Vol. XXIII, No. 3 - May 1999
Vol. XXIII, No. 3 - May 1999
Please allow me take this opportunity to thank our Board of Directors. The time and effort it takes to plan, organize, and execute monthly meetings, planning meetings, and events is extraordinary. The feedback I have received from our membership has been very positive. A volunteer organization is quite different than a business. The direction in which our club will go is in the hands of the fine people that represent our club. The enthusiasm and dedication of our representative is apparently inexhaustible. Realize that in a club our size, with a membership of almost 100 people, it is the same twenty or so people that do all of the work and truly keep the club alive and growing. It is now time for us to come up with a strategy for reaching the other 80% of our membership. We, the board members, want your input. We do not care how active you have been in the past, we want you involved now. We want to steer the club in a direction that will invite more participation. We need you to tell us what path to take. Please let us know what you want, expect, or need from your club.
A continuing goal of mine, as I have indicated in past newsletters, is to increase our membership, advertising base, and sponsorship. The South Florida Jaguar Club is going places. We have been nationally recognized by our parent club, Jaguar Club of North America (JCNA), for our award winning newsletter and membership growth. We have the opportunity to be, the leader in our region. As always, we need your help to make our goals a reality.
Thank you for your support.
Sincerely,
Russell Glace
by Russell Glace
It was a
pleasure representing our club at the Annual General Meeting for Jaguar Clubs of North America (J.C.N.A.). Rick Hartwell and I, as your delegates, were hosted by the Nations Capitol Jaguar Club.Rick had made arrangements to have his brother, Bill, from Louisiana and a member of our club, meet us at the airport. Two of Rick's long time friends, Dick and Barry, of the Carolina club also met us. While we were in the D.C. area, my brother, Tim, who lives in near-by Crofton, also joined us. We all gathered at the Premier Sheridan Hotel in Tyson Corners. Our itinerary included a visit to White Post Restoration, a forty year old establishment that offers services from total off frame rebuilds to simple detailing. The customer is only limited by the number of dollars he is willing to spend. During our tour we witnessed fabrication of body parts for one of the world's most rare cars, a Hubmobile. This was quite an education.
That evening the local club featured a tour of Ace Rosner's private collection. Here we met the owner as he explained the history of his collection. Interestingly enough, most of these vehicles were drivers, not show cars. The owner, a small man, is an ex-RAF pilot who had been injured during one of his missions and had lost his right arm. Amazingly, he is still able to drive many of his collectibles by steering and operating the manual shift with just his left arm. Proof that there is no stopping a true car enthusiast.
The next day was all business with the Board, delegates, and guests crammed into a small hotel meeting room. First on the agenda was the election of the Board. The past president Jim Morton, prevailed. Information concerning the election of other officers will be available in the next issue of the Jaguar Journal. There were also several items on the agenda that involved changes to previous rulings (see Rick Hartwell's A.G.M. article). My personal opinion of the meeting is that a great deal of time was spent on discussing items that catered to only a few club's needs but would have an effect on the overall membership.
The award ceremony was held that evening. The host club arranged for at least two of it's members to join each guest table. Our table was occupied by Rick, his brother, myself two of my brothers, and my father. It was quite a family affair. Evidently a deep appreciation for automobiles is genetic. The ceremony seemed to go on forever. There were two highlights for our table. The first was when I accepted the Class 16 First Place Award for Hilary and Richard Irving for their ccE~ type. The second was when our own, Diane and Rick Hartwell received the Best Corner Stapled Newsletter award. We are fortunate to have them in our club and we are all very proud of the great job they have both done.
After the festivities we all adjourned for the evening, most went to the lobby bar for a nightcap. The next morning we said our good-byes until the next event at the International Festival at the Broadmoor in Colorado or the next AGM.
EQUESTRIAN FESTIVAL
It was up early, Sunday morning, 6:30 and on the road at 7:30, to be in Wellington around 8:30. Robert Frost was to drive my XJS, which I had detailed the day before and was really looking sharp, until, while backing up in Karla's Aurora, I bumped into it and ruined it's front and Karla's backside. I mean her car of course. Damage was about $2000, Who says I'm not supporting the American economy? So Rob stayed home and Karla and I set off. Five minutes away, on Palmetto, my coolant came rushing into the car, spilling over the carpet, my shoes and my (1950's) pants. Certified mechanic as I am, I spotted a loose hose at the heater valve and managed to put it back on and fasten the clamp with a 99 cent screwdriver. How smart of me to carry a gallon of water with me! It was just enough to fill the radiator. We arrived on time in Wellington. |
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| There we were given a place of honor, between 'an SS II tourer and an XK-8, right behind the entrance. The event itself was well organized. From the way JAGUAR had put their new models on display, to the hospitality tent where refreshments and a wonderful buffet-lunch were served. Not to speak of an exciting equestrian jump show which all of us enjoyed tremendously. At four O'clock sharp was the prizegiving. I cannot remember all the winners but Russell and Thomas (over all winner) were among them. I was ~ deeply" disappointed not to be among the "chosen", but then again, the winners were picked by the public and what do they know about an original, unrestored, 27K miles from new, second owner XK-120 roadster from 1954?? |
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| It was a fine relaxed event, and as always, the members that
did not show, were wrong. Thank you JAGUAR for inviting the South Florida Jaguar Club and hopefully we'll be there again next year.
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On Saturday morning there was a Golf Tournament and on Saturday afternoon the RM Classic Car Auction was held under a huge tent facing the ocean on the property. The auction featured 60 of the worlds most spectacular cars. There was a "Bird Cage" Maserati, a Jaguar XKSS, a light weight E type, 2 '(XKEs, an '(K 120, a Ferrari 340
~ a Mercedes 3005L Gullwing and a Ford GT4O to name a few. Some of the cars on the auction block were sold for over seven figures.Saturday evening there was a black tie Reception and Gala Dinner in the main ballroom of the Ritz which was attended by over 500 classic car lovers. The honorary Chairman was Carroll Shelby of Cobra, Mustang and GT4O fame. He spoke to the enthusiastic group about his almost 50 year involvement in motorsports and was a huge hit.
The sun rose early Sunday morning and over 200 of the worlds most elegant automobiles took to the show field. This event is by invitation only and all of the cars were preselected so that the finest example of each was exhibited without duplication. The cars were staged on
the 17th and 18th Fairways and Greens of the beautiful golf course. The motto of the Concours is "Field of Dreams" and that it truly was. There were Pierce Arrows, Auburns, Duesenbergs, Packards, Minervas, Rolls Royces Delages, REOS, Stutzes and more of the grand classic cars of the 20's and 30's. There were Mercedes G ullwi ngs, Ferraris, Jaguars, Porsches, Aston Martins, BMWs, Lamborghinis and others in the sports car class. There was the limited production car class which featured a 1954 KAISER 161 Darrin. There was everything from a 1939 Chevrolet "Argentine" racer to a 1976 Porsche 934R5R Turbo in the race car class. There were 10 Jaguars in various classes, 1948 Jaguar Drophead, 1959 Mark II, 1955 D type, 1963 F-type lightweight, 1985 '(JR-7, 1991 XJR, 1953 XK12OM, 1951 XKI4O, 1950 XK120 and a 1966 XKE coupe. Since the Concours was honoring the cars of Carroll Shelby, there were 9 Shelby 289 and 427 Cobras, 5 Shelby GT35Os & 500s and even a GT4O.Spread throughout the golf course were various
corporate tents, automobile art exhibits, a fashion show, and food tents. The facilities were impeccable. Early in the day teams consisting of 5 judges each, all wearing their Amelia Island Concours monogram blue blazers spread out through the area and began some very serious and meticulous judging of the vehicles. Every part of the car was thoroughly examined for authenticity and submitted to the white glove test.At around 3:30 p.m. the judges came around and placed blue ribbons on the various cars which had won class prizes and corporate awards, as well as the two top prizes for Best Open Car in Show and Best Closed Car in Show. The awards presentation area was on the
green of the 18th hole at the end of the Fairway. A covered grandstand area was constructed in a U-shape and as the awards were announced the cars drove the length of the Fairway with the spectators on each side to the presentation area where their award was announced and presented to them. If one received a blue ribbon they knew they had won an award, but did not know what it was. When you drove up to the presentation area they announced the award. I was fortunate enough to have 2 blue ribbons placed on my car. As I was called forward the first time it was for a corporate award ~~The Most Elegant Jaguar". I then waited and waited and at the very end was finally called forward and was presented with a Lilique Crystal Vase for the "Best Open Car In Show".After the awards presentation, a post show cocktail party and dinner was held on the ocean side lawn of the Ritz Carlton. A wonderful conclusion to an absolutely fabulous weekend. The Concours is a charity event for the benefit of Hospice Northeast. There were over 9,200 spectators who paid $ 25.00 each to see these beautiful cars, raising almost $230,000 for the charity. This was truly an event to be remembered.
The 1999 JCNA AGM
Hosted by the Nations Capital
by Rick Hartwell
March is here and that means it is time to head out to another annual general meeting of the Jaguar Clubs of North America.
This years event was hosted by the Nations Capital JC and was held at the 5heraton Premiere, Tysons Corner, Virginia. Russell Glace and I represented our club as delegates and headed north Thursday morning. I always look forward to these events because it gives me a chance to see so many friends from across the country which would otherwise be impossible to see individually. Russell has elected to tell you about the social side of the event so my job is to relay to you those important (and not so important) details of what was decided in the meeting itself.
The meeting always starts off with a role call to register what clubs are in attendance and what proxies they are carrying. This identifies exactly how many total votes can be expected for each item voted upon.
The next item on the agenda was the presentation of committee reports by each chairman. This was done in summary since each report was given to us before our arrival. The content of each report is beyond the scope of this article but they are available upon request.
The next topic on the agenda was old business and this is where the brunt of activity lies. This years agenda seemed to be heavy laden with a lot of personal agendas which would affect just a few clubs rather than JCNA as a whole. The items of importance are as follows:
Class 18 (the preservation class) has been reinstated as a permanent Champion Division class and will be judged under the same Concours rules of that division with the following exceptions: an archives report from Jaguar Cars Archives must be present and displayed on the windscreen.
Deductions shall not exceed total non-authentic points for each category. Preservation status of any component is to be strictly limited to the opinion of the judge, and shall not require any discussion with, nor initialing from the entrant. Trophy requirement for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place will be 80, 75, and 70 respectively. No protests will be allowed for deductions taken with the exception of any points that would exceed total deducts for the same non-authentic item. New business came next and this is where most of the activity was. The first item on the agenda was in reference to slalom timing sets for use at JCNA sanctioned slalom events. It was decided that having this equipment would produce more fair and accurate timing and JCNA has agreed to help with the purchase of said equipment up to a maximum of $250.
The next item on the agenda was a proposal to change the required number of shows attended to quali~ for regional awards in the championship and driven classes. The current requirement is 3 shows to be eligible. The proposal suggests that if only 2 shows are required there will be greater motivation to make it to a second show to be eligible. The proposal passed so it should be especially interesting to see if participation in the 3 shows in Florida increases. The third proposal involved the standardization of~concours trophies. It was suggested that only the JCNA supplied plates(mugs should be issued at sanctioned events because there had been a few registered complaints about poor quality trophies being issued at select shows. The proposal was defeated following the opinion of the delegates that on the whole regular entrants are getting tired of receiving the same JCNA trophies at every show and experience has shown that most clubs that elect to develop their own trophies do in fact produce very respectable products. The Jaguar Club of Florida has issued different trophies every year and are always very well designed and received.
The fourth proposal had 2 parts both referring to class 16 (Special Interest). It was proposed that a vehicle must have a minimum of 35 non-authentic deductions to be eligible for entry into the class and that the class would now be judged on the same 100 point criteria as championship classes rather than the 10 point basis as in driven. All replica vehicles would remain on the 10 point basis since they are not eligible for any national or regional awards. The proposal passed and goes in effect this year as do all previously mentioned proposals that passed.
The fifth proposal involved determining whether Dayton Wire Wheels are to be considered as authentic equipment since they could be dealer installed at the time of purchase of a new vehicle. It was determined that they are to be considered as non-authentic with full deduction of points. The last major topic brought before the delegates involved a study that was performed to look into reducing the number of championship classes by consolidating certain groups of cars into one group. The best examples would be to have all XKs in one class or all XKEs in one class to help minimize the number of trophies required at each event. It was determined that at this time it is in the best interest of JCNA to maintain the classes as they currently stand.
The balance of administrative discussion will appear in the next Jaguar Journal for anyone interested in the in-depth workings of the national club.
If you have any questions involving the preceding proposals feel free to call me for further discussion. I hope to see everyone out at our next event The Treasure Hunt developed by Robert Frost and Thomas Lanahan. It is going to be a lot of fun! SeeYa
South Florida Jaguar Club
c/o PO Box 8148
Coral Springs, FL 33075
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