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SFJC "Save the Jaguar" campaign goes to Celebration, Florida
By Patsy and Chris Canning

The jaguar in the wild is one of the most beautiful animals ever created. This was a major reason for Sir William Lyons to select this animal as the symbol for his unique and fascinating line of automobiles. Because the SFJC is committed to preservation of the jaguar in the wild, we wanted to do something to help spread the word about what Jaguar Cars and the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS)

are doing to save these animals. The nice folks from the Jaguar Club of Florida, in Orlando were kind enough to invite us to their annual Concours d’Elegance in Celebration, Florida on September 8th. They provided us with a table next to the registration table where we could show "Save the Jaguar" web site information and WCS brochures.

Jaguar Cars and the WCS have joined together to protect the habitat of these wonderful animals. Jaguars are at the top of their ecosystem in areas from Brazil to Mexico. Without them entire ecosystems are thrown out of balance. Tragically, habitat destruction and hunting are endangering the long-term survival of this beautiful and vital species. Fortunately, Jaguar Cars and the WCS are partnering in a large-scale effort to ensure the jaguar is not lost.

The trip up to Orlando was a tribute to the dedication of Jag owners. The weather was solid rain from Palm Beach County to Celebration on Friday. Rick Hartwell, Russell Glace and Pascal Gademer all drove vintage Jags to put on display in the Concours. Our 73 E-Type OTS was getting trim work restored and was not available for the trip so we took our "other" vehicle. On the way, we saw some unbelievable rain cells and very nasty green and gray clouds that looked like they could spawn a tornado at any time.

We arrived in Celebration around 4 PM and were delighted to see the entrance of the hotel "decorated" with classic Jaguar cars. Around 5 PM, we met up with the gang from South Florida sans Pascal. We took a walk around and knew that we would enjoy the town of Celebration. It really is a fun place and its located very close to Disney World, just off I-4. The town is fairly new and is a recreation of a warm, friendly American town from many years ago. The people are friendly; there are some cozy boutiques and shops, interesting antiques and excellent restaurants. Shopping is fun in Celebration.

The Celebration Hotel –what a great place to spend a night. Wonderful and friendly staff, all the amenities and a superb lobby bar that served as a meeting place for friends and members from other clubs. The rooms are big and have excellent views. As the evening wore on, lots of people from Sarasota, Orlando and central Florida began showing up at the Lobby Bar. Then we all headed out to dine in a couple of excellent restaurants –just a couple blocks away. Jaguars, past, present and future were the topic of conversation. We are always amazed at how much Jaguar history has been captured in the minds of some of our fellow club members and those members of our sister clubs in Orlando and Sarasota.

The weather cleared during the night and Saturday morning was spectacular. Our guys were out in front of the Celebration Hotel, detailing their cars and there was Pascal with a very interesting story of his trip.

He developed problems with rear wheel carrier bearings on his 1972 E-type and (unfortunately) the last 4 miles into Celebration were on a flat bed truck. Not letting something as small as "severe wobble" on his right rear wheel hurt him, he drove (albeit slowly) over to the event. It’s hard to describe how dangerous that wheel looked. Chris said it looked like a child’s loose tooth that wanted to fall out, but…Pascal made it to the show. His car looked elegant and he won an award. As the Aussies say, "goodonya mate."

The concours was great. Not as many cars as we would have imagined but the cars that were at the event were very special. The photos on the SFJC web site provide a vivid description of these truly magnificent automobiles. We were excited with the great interest in the "Save the Jaguar" program and we gave away lots of literature. We were also able to give out a number the SFJC Nov 10^th Concours brochures to people in central and western Florida. The weather stayed sunny until the event was over and then the heavens opened up…great timing. We did not stay around for the awards and headed back to South Florida on Saturday afternoon – again in the rain. The weekend was really great--we will be going back to Celebration.

For more information on the Save the Jaguar program see Jaguar Cars "Art of Performance" brochure showing the Jaguar collection of clothing and accessories. Jaguar has donated the last page of this booklet to the Save the Jaguar Collection to help build awareness of the program. Another great place to learn more about jaguars in the wild is on the WCS web site à www.savethejaguar.com