Jaguar Gym and attend the social club. My childhood really had a lot of Jag in it, and so I now have a great nostalgia trip when I think back! Well I'm now the proud owner of an XJ6 4.0 which I purchased through ebay for a trivial amount, it was produced at the Coventry plant and during the last year that my father worked there, so it's quite likely that my car was worked on by him. I didn't buy this car for the nostalgia alone though, it has a purpose. One of my hobbies is to fly weather balloons for high altitude photography and science experiments. This hobby involves some long distance driving as I track the balloons over potentially hundreds of miles - and so a comfortable vehicle was needed, and one with enough boot space to carry the helium tanks, radio antennas, and other equipment required. Fuel consumption is not really an issue as the car is for these leisure purposes only. This really is the right vehicle for the job! Given the age of the car, and the amount I spent to buy it, it's no suprise that it's in need of some attention - I have quite a list in fact. Luckily I can fall back on my mechanic brother and of course my father to help put this XJ6 back into fine condition. The timing of this introduction comes just shy of me starting work on it as I plan to begin repairs and restoration (and adaptation for that hobby) over the next few weeks, and I expect it to take two or three months to complete (if complete is the right word to use here!) You can catch the odd picture of her here http://www.craigchapman.me.uk with some blog posts, and updates of the restoration will be posted there also. Well - thanks for reading!
