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Chairman - Kevin Simmons - 01622 687324 ksimmons@btinternet.com

Treasurer - Gordon Martin - 01634 682243 gordon_martin@sky.com

Secretary – Liz Whitebread - 01233 636697 ra.whitebread@virginmedia.com

Area Rep- Jeff Webb - 01732 822607 jeff@kccj.co.uk

Committee Members :-

Alan Kaye - 01634 221110 alanskay@hotmail.com

Shirley Simmons - 01622687324 ksimmons@btinternet.com

Richard Whitebread - 01233 636697 ra.whitebread@sky.com

It would be appreciated if members do not telephone committee members before 10:00 am or after 9:30 pm

KENT AREA COMMITTEE 2016

Visit Area 4’s Website at :-

www.jdc-kent.co.uk

The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily

those of the Editor or the Kent Area Committee – no liability will be accepted

in any case of dispute.

KENTISHMAN magazine was available by post up until

April 2013 by subscription but ceased publication when the

editor retired.

This is a souvenir issue for the 2016 Christmas dinner which

we hope you will enjoy.

Jaguar Drivers’ Club - Kent Area 4 - Regional Magazine

XJ Ultimate

2

KEVIN’S KORNER Well, it’s Christmas once again and here we are once more enjoying our annual festive dinner.

Doesn’t time fly?

It was in 2013 that most of the committee decided to retire leaving me as the only continuing

member and the newly elected committee members then chose me as Chairman and this is my

opportunity to say thank you to all those in the committee for all the help they have given me and

to all the members for their support. Thanks are also due to our hosts, Anne & Brian who now

generously sponsor our programme and to those club members who have continued to book and

run events for us.

‘Kevin’s Korner’ appeared for the first time in the March 2013 edition of the KENTISHMAN and

again in April which was destined to be the last time due to David Barnes retiring as Editor so

writing this is an unexpected pleasure in this souvenir issue.

Perhaps the most rewarding aspect of the last three years has been the acquisition of new mem-

bers which is essential in any club if it is to survive and flourish. The sign on the A20 has contrib-

uted to this success and of course the club magazine has provided the rest. All too often in the

past, our club meetings were sparsely attended to say the least but we now seem to get a more

regular full house which makes for a much more enjoyable evening.

One thing that we desperately need from you all is new ideas for speakers and themes for club

nights. Although we can always fall back on the old favourites like ‘mince pies & sausage rolls’ a

bit of potential excitement on a Monday night does a lot to get you all out on a cold wet winter

evening. Those of you who attend other clubs may be able to tell us about what they do that’s

interesting and that we could replicate for our own club. Your ideas and suggestions ready for the

AGM in January please.

One remarkable feature of the 2016 season has been the wonderful weather we’ve enjoyed at our

outside events. I thought that Appledore was particularly good with its excellent layout and inter-

esting stalls and Folkestone was well organised and well attended. As with my comments in the

previous paragraph, do please rack your brains and keep your eyes and ears open for new events

to keep interest levels high.

I’m sorry to say that Gordon Martin is standing down as Treasurer in January; he has been an

absolute stalwart. Thanks Gordon for all you’ve done. Thankfully we do have a member willing

to stand for this important office to the relief of all concerned.

On a sad note, we remember our oldest member , Stan Rogers who passed away last month. His

funeral was well attended by club members to help his family and other friends give him a good

send-off. It was requested that flowers be from the family only and that any memorial gesture

from other friends be in the form of a donation to Great Ormand Street children’s hospital, with

which he had an association. Anyone wishing to participate can make arrangements through Liz.

Have a wonderful Christmas everybody, see you all again soon.

KEVIN

7

On the 3rd Monday of each month,

members meet in a comfortable air-

conditioned private function-room with it’s

own bar at The Dog & Bear Hotel in Len-

ham just off the A20 between Maidstone &

Ashford. Meetings frequently feature guest

speakers covering a wide range of sub-

jects.

On the 1st Tuesday of each month, members get together at a different Kentish Hostelry for a bar meal or just a social evening out. Further details from Chris Barlow by mailing to rupert2@talktalk.net

Monday January 16th 2017 Annual Review and election of committee.

CLUB NIGHTS

PUB NIGHTS

MAIN EVENTS

6

Our major event for October was the

JDC National Rally coming to Kent.

Nik Brukker and John Broughall came

to our annual barbeque in July to tell us

about the Rally and how we could be

involved. Our club supplied several

marshals, and Carol Craker had the

task of sending the competitors off

from the Holiday Inn at Hothfield,

north of Ashford. Magically she was at

the coffee stop, the lunch stop, and

finally back at the hotel to assist with

booking teams in and giving them their

next start time. She and Janet

Broughall were ably chauffeured by Carol’s husband Michael who turned into the car park

marshal which was most helpful. Four teams of active members of our Club participated in

the Rally, with Graham and Jan Underwood winning the class for saloon cars 1951 – 1969

in his beautiful 1965 Mark II. I was extremely fortunate to have Shirley Simmons with me

in our XK8 convertible and although we were well down in the results, we had a fun day

out, and although we both know the area well, were taken down roads we never knew ex-

isted! Sadly with occasional rain we couldn’t have the roof down. LIZ

Useful Contact

I came across Oscar Martin last year when I was sourcing a wing for my X300.

He has been dealing in Jaguar cars and spares for the last three years and has amassed a

large quantity and variety of spares for XJ40, X300, XJ8 and X-Type models at very

competitive prices.

He can be reached on 01233 756061 or oscarmartin999@gmail.com

ED

3

This is the only XK120 re-bodied by the famous Pininfarina design house, and is currently being restored by CMC in the UK. It’s gorgeous, and while it looks a little like their Ferrari concepts of the 1955s, the front is drop-dead fabu-

lous and there are some hallmarks to me of the 1963 S-Type.

The car went to the US very soon after and spent all of its time there until being exported to Germany in the 1980s. It

has been in storage ever since until the restoration began.

Visitors to the Classic & Sports Car Show on October 28-30 were treated to the live restoration of a unique Jaguar XK120 with dramatic coupé bodywork by famed Italian coachbuilder Pininfarina.

In its first public appearance for 40 years, the XK120 will be restored by a team of specialists from Classic Motor Cars (CMC) throughout the event, demonstrat-ing the skills and techniques involved in bringing a classic car back to its full glory.

During the show, specialists from CMC will be reproducing panels for the XK, as well as working on trim and an engine.

4

JAGUAR TO BUILD ICONIC XKSS - THE WORLD’S FIRST SUPERCAR

Jaguar Classic has revealed the first example of its exact recreation of the XKSS sports car from 1957. It is one of nine “continuation” cars Jaguar will produce to the exact 1957 specification, using the original draw-ings and even some of the production techniques. Deliveries will begin in 2017.

The XKSS was originally made by Jaguar as a road-going conversion of the Le Mans-winning D-type, which was built from 1954-1956. In 1957, nine XKSS cars due to be exported to the US were destroyed in a fire at Jaguar’s factory at Browns Lane in Coventry, meaning that only 16 of the planned run of 25 examples were sold.

The body of the XKSS is made from magnesium alloy, as it was in 1957, and because the original styling bucks (tubular forms on which the bodywork is shaped) do not exist, Jaguar Classic produced a new, be-spoke styling buck based on the original bodies. The continuation cars will be produced using a traditional metal-forming process called hand-wheeling. The engine is a 3.4-litre, straight-six-cylinder Jaguar D-type engine, develop-ing 260bhp. It has a new cast iron block, new cylinder heads and three Weber DC03 carburettors. Inside are perfect recreations of the origi-nal Smiths gauges. Everything from the wood of the steering wheel to the grain of the leather seats and the brass knobs on the dashboard is precisely as it would have been in 1957. Jaguar Classic esti-mates that 10,000 man hours will go into building each new XKSS.

Kev Riches, Jaguar Classic engineer-ing manager, said: “The XKSS is one of the most important cars in Jaguar’s history, and we are committed to mak-ing the ‘new original’ version abso-lutely faithful to the period car in every way.

“From the number, type and position of all the rivets used – there are more than 2,000 in total – to the Smiths gauges on the dashboard, everything is the same as the original cars, be-cause that is the way it should be.”

5

I think we can call the weekend away at Warner’s Littlecote House another success. Not

quite so many of us this year what with other commitments etc. but still a happy band of

Jaguar Drivers who enjoyed good accommodation, good food and good company.

Most of the accommodation is in comfortable modern blocks attached to original buildings

but the old house remains, steeped in history some of which is just a bit grisly and a number

of us enjoyed a tour of it with an excellent guide who entertained right from the start. The

grounds are delightful with ponds, watercourses, tennis courts and some Roman ruins.

Sometimes JDC weekenders go on a tour of some sort as a group but mostly everybody

does his/her own thing which is what happened this year. The main attraction was perhaps

the Crofton Beam Engine near Marlborough and there were horse-drawn canal barge trips

available on the canal too.

As with all Warner venues, there are indoor and outdoor activities and rumour has it that

Kevin put on his Lincoln green tights and indulged himself with a bit of archery.

On trips like this there is always a story to be told which brings us to:-

The Puncture Club:-

Kevin’s Tale :-

We wanted to be early at Littlecote

and all went well until we left Cob-

ham services when a passing motorist

waved his arms about and pointed to

our rear wheels.

“Perhaps it’s a puncture”, said

Shirley. “Surely not”, said I but senior

management was right yet again and I

started to unload the boot in search of

the running wheel while Shirley di-

rected operations.

As luck would have it – what do I

mean, luck? – there was a turn- off

just half a mile away and lo and be-

hold a branch of National Tyres.

Would you believe it? A previous Jag

owner had ordered what I needed and

then never came back to claim it so

quit a few quid lighter we were back

on the road to Littlecote.

Jeffs Tale :-

We were sorry to hear Kevin’s puncture tale and even

sorrier when we had our own whilst driving through a

Cotswold village which hadn’t even been discovered yet.

No probs. I thought but those plastic nut coverers defeated

me even with some tools borrowed from a helpful villager

including a four pound club hammer.

The helpful villager went off to get his local directory and

pointed us towards the local mower repair man two miles

away and off we drove on our flat tyre to plead for help

which came in the shape of an oversized socket over the

covers and an airgun.

So now it was on with the spacesaver and off to Cirences-

ter, ten miles away where Kwik-fit had a Dunlop the right

size but not the Pirelli I needed. Kwik-fit were straight

onto the computer to locate one in Gloucester another

twenty mile away and off we went to have it fitted.

We had done a Cotswold tour but not the one we’d

planned so we finished it the next day but with our faith in

human nature restored by all the help we’d received from

all the players in this tale of motoring misadventure.