Talking about how the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club (JEC) all started, Graham tells us that he was one of 12 people that started the Club in 1984 and with his wife Lynne, ran the membership part of the business from the very start.
“A few of us thought that there should be a club doing more to help members keep their cars going so we decide to give it a go,” Graham explains during our interview.
“You don’t even have to have a Jaguar to join, in fact it is advantageous to join before you buy and learn from the club experts,” advises Graham. “There is so much a person can get out of the club from advice to events, offers, insurance and tours etc.”
Before he joined the club, Graham was a Bank Manager and when he was made redundant from that job he was able to work full-time at the JEC in 1993.
And of course, he’s always had a soft spot for Jaguar cars, buying his first model, a 340, in 1975 and it was then that he got involved with the local area of the Jaguar Drivers Club.
“Jaguar’s heritage covers so much of motoring history, from its glorious racing success of the 1950s, the E-type of the swinging sixties, the difficult times in the eighties and its glorious rebirth in recent times. But, above all, they have all been great cars to look at and drive, that combination of wood, leather and performance at an attractive price was unbeatable.” Graham says nostalgically.
“Most manufacturers would love to have Jaguars history and its following.”
Graham has also restored three Jaguars — a 340 followed by an E-type 2+2 and then his beloved Mark Vlll, which took 12 years.
We asked Graham what was his favourite Jaguar model? But that apparently wasn’t a straight forward question to answer for a long-time Jaguar lover.
“It’s difficult to choose your favourite, as it’s a bit like your favourite song, it’s partly the song, but also the era and what you were doing at that time.
“The D-type has to be up there as such a gorgeous car, the best sports car design ever in my book. But the E-type must have its place – it defined an era and is now an even bigger icon than it was in the sixties.
“The Series 1 XJ6 is such a great car, streets ahead of the competition when it came out in 1968. After all it was good enough to inspire a very young Ian Callum to become a car designer.
“My heart would have to say the big saloons, the Mark 7, 8 & 9, they epitomised the Jaguar slogan of: ‘Grace, Space and Pace,” Graham says.
“When it comes to modern day Jaguars the F-type is a lovely car — a real modern Jaguar it makes a statement and has tremendous presence,” adds Graham.
Graham’s favourite non-Jaguar car, “historically” he says: “has to be the wonderful 1920s supercharged Bentley — what a glorious car and so British.”
Thanks to all these new American motoring programmes on TV Graham is also drawn to muscle cars. “A 1965–1970 Shelby Mustang GT350 would do me nicely,” he adds.
Graham has a lot of interesting stories involving jaguar that have built up over the years and he says one amusing one was at an XK50 event in 1998, when JEC ran a competition to win a ride round Donington in a real C-type, driven by Sir Stirling Moss.
“Two days before the event I was told I couldn’t have the C-type so after some frantic phoning around Nigel Webb kindly lent me his. So at the allotted time I picked it up from him in the infield and he told me how to drive it the mile or so around to the paddock.
“On arriving in the paddock the prize winner was there and then came Stirling, so I told him what Nigel had told me, in essence how to drive a C-type. He listened patiently and then put his hand on my shoulder and whispered: “I’ve driven C-types before you know old boy.”
“I felt very stupid, of course he had at Goodwood and Le Mans etc.
“But as far as stories are concerned there are none better than listening to Norman Dewis recount his life with Jaguar, even better when it was just him and me in my car going to a Regional meeting — magic.”
If Graham could take an E-Type for a spin any where in the world he says it would be South Africa. Having taken three club trips to this wonderful area, Graham likes it’s empty roads, no traffic and no junctions.
“I’d take the coast road from Capetown through Hermanus, wonderful with magnificent sea views and whales to see. Or, maybe from Victoria Falls down through Botswana 600 miles in a day and dodging elephants on the way,” he adds.
Away from work, Graham enjoys nothing better than seeing grandchildren and spending time on his allotment.
For any more info on the Jaguar Enthusiast Club and membership take a look around our website and visit our social media channels.
