Goodwood yesterday......

[L100NYY]

Tweed Diaries

Goodwood - Jaguar Drivers Club Trackday and Jaguar World Feature

My brother (PH'er elms) and I trundled down to Goodwood in the ever dependable Range Rover which proved to be a wonderful companion for the trip and gobbled up the miles in serenity, comfort and with a smidgeon of class too (apart from the number plate ).



A good friend of mine, and very well respected author, was invited along to Goodwood to drive an exceptionally important Jaguar D Type development car that proved to be the missing link between the original D Type and the forthcoming E Type. Raced in period by Dan Gurney, Sir Jack Brabham, Bruce McLaren and Walt Hansgen and having competed at Le Mans in 1960 there aren't many race cars with such a provenance and the character/patina is a thing to behold. Oh and currently valued at a mere £2m.

Photoshoot in the paddock


Out on track


Wonderful patina in the cockpit
]

As it was a JDC event on the same day there was a vast array of wonderful machinery out on track including a plethora of XK120/140/150's, various E Types including Lowdrags and Lightweights and one of my all time favourites........a Knobbly Lister.

Lister being hustled through the chicane


Gaggle in the paddock


Elms in the background eyeing up his next purchase


D Type recreation and Lowdrag


Break for lunch my brother and I opted to make use of the GRRC membership and visit the Kennels. What a wonderful choice that was, sitting on the terrace overlooking Goodwood House and the golfcourse whilst basking in the sunshine a setting for lunch would be a challenge to be bettered in my opinion. Once lunch was savoured we travelled the mile or so back to the circuit and mingled, took some more pictures and generally chatted about which classic we would be purchasing next!

A most wonderful day was had by all and the weather really couldn't have been better.

I'll post a couple more pictures later..........

[a8hex]

Yesterday at Goodwood was a total disaster!
My XK150 has chewed up its overdrive unit and won't go, so no play time for me.
The event is organised by CKL (thanks guys) on behalf of the XK Club/E-Type Club and the JEC.





Pity the Bentley wasn't running on the track, at least it wasn't in the morning while I was there.

[lowdrag]

You were privileged to see E2A running. Not gone back to Switzerland it seems. If I'm right, that's a Lynx long nose Ecurie Ecosse D-type and behind it is the RS Panels lowdrag 9999 WK which I nearly bought in 2004 from Henry Pearman. Always a great selection of cars at a CKL track day. Pity I couldn't be there.

ETA: I wonder why E2A has two dip switches on the tunnel? And also to say sorry to hear about your problems Ken. I hope you weren't trying to use the O/D on the track because that would surely destroy it.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 20th April 16:31

[L100NYY]

lowdrag said:

ETA: I wonder why E2A has two dip switches on the tunnel? And also to say sorry to hear about your problems Ken. I hope you weren't trying to use the O/D on the track because that would surely destroy it.

I'll find out and let you know, whilst you posted that I was on the phone to him and could have found out!

[a8hex]

lowdrag said:

You were privileged to see E2A running. Not gone back to Switzerland it seems. If I'm right, that's a Lynx long nose Ecurie Ecosse D-type and behind it is the RS Panels lowdrag 9999 WK which I nearly bought in 2004 from Henry Pearman. Always a great selection of cars at a CKL track day. Pity I couldn't be there.

ETA: I wonder why E2A has two dip switches on the tunnel? And also to say sorry to hear about your problems Ken. I hope you weren't trying to use the O/D on the track because that would surely destroy it.

Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 20th April 16:31

E2A was there for a magazine article, it wasn't Stafan driving her, as you can see from my picture. I'm not sure which rag it was for though.

Tony, the overdrive has been playing up since the last track day, I think. No I don't use in on the track as even on the Levant straight I don't quite run out of revs in top. I took her down for the CKL trackday at the end of August last year. The track was horribly wet and greasy at the start of the day and my car was largely undriveable, at least by a novice like me, it would spin the wheels in top in the middle of the straights quite easily and balancing between terminal understeer and terminal oversteer in the corners was amusing
Throughout most of the morning session traction was a big issue. I suspect this puts a lot of strain on the OD.
On the drive home it was intermittent. After that I had a couple of cases where if I tried to engage it, it wouldn't initially and then it would either kick in or out with a bang. I gave up using it and meant to find the time to investigate it more fully. Then at New Year when I went to the Phoenix I thought the clutch was sticking and slipping. Sometimes I just didn't get any drive. When I finally had the chance to get her out for the spring, the "clutch" situation was much worse. Anyway it wasn't the normal clutch, its the one way clutch in the OD. Chris Window popped her up on a ramp and slowly turned the rear wheels while I was standing under the gear box. The OD makes horrible crunching noise like bits of metal being put threw a gem crusher. I'm not sure whether the OD can cope with what the engine is chucking out it was rebuilt and uprated before being installed. So I need to decide what to do next. Do I put a 5speed box in or do I get the 3.4 engine rebuilt and revert to that and the original Moss box. Perhaps I'm mad but I like the Moss box and to me it is an intimate part of the character of the XK.

[Aar0sc]

See the chap in the red shirt?

That's me that is!!!

Got some good videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y8cVt_htKJM&fea...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ew04ACYpmeU&fea...
And, having helped push a car, was offered a ride round the track in a race spec XK150!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
God, was I over excited or what - if you saw a beaming lanky teenager, it was me :P