Vol. XXIII, No. 7 - September 1999

PRESIDENT MESSAGE

September 1999

Thank you to all of those who attended our last monthly meeting held at the Holiday Inn at 1-95 and Glades Road West in Boca Raton. Our host Ed Shubert, manager of this facility, and a fellow member of our club, did a great job making us feel at home in his hotel. Although summer is usually a quiet time for our club its nice to see familiar faces, and to welcome newcomers.

Thanks also to Nick Delillo or Alpine Jaguar, our club's sponsoring dealer, for hosting an interesting and informative "tech session" on Saturday, July 31,1999. Nick and his technicians did a super job of explaining the aspects of their service facility and fielding our various questions. It's great to have such a knowledgeable team as our clubs sponsor and fellow members. During our Tech Session we had the opportunity to meet Mr. Michael Barratt a Jaguar corporate employee of some 49 years. Mike is now a Field Supervisor Engineer from corporate headquarters in Mahwah, New Jersey. Mike reminisced about working the line in England and explained to our club many facets of his history with the car maker.

Once again a reminder to help our website coordinator Pascal Gademer. Please send him photographs of your car collection. Our clubs website is hftp://www.pam.trading.com./sfjc 

If you are a car person, such as myself, you will probably enjoy the Tower Shops Car Shows on Friday nights. Our club, as well as the Gold Coast Triumph Club, meets the last Friday of each month. Together, we share time and have the opportunity to enjoy the shops and restaurants in the local area.

Season will soon be upon us, Thomas Lanahan, with the help of Brad Cline and other board members, has planned many exciting events throughout the coming months. Please take the time to mark your calendars and attend the wonderful events that our club has to offer.

Speaking of events, the most important event, Jaguar Festival, will be taking place September 27, through October 1,1999. The Broad more at Colorado Springs is hosting this venue. Several of our members are planning to attend. If you have any questions please review the Jaguar Article, visit our website, or call one of your board members. The accommodations are quickly filling up. Our regional representative, Tom Palisi, has sent an accommodations update for surrounding hotels, please review Tom's article in this month's newsletter.

Remember to send or fax Diane Hartwell any articles or free classified ads that you would like published. Diane, in my opinion, has the hardest job in our club. She is the person that, for years, has kept the club together producing and publishing our award winning newsletter. It is our clubs "life's blood," without her, and the great job Brad Cline has done in the past, we would not be what we are today.

I realize that most of our members expect great events and interesting news. However, it requires the time and effort of a handful of people to make this happen. Your board is a wonderful group of dedicated professionals that give of themselves for the betterment of our club. They are all volunteers, they do what they do for you. I'm proud to be part of this organization. Please support our club in any way you can.

Russel Glace
President

Pittsburgh Concours
by George and Jo Keller

The last weekend of July brought the 3rd annual concours for the Jaguar Club of Pittsburgh.  I decided to take Thursday off to clean the car and get ready for the drive Friday morning.  I wanted to do as much cleaning as possible as the governor of Pennsylvania had declared a drought emergency and washing a car carried a fine of $300. So there would be no car washing allowed at the show site of Linden Hall.Linden Hall is a historical mansion built in 1911 and around 35 miles south of Pittsburgh in Dawson. Times and owners have changed over the years and the area now bosts a hotel and golf course owned by th? United Steel Workers.  A truly lovely venue for such an event.Anyway, back to the washing. 

As I went out to wash the car I discovered someone had decided to vandalize the left front and rear doors of my car. (XJ40) What a way the start the day and the beginning of a much anticipated weekend.  After a few choice words and  opening my eyes again to see if  I was awake or dreaming, the reality sat in.  Should I stay, or should I go? What a let down. Well, I decided to go anyway and have a good time. Why should a few dents and bruises stop me from having a good time.

So after giving the car a good cleaning Jo and I were off for Pennsylvania the following morning.  Nothing could stop us now.  We decided if nothing else we would have a good time.  Upon arrival we walked around the grounds and took an exterior tour of the mansion as tours had just closed. After walking up and down the hills in 94 degree temperatures we were a little thirsty so stopped by the bar for a couple cold ones.  Ahh, cool and refreshing.Friday evening we went out to dinner with the Williams, and Chellmans of the Pittsburgh club.  Such great hospitality was displayed by these wonderful people. A local DJ was there and we really had a good time playing name that tune.  I'm afraid I lost. Saturday was again hot, but Jags were showing up now on a regular basis. The cars were displayed on the lawn in front of the hotel with shade trees being the most popular location of the day.Around 25 cars were judged with 3 of those cars scoring a perfect 100.  A freshly restored SSlOO, and two cars that were also at our show, a BRG XK150S, and a creme XK140.

Since there was only one car in my class, I took a first.I must say it was well worth the effort to attend this show.  We had an excellent time and really appreciate the hospitality extended to us.  A special thank you to Bryan and Candy Williams for a job well done.

Respectfully submitted,

George and Jo Keller

Pittsburgh Vintage Grand Prix
by Russel Glace

July 22, 1999

It was a pleasure attending this years "Week of Celebration" for the 1999 Vintage Grand Prix. The marque of the year was Mercedes Benz motor car company. Mr. Bobby Rahal a retired C.A.R.T. owner/driver, Indy driver and currently a Mercedes Benz dealer was the celebrity host for this week's event.The activities started Sunday with a kickoff rally at a Pittsburgh Landmark, Point State Park.

Monday was an invitational preview car show. This was an informal gathering at one of the cities trendy areas, Shadyside. The main shopping area, consisting of six blocks on Walnut Street, was blocked off for the show cars. My family and I showed my dad's 1996 C-4 Corvette, my sister-in-law's 1994 S400 Mercedes Benz, my brother's 94 911 Turbo Carra Porsche and "Old Oscar," my Xk 120 O.T.S. All together there were about 200 cars shown that evening.Wednesday we were invited to showings in the downtown business areas. There were four locations selected for shows during the mid day. The crowds were overwhelming when office buildings emptied during lunch time. The "Blues Brothers" even drove around town announcing the event in the replica police car. The Dan Ackroid and John Bilushi doubles did a great job.

Thursday was yet another event with an evening parade and car show at another one of the city's fun areas. This event was similar to the Walnut Street show, but attended by many more participants and spectators.Saturday was the start of the main event, the race, with qualifications going on all day. This was also the time for the main car shows. I was entered in "British Car Day." Different clubs claimed their spots on a city golf course between the University of Pittsburgh and Carnige Mellon University. In the Jaguar category there were probably 80 cars with 16 different XK's 120,140, and 150. The combined total of over 3,000 cars attended the shows, and about 200 vintage from V.S.C.C.A. and various other clubs attended.

Sunday was the last day with the final show. The Larry Smith Memorial Show, was dedicated to this late vintage racer. Before the race there was a Marque parade for Mercedes Benz and a patron parade for the Autism Society. As patrons my family and I were permitted to run the track. I ran two laps. That was my favorite part of the week's events.This experience has wet my appetite for another hobby, vintage racing. I spent most of that day in the race pits gathering as much information as I could compute. Again, the same as last year, to see world class Allards, Bugitti's, Jaguars, etc. is very interesting. By the way a 1956 Jaguar XK 140 fixed head coupe took 1st place and a Jaguar Xk 120 O.T.S. took 3rd place in their class race. The race had six different classes, with six different races.I was unable to remain to learn the results of the "British Car Day" standings. I had to leave to attend the Grand Prix Dinner. The Pittsburgh Athletic Club hosted the Autism Society Vintage Grand Prix Dinner. There was a silent auction before dinner, my brothers and I kept signing each others name to the bid list. Luckily none of us were the successful bidders.Mr. Rahal was the guest speaker at this event. His speech was to vintage drivers and the like, he therefore talked about grass roots racing. Bobby introduced his father and explained how his dad peaked his interest in cars, and racing in general. He explained all about his past and his sincere interest in early British sports cars. He is a big fan of Jaguars, MG's, and Triumphs. He has been involved in all aspects of racing, hillclimbs, etc., etc. What I found interesting is that there was no mention of his many successes or conquests. I found Bobby to be a humble, soft spoken regular guy. It was a great pleasure to actually meet him. I believe it is safe to say that everyone had a great time at this event.By the way I found out by mail that my Xk 120 O.T.S. took 1st place in the XK 120-140-and 150 category.

Russell Glace

MONTHLY MEETINGS   (Except October, see below )

Monthly meetings are held on the first tuesday of the month, at this new location :

THE HOLIDAY INN,  1950 GLADES RD,  BOCA RATON TOWN CENTER
PHONE 531-338-5200

DIRECTIONS FROM  I 95 :
exit 39 Glades Rd,  travel west to the first traffc light,  make U-turn Hotel entrance on right

FROM TURNPIKE :
exit 75 Boco Raton,  east on Glades Road for 3 miles, Hotel on right

OCTOBER DINNER MEETING
in

Guest Speaker  : Mr. Frank Rubino, noted defense attorney & fellow member,

Thomas Lanahan (800)642-6479 x1947

Rt. 1 south to Kendall Dr.(west), T. Roma's on right side. (9525 N.Kendall Dr.)

South Florida Jaguar Club
c/o PO Box 8148
Coral Springs, FL 33075
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Copyright © 1999 South Florida Jaguar Club, last revision 9/3/99