Hartley decided, rather belatedly, to attend The Motorist (TM) Jaguar Day on 11th September. The planning left a little to be desired - I had left the decision a bit late, and Roger sent me the Region's mailing lists (there are four of them, while Roger sorts out his Windows 365 software), and I could only read one of them. Then I overslept and didn't set off until 10.00 from Matlock.
So on arrival, who should I meet when I stepped out of the XK but Mike Horlor (MH) who lives locally! So some catching up followed before I was able to head for the canteen - I always judge on the quality of the establishment's Bacon and Egg roll, and despite it almost being lunchtime I followed the usual sequence! Very good it was too!
Nigel Thorley was in attendance also, camera in hand, so there will probably be some better photos in the next magazine.
There is an abundance of space at TM, being set in the middle of an industrial area and next to an airfield. The Jaguars were in the 'overflow field', which was level and dry, and had a good selection of Jaguar's in when I arrived. There was quite a good number of Jaguars, and if we hadn't been there then overall numbers would have looked a bit thin on the ground. There was a trio of old Fords, including a pickup, and another joined them later. Who doesn't need a pickup for those trips to the tip that you can't do in the Jag?
There was a McLaren, 911, and others. The thing with these sort of venues, like Caffine and Machine, is that you can't judge it by what is there when you arrive, because there will be comings and goings all day. MH said the numbers of non-Jaguars were higher last month, which just proves the point.
TM has obviously received a deal of investment to get this far, and more work appears to be underway, so I look forward to monitoring progress when time allows for future visits.
A selection of shots from The Motorist
