MistyCastle

Archive for the ‘British Cars’ Category

Back in late January I saw an ad roll across Craigslist for a 1979 Jaguar XJ-S Coupe. It was a cold, snowy night and the thought of going to look at it didn’t really trip my trigger. The price did though so I mustered up some resolved, called the guy, and went over to look at it in the dark. I did all the things you are NOT supposed to do when evaluating a car to purchase. But I ended up buying it anyway. I was thinking parts car…

So, I had a tow truck bring it home the next day and spent some time going over it trying to decide whether I should just part it out or maybe try and get it running again and put it back on the road. There were an awful lot of things wrong with it. It would start and run but just barely. The brakes were almost non-existent, the interior pretty ratty, and it leaked oil like a sieve. But, on the plus side, the body was straight and it had been repainted sometime ago. It looked nice and had potential.

I decided to see if the engine could be fixed without too much effort and that would be my deciding factor. Thus began a three month journey in Jag restoration. The laundry list of repairs is too extensive to really get into but in the end I had it running again and a large number of the deficiencies corrected. It was definitely a learning experience but I am grateful for the opportunity as I got to learn and experiment on another car so now am much better prepared to work on my own as the need arises.

I sold it this past weekend to a fellow that wanted a project Jag and was willing to continue the restoration.

Say what? Well..yeah, a couple of new developments. Josh and Selenda called the other day with some interesting news. We are going to be Grandparents this year! Selenda is expecting with a due date in early August. This is pretty cool and we are very excited for them. Thus begins a whole new chapter in life for us all. So, one day in the not too far distant future we could have little feet padding around the garage wanting to help Grandpa fix the Jaguar.

The Jaguar? If you read the Hobby Swap post you know I picked up a Jaguar project last month. I’ve been puttering about with it some and decided that I would chronicle my current project as well as my history of British Car adventures on a subsection of the MistyCastle site which I have dubbed the Garage. These pages can be reached using the menu bar in the header or using the Pages links in the sidebar.

It was fun hunting for the pictures, going back down memory lane and documenting the history on my other cars. I still have a couple left to write about. One of them, an early 70’s MGB, was a short term fix-up and re-sell project and I have realized that I do not have a single picture of the car. The other was a ‘67 Spitfire, a major restoration project that never got anywhere. Well…that’s not entirely true come to think of it, I did get the motor running again.

I’ve joined the Jaguar Club of Southern Colorado and am looking forward to meeting some of the other local enthusiasts.The meeting next month is at local restoration shop (ReinCARnation Auto) that has done some phenomenal work. I’ve only looked at their website but what I saw was quite inspiring and I can’t wait to see some of the actual works in progress.

Hobbies come and go and I am currently in transition. Sometime back around the 1st of October I ran across a startling opportunity to fulfill one of those once in a lifetime events that I’ve had in the back of my mind for some time now. You see, even though I live in close proximity to a 14,000 ft mountain, I’ve never lost my desire to make an extended road trip up through Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks continuing on to Banff in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.

I guess this comes from a certain fascination with Vintage Rallies. We Americans don’t have much appreciation for this sport but the Brits do a marvelous job of planning these events.

Many years ago I got on the mailing list of a couple of British rally coordinators and from time to time I still get a brochure in the mail that sets the imagination running wild. Peking to Paris…..or how about… Read the rest of this entry »

I rescued my 1967 Triumph TR4-A from a dilapidated one-car detached garage in Waukee, IA during the fall of 1977. It was not running and had some minor damage to the left rear wheel. I towed it back to Indianola behing my 1969 Grand Prix using a sturdy rope. We were living in a two bedroom apartment above a guitar shop on the town square at the time. The only parking space available to us was a block away in a small lot across the street from the police station. That had to suffice as my “garage”.

I don’t recall precisely what was wrong with the motor but it must have been minor because I began driving it shortly thereafter. The damage to the wheel was a little more problematic, the trailing arm on the independent rear suspension was bent and as a result the car travelled down the road slightly askew. This did not really affect the handling of the car but it did have a significant effect on tire wear and looked a little peculiar. I eventually replaced the trailing arm.

I got a tremendous amount of enjoyment from driving the little blue beastie and had a lot of memorable exeriences with it. I was attending college in Ankeny at the time and had a 50 mile round trip to make on a daily basis. On a typical fall morning I would unzip the tonneau cover on the drivers side, pop open the air vent and enjoy the warmed air that was forced through the heater and trapped underneath the cover while I drove through the crisp autumn air to class.
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I miss my Jaguar. It had a certain mystique about it that cannot be replaced by ordinary Detroit iron. What exactly do I mean by the Jaguar mystique? What is it that Jaguars have that other cars do not? Even people who are not generally interested in cars can immediately identify a Jaguar, new or old. Perhaps it is the rare combination of understated elegance and grace, a certain “presence” on the road. It’s hard to say, but when all is said and done, the Jaguar is a car which pleases the senses, and does so in a way that virtually no other automobile seems able to. Those of us who have (or had) Jaguars can attest that our cars simply make us feel good, whether driving, tinkering, polishing, or just staring at them.

I suppose this unquenchable desire has its roots back in the mid-seventies when I got my first LBC (little british car). I’ve forgotten exactly what drew me in the first place. It may have been high shool memories of John Zaun’s TR-6. Whatever the case, I found this navy blue 1967 Triumph TR-4A languishing in a dilapidated one-car detached garage out by Waukee, IA. Aahhh but that’s another story…

I found my Jaguar in Kansas City. It had been well cared for and did not show it’s age or the 156,000 miles. I did have a few issues to work through but they were minor. I enjoyed entering the Jag in local car shows when the opportunity arose and always did quite well. We won several plaques and trophys for Best in Class. Perhaps most enjoyable were the events sponsored by the British Car Club of Iowa. During the summer the club would have monthly get togethers which consisted of a “drive” culminating in a final stop somewhere for fellowship and ice cream. Sometimes we would put on a little car show of our own to help sponsor a local business.

Yes, one day I think I shall acquire another LBC. I’ve always wanted an Aston Martin… like the one James Bond drove in Goldfinger.