2002 Low Country Classic
by Pascal Gademer
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After two years of kicking off the Southeast Concours season in Columbia SC, the Jaguar Society of South Carolina organized its annual sanctioned Concours in the Low Country and its most scenic town, Charleston.
Hosted at the Riverview Radisson, conveniently located across the street from the Concours location, Brittlebank Park, the Low Country Classic attracted some 35 entries coming as far as Ohio, Michigan, Connecticut, South Florida and especially from the neighboring Carolina Jaguar Club.
Prior to opening the festivities, work was in order and a judges seminar took place Friday afternoon, led by George Camp, so that those who might have forgotten the rules and principles of Concours judging during the winter break would not be lost on the field the next day.
Following the seminar, all entrants drove just a couple of miles for the welcome cocktail party at Palmetto Jaguar, Charleston's official dealership who deserves a very special mention here for the support they give the JSSC. They not only provide financial support for the Concours, along with a delicious hors d'oeuvres buffet and live music for the welcome cocktail party but do so with true enthusiasm toward the club and the Jaguar heritage.
Saturday morning, cars only had to drive across the street into Brittlebank Park on the bank of the Ashley River where they would be photographed before getting on the field. Good planing and marking of the spots made parking the 35 cars effortless and after the usual amount of detailing, rags down was ordered at noon just after the judges meeting; judging went smoothly under the direction of JSSC Head Judge Dick Deibel.
A very nice selection of Jaguars was presented on the field with nearly
all classes represented. Among the notable entries, was "Peaches" a magnificent
1938 SS 1.5 Litre Saloon owned by Diane and Mike Fulton who had recently represented the colors
of the Carolina Jaguar Club and JCNA at the prestigious invitational Amelia Island
Concours d'Elegance.
Dick
Geoghegan's beautiful 1962 Mark 2 (99.78 points ) , very elegant in Silver, was parked next to the SS and
served as a reminder of how things had changed in only 25 years with sleek elegant
lines... And not far down the field, just another 25 years later, the contemporary looking
XJ40 helped complete the time line of Jaguar Saloon history with Bill and Margaret
Bingham's 1994 XJ6 (Carolina Jaguar Club, 99.94 points) in traditional
British Racing Green.
On the sports car side, the legendary XKs were very well represented with
a pair of stunning red cats standing out : in driven a beautiful older restoration from
Michigan with 's XK120 OTS and in Champion, Ronald Gaertner's 1960 XK150 DHC (Jaguar Club
of Virginia, 99.96 points) .
In the E-type group, again two red cats stood out... JSSC members Randy
and Connie Smedley's 1967 Series 1 OTS which took a near perfect 99.99 points and Glenn
and Mary Henson's 71 Series 3 2+2 ( Jaguar Association of Central Ohio, 99.95 points ) . Glenn's E-type,
2001 C07 Champion with a perfect 100 point average is a very interesting restoration not
only as 2+2 are usually not prime candidate for restorations because of their lower values
compared to convertibles but because the car came from a salvage yard with heavy damage
and V8 under the bonnet. It took Glenn nearly 10 years to restore it to its original
glory, a true labor of love he completed himself ! Look for an article on the car soon....
The evening banquet held at the host hotel that evening was a bit special because it was also the official presentation of the JCNA Dealer of the Year award to Palmetto Jaguar with JCNA president Gary Hagopian flying in from New Hampshire to present the award. The JCNA Dealer of the Year Award, introduced in 1999 recognizes the North American Dealership which has shown the most support to a local JCNA affiliate. Nominations are tabulated by JCNA but it is clear that Palmetto Jaguar has been not only supporting the JSSC but also showing enthusiasm about the club activities and what the club means to Jaguar Heritage. Palmetto's Vice President Burnam Eubank "admitted" in her remarks that her daily driver was not an S-Type, X-Type or new XJ8 but a Series 3 XJ6, something which drew approving cheers from the club members...
2002 Southeast Concours : June 9th - Carolina Jaguar Club, A South East Regional Concours is in the works in conjunction with the
Euro 2002 in October. |
Concours awards and multiple door prizes were given away at a good pace and often with a good dose of humor by JSSC founder Mike Grosso; thanks to the club sponsors ( Engel Imports, Apple Hydraulics and Coventry West ) nearly everyone walked out with something. All participants received an 8 x 11 picture of their cars driven on the field.
On Sunday morning, the week end was concluded with a prepared self guided tour of historical Charleston.
Congratulations to the Jaguar Society of South Carolina and its team ( Daryl Beech, Dick Deibel, George Camp, Mike Grosso, Kerry Vickers and all their members) for yet another first class event which also showed that Southern Hospitality is alive and well !
Complete
Concours Results
Jaguar Society of South Carolina
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