A group of JCNA members from Texas had handled the entertainment which was cut short; the wigs and drag queen attire were funny though…

The most anticipated guest speaker was Norman Dewis who headed Jaguar testing and development for over 30 years since the early 50s. Very well known among enthusiasts, Norman Dewis told us many stories and anecdotes on his time at Jaguar. From the early testing of the XK120 and the famous runs at Jabekke, including the fitting of the an aircraft style bubble to improve aerodynamics...

One of the most significant component developed by Norman Dewis is the disk brakes, something that we still all use these day. Back in the early fifties when introduced in racing, Jaguar’s revolutionary system helped built the company’s reputation. He explained how he entered the Mille Miglia as navigator to Stirling Moss for the disk brakes first real world test. They were able to get into the lead before retiring in the final stages of the race with a broken suspension. All this of course with little assistance and driving the car to and from England… no fancy trailers then !

Other interesting stories covered Le Mans and the 5 Jaguar wins and of course the launch of the E-type at the Geneva motor show in 1961. The development of the E-type included the designing of the independent rear suspension which would be another technical milestone for Jaguar and one to which Norman Dewis contributed.

But the car with which he most associated with is the XJ13 prototype in which in almost lost his life in a testing accident, memories he shared with us.

Then looking back on his extraordinary career, he said "I joined Jaguar in 1952. I did 36 years there. I developed and tested 25 cars in 36 years. I look back at the track records, the MIRA circuit where I spent most of my life." "I achieve one a quarter million miles at over 100 mph on that same circuit.". He went on : "I drove 600 to 700 miles a day. People would say : Norman's office is in the cockpit of the car or the car was built around Norman."

Looking at the present and the JCC he concluded "These are all fond memories, and this visit this time has probably been one of the most memorable visits that I've ever made." He ended with "So looking at the whole picture of my life at Jaguar, it IS my life, I gave most of my life to it. I don't want to see it end. I want you guys to keep it going."

And seeing his enthusiasm during the entire week, it’s easy to see he strongly believes in Jaguar, talking to people, going on tours and even driving some the cars he helped develop, half a century ago !

After Norman Dewis, two other guest speakers took to the podium. Former Jaguar NA president Mike Dale described the difficult times the company faced in the late 80s and especially in the early 90 when they had to convince the new owners, Ford, that the company would be viable and profitable. He then introduced current Jaguar North America president Mike O’Driscoll whom he picked as his successor in 1998. Mr O’Driscol remarks where focused on the future and where the company is heading. The most important part of that future being the X-type a product Jaguar is counting on to reach further sales milestones. He also went on reminding us that Jaguar cars are about elegance, and that in a way making people look elegant as they go from point A to point B is what its all about. That is something we all knew after the marvelous display of elegance displayed earlier in the day on the streets of Franklin.

Moving on to the awards, the Mayor of Franklin was introduced to announce the recipients of the Mayoral awards, one of which went to SFJC member Frank Rubino for his XK120.

As in most cases, despite good intentions, the award ceremony sort of dragged on but at least we didn’t have to scramble to take notes on scores as head judge Jerry Nell had printed a large number of result sheets (see our web site for these and page 16 for the first 3 in each class).

Also presented was the Andrew Whyte award to the JCNA member who exemplifies the spirit of Jaguar and it went to St Louis member Phil Taxman.