Noel Eagleson Visit Moss Motors - Virginia

Former SABCC President Noel Eagleson now resides in Virginia with his lovely wife while she pursues her career in the area. While much missed, Noel keeps in touch with his fellow British car enthusiast friends along the Gulf Coast. Noel says he regularly attends British car shows in the area and has a number of car hobby related events he plans to attend soon. By the way, Noel, this is an invitation to you to write about your adventures and I'll post them to this humble blog. 

Photo Courtesy Moss Motors (Defacement by Yours Truly)

Noel recently attended the open house of Moss Motors new warehouse and manufacturing facility in Virginia. He came away very impressed with Moss' level of inventory and their commitment to the British car hobby. Noel says that owners of classic British cars owe the folks at Moss a debt of gratitude for helping us keep our cars on the road.

I was browsing the Moss blog recently and noticed that our own favorite Irishman was photographed while listening intently to a presentation on car upholstery during the tour.

The New Jaguar F-Type is Incredible

The Best Technicians are Trained Here

It's been known for some time now that Jaguar was designing a two seat sports car to compete with the likes of two seaters from Porsche. The new car will go on sale in May of this year. Having seen and heard one, I am convinced that Jaguar has a smash hit on their hands.

Former SABCC member and Jaguar North America Training Manager Tony Fleming invited club president Richard Cunningham and me to drop by the regional Jaguar service training center in Atlanta during our recent visit to the area. This spotless, modern facility is reflection of Jaguar's commitment to quality service provided by properly trained technicians. 

A Jaguar F1 Promotional Model

Tony welcomed Richard and me in the reception area of the center where several significant cars are on display. The last North American spec XJS keeps the last ever XJ6 company on the reception floor while several cut away car show engines proudly show off the craftsman's talents. A full-size model of a Jaguar Formula 1 car shares space with a cutaway Land Rover Discovery chassis that took part in a number of auto shows.

Tony proudly showed us through the well-appointed training rooms on the site as well as a number of work benches with the latest specialized factory tools on hand. We then followed him to the garage area where examples of Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles were available for hands-on work for the trainees. Among the cars present were two early production examples of the new F-Type roadster.

A Portion of the Reception Area

The training center was assigned a white six-cylinder and a dark gray V8 S. Photos of the cars in recent magazines simply do not do these beautiful shapes justice. They are absolutely stunning. Tony opened the door of the gray roadster and motioned for me to sit at the wheel which I readily accepted.

The supportive seats covered in the most supple of leather were supremely comfortable and form fitting. All of the interior surfaces were covered in leather, aluminum or very high quality man-made materials. Surfaces such as the paddle shifters were covered in a tactile, soft touch material, too. 

Tony invited me to start the car so we could appreciate the sound of the V8. Step on the brake pedal, press the "START" button and the reward is a very non-Jaguar bellow from the four exhaust outlets. The grin on our faces could only be described as silly. Our inner children were very happy, indeed.

The View that You'll See Most Often on the Highway

We were then shown through the Land Rover side of the center where a new all-aluminum Range Rover was there for the benefit of the technicians in training. This very handsome vehicle retains its famous off road capabilities while bringing new levels of comfort and sophistication to its well -heeled owners. A waft of wood, leather and fine wool greeted us as the drivers door was opened. 

The tour wound down back in the reception area where we sat on the comfortable leather lounge furniture and chatted until it was time to depart. Tony promised that he would stay in touch and that he hoped he could get to Mobile soon.

Thanks for your hospitality, Tony!

   

 

Road Racing in the American South - Early 1970s

George Follmer -Porsche 917-10 (Photo R. Cunningham)

The American road racing scene has a well-documented history with most of it being centered in the northeast and west coast regions. While road racing had its fans in the south, there were markedly fewer venues in the area (save for two rather famous facilities in Florida). 

The Group 44 Equipe (Photo R. Cunningham)

The opening of Road Atlanta in 1970 brought a number of high profile racing series to the deep south, including Can-Am, Formula 5000, Trans-Am as well as numerous SCCA club events. One young fan in Mobile, Alabama was thrilled that world-class racing was near and made several trips to the course not long after its opening. 

Friend and fellow British car enthusiast Richard Cunningham shot literally hundreds of photos during his time there and he has posted a number of them on his Picasa page. Using a press credential obtained from a local news organization, Richard was able to get access to areas that are normally off-limits to fans. This access gave him a just-inside-the-armco vantage point to snap action photos of the competitors on the track.

The Original Road Atlanta Bridge (Photo R. Cunningham)

In the paddock, Richard shot photos of the greats - Mark Donohue, Peter Revson and Jody Scheckter. There are photos of the support rigs, the teams and the spectators. One jarring photo shows a Can-Am Chevrolet engine with a picture window in the block, courtesy of a wayward connecting rod. 
 
The collection can be found here.

Building the Legend

Recreations of famous cars are not uncommon. Some are more accurate than others, but all of them stem from a desire to own a piece of history. The UK has a number of producers of replica cars that are quite hard to tell apart from the real thing without a close look and some knowledge of the model before you. 

There is one car undergoing a build that will be accurate down to last detail - perhaps more true to the original than the "original" car. The subject of the build is a Jaguar XJ13.

The story of the XJ13 has been extensively documented, but in summary Jaguar determined that a return to LeMans with a top-class prototype car would be in the firm's best interest. The immensely talented Malcolm Sayer was tapped to design the car in 1965. The V12 powered car was developed in fits and starts until it was finally put away for good after it was determined that it would not be competitive without extensive further development. 

 The stunning car remained in Jaguar's storage facilities with occasional runs for publicity. One such run at the MIRA test facility in early 1971 ended with the total destruction of the car in a high speed accident. It was subsequently rebuilt to something close to its original appearance in time for it to be displayed alongside the first of the V12 powered Jaguar E-Types in 1973.   


Neville Swales' quest to build an hyper-accurate recreation began with the discovery and purchase of the only surviving twin cam V12 engine built for the original XJ13. His extensive contacts within the Jaguar organization and his research skills are the foundation for this enormous undertaking. His goal is nothing short of an absolutely perfect copy of the 1966 car. 

Neville is sharing his build with the world in his fascinating web site. He frequently posts photos and stories of the progress of his project along with details uncovered in his ongoing research. I heartily recommend that you visit it often.  

British Car Festival 2013 Artwork

I am very pleased to unveil the theme artwork for this year's British Car Festival. As mentioned late last year, the theme of the festival is "Celebrating 60 Years of Triumph TR". 

The artwork shows a TR2, a TR4 and a TR7 in profile with the Triumph globe script used for the logo. 

Joining us for a fifth straight year is our title sponsor, MINI of Pensacola. 

Stay tuned for details!

I Know That Jags are Pretty Special

While browsing an admittedly old catalog for a detailed drawing of the headlight assembly for a Jaguar  XK140, I ran across this unknown-to-me requirement for their headlights.

 

This shot is from the index section of a 1992 XKs Unlimited parts catalog and it shows an entry for "Headlight Fluid". Turning to page 51 in the publication to further my education on these exotic beasts, I found no mention of of this elusive liquid.

There are descriptions of Jaguar's styling as "fluid" and I've even seen a website dedicated to "blinker fluid", but this one is new to me. Was this simply an "Easter egg" prank or perhaps a place holder during the design of the catalog?  

There is one more oddity in the photo that I didn't mention. See if you can find it and then drop me a note in the comments section.

Brit Rocker's Brit Cars

Mick Jagger and Marianne Faithfull in a Morgan

The Daily Mail ran an article about rock and roll stars and their cars in a recent issue and  they've got a version available for online browsing.

There is a photo of a delighted John Lennon photographed in his Triumph Herald convertible just after he successfully passed his drivers license examination in 1965. There is another one of a dejected Mick Jagger answering a policeman's questions regarding the accident that damaged his Aston Martin DB6.

Take a moment to browse the article and the photos of a long ago past.  

This Kit Will Be a Hit

In a press release dated April 1, Chrome 2 Black, Ltd announced that they are releasing a new and eagerly-anticipated kit to convert unsightly chrome bumper MGBs to the more recent and distinctive "rubber" bumper specification.

This Could Be on Your MGB

Chrome 2 Black spokesman Mickey Taken said "We have heard the demand from chrome bumper MGB owners and we've developed the new C2B-MGB kit of parts to easily convert their cars over to the look of the newer black bumper models. The kit will allow a competent home mechanic to perform the conversion over a week-end".

According to the press release, the kit will include taller springs, additional bumper mounting brackets, turn signal conversion wiring, black mesh grille along with the stylish black bumpers.
 
The press release went on to say that chrome bumper MGB owners could expect many benefits by converting, some of which include:

• Increased ride height, better to see and be seen
• Less chrome to polish - a bit of Armorall and you're ready for the concours class
• Cornering will be more fun with greater body roll
• The rear bumper is a convenient seat at car shows and cruise-ins

Spokesman Taken said that the firm expects to be in full production for deliveries commencing in approximately 12 months. He also mentioned that Chrome 2 Black, Ltd is considering a rubber bumper conversion kit for early MG Midgets. "We expect strong demand from Mark II Austin Healey Sprite owners, too. After all, they were completely left out of the black bumper era".
 

Spinning Vinyl at Sixty Miles Per Hour

This delightful photo shows a very young and intent George Harrison trying out a Highway Hi-Fi that is installed in an early Jaguar E-Type. The suit and mop-top haircut place this sometime before 1966. I'm sure that the Jaguar experts in the audience can pinpoint the year of the Jaguar from the minimal detail in the photo.

The Highway Hi-Fi was designed for Chrysler products and was one of the earliest non-radio music sources for cars. It played proprietary 7 inch vinyl records and spun them at an even more proprietary 16-2/3 RPM. 

A fascinating web site about the device is run by the Imperial Club.   

Clouds Cancel Crawl

This Shot was Taken at 8:00AM

The members of south Alabama British Car Club were certainly looking forward to a morning of trolling the two local "U-Pull-It" scrapyards in Mobile, but alas, the late winter rainy season put paid to the plans. 

Did You Know That it's All You Can Eat?

We did, however have two (count 'em, two) group meals planned for the day so we decided to avail ourselves of an extended Mugs & Motors session at one of the local "trough-style" eateries. All told, around 25 intrepid SABCC'ers dropped in to the the Golden Corral restaurant in Tillman's Corner, Alabama for an all-you-can-eat extravaganza that was to steel us for a day of scrapping. Instead, we filled our plates and sat down for a long chat about British cars and the miserable state of the weather. 

Hey - It's All You Can Eat!

All told, we spent about an hour and a half occupying some prime table space where we caught up on everyone's news. For example, Keith Jarvis brought his newly-acquired 1971 MGB GT. This very honest car is certainly a survivor and Keith is just the guy to take care of it. Jeff Herndon brought in his laptop computer to show off the progress he's made on his 1969 Jaguar E-Type roadster restoration project. This Mississippi Katrina victim is well on its way to being road (and drool) worthy.



As there was no chance of the rain breaking up anytime soon, we reluctantly departed with a promise that we would certainly reschedule the event.