I agreed to meet Rob at around eight thirty and I couldn’t have timed it better , as I crossed the entrance bang on time there was Jenner directly in front in his black XJR , both having arrived at exactly the same time !
Fortunately at this event there is much to do if you aren’t completely interested in cars as I suspect the rest of my family may be , they quickly deserted me in favour of exploring the grounds and gardens of the Beaulieu estate leaving me to catch up with friends old and new and talk about the cars , later they would explore the excellent National motor museum , all included in the price of the entrance ticket , so making a full value for money day out .
I was parked up on our XJ40 stand along with Stuart [a newcomer to the XJ40] with his newly acquired 4.0 litre sport model in a very unusual peppermint green no less , some of you may have seen this car in a recent JEC xj40 forum article and it really is as good as it looks only having covered a mere 30,000 miles iirc , as you can imagine he paid a premium price for the car , much to Rob’s dismay as I think he had designs on it but was pipped at the post ,
I was parked next to his sport having a well earned cup of tea after the 125 mile journey before taking off the stone chip protective plastic you can see in this picture , the first chip I got in this area gave me a heart attack so now I use this stuff on long journeys as this is a very prone area , I also use it on the headlamps , we all know how expensive they are ,
Apparently we were in some sort of ‘time line’ there being a very nice Daimler V8 to my other side ,
I set off with my camera to capture some of the other xj40’s and found these , this is last years pride and joy winner , this time entered in the ‘Diamond class’ ,
He had an unusual matt painted cam cover , not to my taste but there you go ,
I also came across the ‘94 4.0 litre Daimler featured in the ‘How much is it worth’ thread some time ago , it was accompanied by Matt who was there attempting to sell it on behalf of his father , the car is in beautiful condition only having covered 46,000 miles as these pictures show ,
I then found this ‘89 car in very remarkable condition , it went on to win the ‘pride and joy’ , deservedly so as it was in exceptional condition for an early car , the woodwork was completely unfaded and the owner assured me that it was original , quite an achievement [darker than mine] ,
I also bumped in to Michael Parkhouse who recently acquired a very nice 4.0 Daimler ,
I also found a very tidy XJR for sale [£650] ,
A very nice xj40 v12 in a grey of some sort , the owner , again selling it for his father had no idea what grey it was though I suspect it’s tungsten unless someone knows better ,
A help desk was open throughout the day for all your technical questions and a very accomplished band played a variety of popular music to sip your pimms by , early afternoon we xj40 owners were invited to form a display in the area and were interviewed by Nigel Thorley , the only time I’m ever lost for words ,
I was right down the front but quickly joined by Stuart and his sport and the other cars ,
The ‘pride and joy’ winner [correct me if i'm wrong] and young Jack and his dad ,
A very red 2.9 on the end ,
When the cars were all assembled people were invited to examine them and answer questions , here’s Rob about to show my engine to an interested enthusiast ,
There was also a display of e types , this year being their 50th anniversary but I didn’t take pictures , displays of the concours cars and pride and joy winners , all in all a very full day and thankfully beautiful weather , I still didn’t manage to see all the cars or the museum but from the pictures my daughter took it looks like a very comprehensive and interesting place worthy of a visit in itself ,
I won’t spoil your visit by posting the rest of the museum pictures but it’s full of interesting vehicles .
On the way home along the M3 we were treated to another display , this time exotic Lamborghinis , several brace of them accompanied us for many miles in heavy fast moving holiday traffic no doubt heading for the M25, I think they were probably going home from a piston heads day out at Wilton house in Salisbury , mostly when you see a Lamborghini it’s just a noisy zoom past you , these however , hampered by the heavy traffic were companions and we had time to ogle them and experience the shock and awe noise they emit , very exiting but I’m not sure I’d like it in my ear for hundreds of miles .
Apologies to those I left out or didn’t have time to talk to , there’s always next time at Weston park near Telford in Shropshire next year , it’s a whole weekend from the 22nd to the 24th of June so plenty of time to make your plans [Norman and you others in Europe] .
It should be a cracker of an event and the only major JEC meet next year ? as northern day, southern day are cancelled for 2012 as there’s some running races on or something ?
Derek..
