The Cat's Meow - June 1999

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Vol. XXIII, No. 4 - June 1999

Treasure Hunt Report, by Robert Frost
South Florida Jaguar Club's MkII meets the "S", by Georges Harrisson
The Road Rally & Treasure Hunt, by Paul Sharrone & Kathy Pender

by Robert Frost

The South Florida Jaguar Club Treasure Hunt was scheduled to be held on Sunday April 18. By Friday we only knew of a few competitors that would be coming and when the rain started on Sunday morning (after weeks of drought) we thought the event was doomed. After all the work that Thomas Lanahan and I had put into the event, I was worried that no one would come.

However by noon the sun was shining, and some light clouds kept the temperatures just right. As the starting hour approached the competitors started to arrive and by 1:45 pm we had 14 eagar teams waiting for the off. The cars lined up in front of Screwey Louis's restaurant in Lake Worth and on the stroke of 2.00 p.m. the first car was flagged away on the twenty sevens mile run.

Each crew had to drive the correct route by following a set of instructions and then finding the answers to eighteen clues whose answers would be fund by the side of the road. The route took the cars south, through many beatiful areas, with many twists and turns trying to make the competitors take the wrong route. It became obvious later that the crews were smarter than the route organizer since very few crews made any serious mistakes. Next year will be trickier for sure. The first stop was the Wokodahatchee wetlands, whew them is a boardwalk across a wildlife sanctuary with turtles, fish, alligators and birds of every description. Here the competitors had to find yet another answer to a clue. The second stop was the Morikami Park, a beautiful Oasis of peace amongst Japanese gardens. Here Rick and Diane Hartwell had kindly provided cold drinks whilst the crews bragged how well they were getting on.	some of the cars lined up prior to launch
First Launch .. Russell Glace	Lilian & Pascal Gademer's 1972 E-Type
The end of the rally was at Sloppy Joe's in Boca Ralon. Here the crews were faced with yet another challenge by answering a quiz, which was all to do with cars. The route was obviously not as difficult as the organizers had thought since one crew achieved 22 out of 23 and four more teams got 21 points. To determine the second and third points the results of the quiz were taken into account. The winner was Paul Sharon. driving a 1967 Corvette with Steve Jaffe driving a 1964 Sunbeam Tiger second. Third place was taken by Thierry Thomas with a 1989 XJS. Our president, Russel Glace, handed the three winning teams their magnificent trophies and thanked everyone for the effforts put in to to make the day a great success. He also thanked the managers of Screwy Loui's and Sloppy Joe's for all of their efforts in making us feel so welcome.	Line up of first arrivals
Robert Frost's Alvis	Paul Sharrone's arrival
Russel Glace presenting the trophies to ( left to right ) : 1st place Paul Sharone, 2nd place Steve Jafe and 3rd place Thierry Thomas
As you can see the first and second places were talen by cars that were not Jaguars, so come on all the Jaguar drivers who didn't compete, next time. Let's have an even bigger turnout and maybe a Jaguar in first place. All of the competitors thought that it was a great day out and a good excuse to use their old car. The most commonly asked question was "When will the next one be ?" Watch this space for further news ! Robert Frost
End of the rally, 3 of the E-types side by side
all pictures by Thomas Lanahan except bottom one by Pascal Gademer

South Florida Jaguar Club's MkII meets the "S"

by Georges Harrisson

On Saturday morning May 8, an exited group of South Florida Jaguar Club members gathered at The Sporting Brews Restaurant in Weston Florida. This was the staging point for the clubs caravan to south Miami's Jaguar dealership to experience the formal introduction of the New "S" Type Jaguar. Included in the hour drive to The Collection located in historic Coral Gables were several vintage Jaguars.

Sales Manager Ed Shepherd and Assistant Sales Manager Les Melvin warmly greeted the contingency by offering coffee, juice and danish. Also waiting in the showroom was a 1960 Mark II sedan. This beautiful restored example is old English white and is proudly owned by Natalia and William Brown of Delray Beach Florida

The Brown's Mark II was strategically positioned adjacent to a new Anthracite "S" Type both facing the main doors onto the showroom floor. The effect was similar to the heritage image presently seen in the new "S" commercials. While some members viewed the array of new TV spots on the dealer monitor, others were inspecting the new "S" along with the dealership's customers.

The entire club certainly enjoyed receiving the VIP attention and The Collection had a busy and steady flow of potential customers. A special thanks to Ed and Les from The Collection in South Florida.

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