English Summer Break


Just back from a few glorious summer days in England; ah, if it were always like that, light at 4 a.m., sunshine through till 10 p.m. Idyllic but then winter, in the form of rain, cold and high winds can often be a factor in the middle of an English summer, which is why I live here!

I took the opportunity to visit Guy Broad’s emporium that is dedicated to Jaguar XKs. I’m on the lookout, for a customer, for an early flat-floor, outside latch Jaguar E Type. True to form, Guy knew of one and gave me the details. Whilst I was there, I took the opportunity to take a look over Guy’s workshop, entirely filled with Jaguar XK120s that his mechanics are restoring. They’re all done to a very high standard, as you can see by the photos and Guy also showed us his blue “Jabbeke” replica 120, in which he replicated the XK120’s historic run of 1949 in Belgium, where, if memory serves me right, a “slightly modified” 120 did 132 mph.

On Wednesday morning, friend Tim drove me over to Mallory Park in Leicestershire, as that’s their test day, cars in the morning, bikes in the afternoon. I was particularly taken with the blue lightweight E Type replica that you see here, despite being told the horrendous cost of converting a standard early E type to the lightweight spec. Whatever, it certainly looked and sounded great, as did the Lotus Cortina you see here also. That looked as if its driver were thoroughly enjoying himself as he slid gracefully around Mallory’s bends. It was good to be back at a circuit where I enjoyed many happy races.

Two more weeks and I’ll be back there to go see the Silverstone Classic but in between I’ll be at the KIC at one of my all time favorite American circuits, Road America. See you there?