Champion of Champions

Held for over 40 years, the JDC organises one of the world’s most prestigious concours competitions for a single marque – The Champion of Champions.

The search for the winner begins with the Register Concours Heats, usually held at the club’s National Day which this year was at Whittlebury Hall at the beginning of August.  Vehicles of an incredibly high standard from each Register are put under the scrutiny of our esteemed judges.  From this, worthy vehicles will be selected to move forward to the final of the Champion of Champions, held in September, with the goal of securing this illustrious title.

2025 Champion of Champions FINAL

Five cars were chosen at Whittlebury Hall to go through to the Jaguar Drivers’ Club Champion of Champions 2025 which will be held at the Jaguars at Gaydon event on Sunday 21st September 2025 organised by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust. JDHT have afforded us the privilege of displaying our five cars in the Collection Centre so that the judges can do their work - without worrying about the weather.

Fittingly in this the 50th anniversary year of the launch of the XJS, this glorious XJS Celebration Convertible, owned and prepared by James Tetherton, is one of the five.

 

Champion of Champions News

How to present your car for a Concours competition.

JDC Director Gareth Jones is a previous Champion of Champions winner and now is one of our valued judges. He shares a few tips on how to be concours ready…

1. Paint, coatings and finishings should be to the vehicle’s original specification.
2. Parts not originally painted that have been painted or metal not originally polished that has been polished will attract no additional points over and, in some circumstances, will attract penalties for non-originality.
3. Basically, clean the car to the highest level and make every possible effort to have the car as the day it left the factory.
4. For interiors, try to avoid some of the cleaners that leave bright high gloss finishes where the original may have looked matt or silk.
5. Take care to use cleaners that do not leave residues on hoses, trim, bumpers etc… which will attract dust and debris on the drive to the show.
6. Where possible keep cleaning materials simple. As an example - WD40 is an excellent cleaner for metals leaving minimal or no greasy deposits.
7. Remove dust and dirt from small gaps (interior and exterior) with small dry artists paint brushes.
8. Lint and other small bits and pieces can be removed from carpets / cloth areas with a light dab from some rolled up Sellotape – although I would not recommend doing this on headliners! Would not recommend wetting or using cleaning agents on them as we all know how susceptible they are to dropping!
9. If your car has had some sympathetic updates from original specification - let the Judges know of these changes during the Judging process.
10. A JDHT Certificate is also good to have as judges may use information from it.
11. For spare wheel / Jack and tool kits - remove them from the car and try to display these alongside / behind the car in a nice fashion. Ensure these are as well cleaned (and if applicable) restored as the car.
12. Don’t forget the tyres on the car must be well cleaned and have a suitable and subtle tyre dressing.
13. During judging make sure the car is empty of all cloths / picnic baskets etc.. so the judges can see the full interior and boot space etc.
14. Present the car and everything about it as well as you can.

Each Register’s competition is run according to its own specific vehicle’s Register rules and the winning car will receive the appropriate trophy. 

Champion of Champions Winners

Please note that details are subject to change. For events not organised by Jaguar Drivers' Club, please verify information with the event organisers.