13 August 2025
A huge thanks to everyone who came to this year’s National Weekend at Whittlebury Hall. It was great to see so many familiar faces there as well as some of our newer members. The weekend began with an informal tour on Saturday around the Northamptonshire countryside before getting our glad rags on for the annual dinner. Sunday saw hundreds of cars gather for National Day with the hotel grounds. It was a more hectic day as our team of judges thoroughly inspected both the Club Concours and inaugural RIWAX Trophy entrants. Read on to find out which owners were crowned the winners…
This year’s Club Concours also proved to be hotly contested, with the judges working hard throughout much of the day. The winner of Class A proved to be Nigel Bowen Easley with his Jaguar Mark V Drophead (SXS 144), which now qualifies for the Jaguar Drivers’ Club’s Champion of Champions. Also scoring enough points in Class A to be put forward for Champion of Champions was Martin Green’s Jaguar XK150 S (873 UYN).
Coming away with two concours awards was Bryan Mander, who won Class B with his Series III E-Type (AJW 278M) and Class C with his Jaguar Mark 2 (RLN 883E), the latter now qualifying for Champion of Champions. The same applies to the winner of Class D, the superb XJS Convertible (N15 XJS) of James Tetherton, a previous Champion of Champions finalist. Nigel Heywood’s Jaguar ‘X300’ Executive (J10 VJJ) was awarded top spot in Class E, while Class F victory went to Andy Brooks’ Jaguar XJR (BN56 TJV), which will be seen again as a Champion of Champions contender.
The overall winners of the inaugural RIWAX trophy, our new ‘pride of ownership’ style competition, were John and Liz Alcock with their superb 1965 Jaguar E-Type, GMY 280C.
First runner-up was Anthony Evans and his Flamenco Red XJS (N10 JVC), with the silver Daimler Double-Six Series III (J115 RDU) of Gary Mullaney being announced as second runner-up. Judging was carried out by Paul Crowther, Andy Brooks and Steve Hawke from the Jaguar Drivers’ Club. UK Distributor RIWAX generously donated a range of car care prizes as well as supporting the competition throughout.
The Wheel Change Challenge attracted a steady stream of competitors throughout the day with the favoured method by far being the battery powered impact driver. The time using the wheel wrench hovered around the two-minute mark creeping down to 1 min 57 secs and finishing on a very respectable 1 min 55 secs. The impact driver option really warmed up attendee’s competitive juices. The time quickly fell from around one minute through the 50 second mark into the 40s. As prize giving approached, it fell to 45, 44, then 42 secs before we had to start counting in tenths as it fell to 41.7 before finishing at a well-practised 41.2 secs. We look forward to people further honing their wheel change skills when the Challenge next appears at Jaguars at Gaydon on Sunday 21st September.
Plans for next year’s National Weekend are already underway as part of the Club’s 70th anniversary celebrations and we’re excited to share the date so you can put it in your diary. We will be holding the 2026 event on 11th and 12th July, taking over Brooklands Museum on the Sunday.
We have negotiated special rates with two nearby hotels and our gala anniversary dinner will be held at Oatlands Park Hotel. More information will be announced shortly.
Mardell Retired
JLR New CEO
RIP AndersPlease join us in welcoming these new members who have joined the JDC in the past month.
The next Jaguar Spares Day will be held on Sunday 19th October at Stoneleigh Park, Warwickshire, with bookings now open for trade stands and private sellers. Find out more details here
To celebrate the launch of the new book Sir William Lyons on Jaguar complied by Giles Chapman, members are offered 20% off the RRP of £50 when ordering directly from Evro Publishing. Find out more here.
This year’s Jaguars at Gaydon will be held on Sunday 21st September where the JDC will also crown the Champion of Champions for 2025. As well as impressive showcases of vehicles, owners are invited to display their own Jaguars and Daimlers as well as having the unique opportunity to drive on the JLR test track. There is also the chance to enjoy a passenger ride in an iconic JDHT car – but be quick to book as limited spots are available.
