June 2025 | Issue 779 | Page(s) 3 | Gaynor Cauter
Welcome to another packed issue of Jaguar Driver. At the time of writing, the sun was still beating down on a surprised and delighted nation of car lovers. It always amazes me how, when the clouds part, dozens of lovely old vehicles you hardly ever see these days, suddenly appear on the roads.
Steve and I took a rare weekend off in May to attend the huge Land Rover Live show at Malvern and not only were we treated to an incredible display of cars in the showground, ranging from some ancient Series Landies and a couple of Forward Controls to an impressive display of Camel Discoveries and Dunsfold Collection gems, but we spotted some rarities on the way to and from Malvern.
We saw no fewer than three gorgeous pre-war MGs, pootling along looking more like motorised prams against the huge SUVs sandwiching them. We even saw a Brooklands-style open Bentley steam past, loaded with happy people. What we didn’t see was a single Jaguar older than an XF. I thought we might at least have seen an XJS or a middle-aged XJ, but no – apart from a tidy X-Type in a supermarket car park, not a single even vaguely classic cat in sight. Very sad. Mind you, I can’t talk because I was driving one of my Land Rovers.
The scarcity of classic cars on our roads is not echoed abroad. You only have to look at the photos sent in by our friends in Austria and Switzerland for this month’s Drive It Day spread to see that they use their classics far more than we do. We sell more grille badges to Europe and the States than we do in the UK. Is it the cost of fuel, the traffic on the roads, or just a reluctance to drive an XK or a Mk 2 when we could be chatting on our Bluetooth hands-free or listening to the Moody Blues in surround sound, while the air-con blasts us with cold air? Maybe just the thought of having to change gear manually and wind the windows (if you have any) up and down by hand is enough to put off a lot of today’s motorists.
However, all is not lost because SS100 owner Roger Learmonth, who wrote about his love affair with the car in last month’s magazine, has been surprised and delighted by the response to his impromptu suggestion that he organise a tour for these splendid pre-war sports cars. The dates and details are still to be worked out but if you own an SS100 and would like to get involved, drop Roger a line at rogerlearmonth@btinternet.com.
Elsewhere in the mag, Paul Walton starts a two-part interview with XJ220 designer Keith Helfet, François Prins marks XJS 50 with a look at the car’s competition history with TWR, and Paul Guinness reviews what’s selling… and was isn’t. Rob Hawkins is back with advice on how to carry out an oil and filter change on an X351 and there’s great news for users of Rob’s Q&A service. The take-up has been such that we will be running it every month from now on, with the technical article bimonthly. And don’t forget that if you have a problem, particularly with a modern Jaguar, email rob.hawkins@jaguardriver.co.uk. It’s a free service to JDC members!
Gaynor
