Part 15 - A Curvaceous Feline Caught My Eye (and we did another rally)
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| Racing Around Nigel Mansell's Kart Circuit on the PAAI 2022 |
We cover a few hundred miles or so on a short event, but the real test of crew and car will be a multi-day rally when we are well into four figure mileages.
I have no wish to tempt fate, but we have been extraordinarily lucky that we suffered no breakdowns or punctures whilst actually competing in the XJ-S.
That's not to say that there haven't been plenty of breakdowns as old components failed when stressed (on the school run), but hopefully, the three year restoration of the car means we are now in a sweet spot where we can replace and maintain parts on a planned basis before failure. Perhaps now is the right time for that true test.
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| On the 2020 PAAI |
My aim is to compete on the RAC Rally of the Tests and/or Le Jog, both HERO's most prestigious, longest and toughest domestic events. It would be slightly foolish to expect a decent result on either of these two events without having some idea of what to expect; so I was delighted when the organisers published details of the PAAI (Per Ardua Ad Infinitum) Rally scheduled for January 2022.
The pre-event publicity described PAAI as the Rally of the Tests and Le Jog condensed into a two day event covering 300 miles. I knew it would be tough....but little did I realise what a step up in difficulty it would be.
HERO Per Ardua Ad Infinitum Rally January 2022 - Taunton, UK
I had spent a very jolly New Year's Eve in Cornwall with my family and friends. With just a few days before the rally, I still had to wire in the spot lamps that we would need for the night sections of this event.
As always seems to be the case with our particular XJ-S, the wiring diagrams in the official workshop manual don't match the reality of the car. I wanted to find an elegant solution using the original fog lamp switch & wiring so that no ugly holes needed to be drilled in the dashboard to fit an after market switch. After a morning's fruitless search for the right fuse (wiring diagrams say fuse No.1 on the main fuseboard, but this turns out to be the cigar lighter), the correct fuse is found (auxiliary fuse board, fuse No.4). The grounding plug behind the fog lamp relay is also non-existent, so with a little logical thinking, I make up some jumper leads to activate the relay from the full beam warning light circuit. Success! We have power to the lights and they activate when they should.
I mounted the replica 1980's Cibie Oscar+ spotlamps, fitted with 150% brighter bulbs on the custom-made brackets and started to remove the headlights to fit matching bulbs. Having history with the headlamps (which are no longer available), I take this very steady: The temperature is hovering around freezing and the 30 year old plastic clips are very brittle. The right hand lamp goes well, but on removing the left hand lamp, as I ease the unit out of its recess, the (permanently glued) glass lens falls out and heads for the concrete floor below...I stick out my hand and catch it before it can shatter. Phew! Every mechanic's second favourite tool, gaffer tape, ensures the lens is temporarily reattached to the headlight.
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| Looking purposeful! |
The car is ready. An early start the following day sees me drive from Padstow to meet Graham, my navigator at the start in Taunton. We go through scruitineering, check the trip meter for accuracy and retire to the Holiday Inn awaiting the start.
On day one, teams had just one hour before their start time to plot a route of around 200 miles through the lesser travelled roads in Somerset: From the flood(ed) plains of Sedgemoor and up into the Quantock Hills, the course twisted and turned with the most devilishly complicated navigation.
It was not the best time for my navigator, Graham, to realise that he needed new reading glasses. All our previous events had been in bright daylight, but now we were competing through mid-winter's dusk and into the night: 20/20 vision is preferable in these circumstances, something he had to admit was very sadly lacking. Route plotting was going to be doubly tricky.
The penalty system for these longer events ensures that should a crew make a hash of a particular section, that it does not ruin their rally: On such a difficult event only the very top crews are going to be penalty free. It was just as well....
Our comparative lack of experience on an event of this difficulty, meant we had been seeded 40th out of 41 starters.
Graham's vision issues contributed to a slightly shaky start, missing the first time control. Together with all the other entries, we contended with driving rain, flooded roads, fords, snow, mud, farmyard muck and fog. We managed to claw our way up the classification from 37th at the first halt, to 19th by the end of the day. The missed control had not affected us too badly and we looked forward to the second day.
The speed tests (although not so critical to our overall result) were going even better, in fact, so much better that we were unbeaten in our class on 5 out of 6 tests, much to the irritation of class leaders McQueen & Cochrane in their BMW 323i who had previously bettered us in every test on every previous event.
Day Two's starting lineup was in reverse seeding order, which meant an early departure for us. With just 30 minutes before each car's start time, the navigation handbooks were given to the navigators who had, once again, to get to grips with fiendishly tricky navigation. No snow or fog on day two, but the snow melt meant the fords were deeper and the roads even more flooded.
By his own admission, Graham is not a natural early morning person, so it was a stuttering beginning, missing two controls, costing us 5 minutes in penalties, but happily, this was partially balanced by few time penalties on most of the tests, as we were fastest in our class in 11 of the 14 tests. We had a day of mixed results as we battled with the navigation and force-majeur hold-ups along the route (tractors, pheasant shoots, riders, runners, oncoming traffic on single track roads and the like).
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| Whilst other XJ-S are tucked away for the winter, we're caning ours! |
One of the most exciting parts of the rally was a so-called Time Control section on an airfield: Similar to a stage rally, this was 9 sections that needed to be driven balls-out (technical term) to reach the average speed required. With our new-found performance in the Jaguar, we were actually too fast and started accumulating penalties for early arrival - but boy, was it fun. By the end, the brakes were smoking, and tyres well worn!
Despite all the work carried out on the car over the past couple of years, it is still largely a standard 91,000 mile Jaguar XJ-S. The only performance improvements are polyurethane bushes in the steering rack mounting, upgraded front brake pads, modern winter tyres (in the original size - just 215 wide) and adjustable front shock absorbers.
This makes our achievement on the tests even more gratifying: Cumulatively, across the 20 tests, we managed 8th place overall. Ahead of us were the event's winner in their very fast and expertly driven Porsche 911, three rally prepared Ford Escorts, a couple of Golf GTIs and a rally prepared MGB GT V8.
We really surprised ourselves and everyone else who believes the Jaguar XJ-S is only a big luxo-barge, with the 4th fastest time around Nigel Mansell's streaming wet karting circuit.
Much of the improvement in our test times was due to using the automatic gearbox manually. Previously I have been reluctant to engage first gear manually, preferring to let the 'box choose the gear, but with my greater confidence in the car I found that, in fact, manual selection gave me much greater control of pitch, weight transfer and yaw, making this large car more nimble than you might think. It certainly startled some of our competition!
Graham considered the event the most challenging he has undertaken in many decades of rallying, and given the red-level navigation, we were moderately pleased with our final position of 24th overall. Even the experienced crews had found it a very hard event: There was no let up in the severity of the navigation or the pace of the rally over the two days.
In consolation, our result did contribute to our (randomly chosen) 3-car team winning the overall team award. Much was learnt yet again, which will be put to good use on the next event.
The event was "Heroically" hard and as such, was a tremendously enjoyable drive from my point of view. The night leg was a particular highlight for me...reminding me of my forays into Road Rallies in the 1980s (but at a more sedate and somewhat safer pace).
The Jaguar was again the most comfortable place to be, whilst others braved more intimate contact with the atrocious weather...none more so than John Lomas and Richard Lambley in the open 1936 Riley Sprite with just a flimsy canvas hood and no doors. Rather them than me.
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| It's still raining! |
No event such as this can be run without dozens of marshals who stood out in everything the weather could throw at them. Special mention must be given to these brave souls who do so much so that we can enjoy these events, not forgetting all the support crews, organisers and especially the route planning and PR effort that goes into the preparation. Thanks to all involved.
Also, a special thanks to the lovely ladies of Porlock Village hall who had each prepared cottage pies and apple crumble to feed 100 hungry rallyists on dark rainy night!
By quite a large margin, this was the hardest event on the car, so far: A combination of foul weather, high mileage, very rough whites (unsurfaced roads), yumps, dips, mud, water and rocks, as well as the high number of tests, took their toll on everything on the bottom of the car, the brakes and the suspension.
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| A fair bit of Somerset clinging to the car. I MUST get a sump guard! |
Graham's feet were a little wet from water ingress due to the depth of the water crossing the fords, both exhausts were blowing badly (from many hard knocks from rocks, road, mud and gravel), one new tyre suffered a puncture from a bolt picked up by the tread (luckily after the final control), the rear suspension started making very odd sounds (probably the bushes which are now well and truly shot from the abuse on the 20 tests), the steering is squeaking (I hope this is just muck in the steering arm ball joints) and the once pristine engine bay is covered in a muddy film.
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| Mud found its way into every nook and cranny |
Despite all this, the heart of the car, the wonderful V12 engine, simply got on with the job: It was as happy trundelling along, barely above tickover on the regularities, as screaming up to 6500rpm at full throttle on the tests.
It was a great event and a tough, enjoyable challenge - exactly what we were looking for at the start of this adventure. Well done HERO!
That's all very well, but what about this curvaceous feline, I hear you ask?
During a conversation with my cousin, Stephen, I learnt that a friend of his has had a Jaguar E-Type parked on his drive under a cover for the best part of two years. It belongs to his friend's son. The car was bought new by the son's grandfather in the 1960s in New York, and after his death, his grandson (and siblings) decided it would be a great idea to repatriate the car to the UK.
The problem was, it was not the car they expected it to be: Far from the fast, sleek Jaguar of their memory, this cat arrived on the back of a trailer with many of the engine parts in the boot, peeling paint and floors that had rusted away to nothing. After two years in the UK, they were still at a loss of what to do with it. Many potential buyers had seen the car, but to no avail.
I mentioned that I would be happy to take a look at the car and offer my twopenny's worth. You can restore a car with your head or your heart, the latter being very bad for your wallet. This family were very much looking at the car with their head.
A few days later I left home with Dexter, to take a look; dire warnings from my wife ringing in my ears. Buying another car would not promote marital harmony. Divorce might follow!
Despite the pitiful state of the car under the tarpaulins, it was still a very beautiful object. The E-Type definitely has a place in my fantasy garage.
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| Bits of engine in the boot and a beautiful growth of mould on the leather! |
This car had certainly caught my eye, and it was now a battle between my head and my heart.
An E-Type Series 1.5 4.2L 2+2 in British Racing Green - what's not to love!
Wouldn't it be fabulous to rally an E-Type? I wouldn't even need to restore it to concours standards, immediately limiting the financial outlay, I thought quietly to myself.
Unlike the purchase of the first XJ-S, I decided to do some homework before making any decision. I busied myself with magazine articles, books, parts catalogues and internet forums. I spoke with our local E-Type specialist (he loves them but thinks they are, in all honesty, a bit rubbish to drive) for advice.
I compiled a shopping list of parts likely to be needed and quickly got to £20K (and that was assuming the engine did not require a rebuild, the gearbox worked, the rear axle was sound and the interior leather did not require replacement - more in hope than expectation). There would surely be many expensive horrors yet to be found and many hundreds of hours of work.
It was obvious that the cost of commercially restoring the E-Type would be more than its value, but for sentimental reasons, the owner did not want to simply break the car up for parts. He too was stuck between head and heart.
I tried telling myself that over a 5 year period I could justify the expenditure required. Some creative man-maths (no doubt familiar to many of you) was employed: If I could finish the XJ-SC, currently on the drive awaiting restoration, and in the expectation that values for this model (far rarer than an E-Type) continue to rise, sell it for a good profit, plus whatever I could get for the Ducati ST4 (not quite classic status yet) and sell an heirloom or two, or perhaps a spare kidney, maybe the maths could work.
Even my heart knew that this project was a potential money pit that might never reach completion.
Nevertheless, something had to be done. I offered to take the problem off his hands for a very modest sum (nothing). Not surprisingly, this did not elicit a positive response, but my head is satisfied and my heart lives in hope.
Who knows, perhaps we'll find a compromise! Watch this space.
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