Jaguar Tales

I was preparing the XJS for its first proper event in March 2020 after 18 months of restoration work on the car.  With a few days to go the fire extinguisher was installed, together with a map light, harnesses, rally clock, timer, spill kit, OK board and a fair few tools and spare parts, just in case.  Stickers and paint for the towing points, tow rope, hazard triangle, tarpaulin...there is a long list of requirements. Not Yet Finished, But Getting Closer to the Line (literally) The only thing left to do was a permanent fix of the windscreen washers...something that had been perplexing me for 18 months.  Just as I managed to finally find a route through the firewall for a new electrical feed for the pump my phone pinged.  It was Graham, my navigator, with news that the HERO Challenge had been cancelled due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.  It was scarcely a surprise. A few days later we were in full lockdown and without the deadline of the rally, we had an opportun...

My wife and I were returning from a long-promised shopping trip to Bicester Village without the teenagers.  My wife is not a frequent shopper, but when she sets her mind to it, I know we are in for a full day of perusing, selecting, trying, rejecting and buying. Driving back down the M40 my 'phone rang.  It was our eldest, Max, who was eagerly racking up miles in the XJS as a reward for getting it through its MOT.  The car looked rough and ready, but was mechanically safe, and though some of the minor ancillaries had yet to be repaired, he felt it was a very cool car to swan about in for a week in his gap year, despite the cost in fuel. Looking a bit rough, but it has it's MOT He explained that after collecting his brother from school, the engine had cut out in the middle of a roundabout in Bishop's Stortford and would not restart.  He was sure there was sufficient fuel in the car (despite one of those slightly non-functioning ancillaries being the fuel gau...