Drive it day, D-Type and detailed inspections - Workshop update

Another week has gone by with more cars in and more cars out. It lovely to be handing cars back to their owners knowing the enjoyment they will provide. With 'Drive It Day' last weekend this was more true than ever with many of our customers planning to join thousands of other classic car enthusiasts up and down the country in taking their classic for a drive.
The workshop remains terribly busy but with our workforce back up to full strength, and thankfully all in good health, we are able to work at a good pace. We have had every kind of classic Jaguar you can imagine though the doors in recent months and enough XKs to put on a quite remarkable motor show. Progress continues with restorations and the showroom is once again welcoming Jaguar enthusiasts new and old in to view cars for sale.
In this weeks' update we have a look at some Jaguar Saloons, our D-Type replica, 'Drive It Day' 2021 and more.

'Drive It Day' 2021

'Drive It Day', which took place this last weekend, was created by the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs in 2005. It is a day a year where classic car enthusiasts all over the country are encouraged to get out and use their classic vehicles. It is intended to be a season opening event for classic car enthusiasts and raise awareness and support amongst the public for the historic vehicle movement. 
As with so many things this year the event was slightly different with no mass gatherings but that does not seem to have put the classic car community off. I only had to walk out of my front door and before even a minute had passed a Morris Minor, a Ford based hot-rod and a Jaguar XJ6 had driven past. Indeed, out and about on Sunday I saw countless classics and nearly a dozen XKs, several of which were Twyford Moors cars. What a great event!

Wheel alignment - Tracking, caster and camber

XKs were one of the finest sportscars of their age. This was largely down to, what was at the time, extraordinarily advanced engineering and design which went in to not just the XK engine but also the chassis and suspension. XKs should handle very well when set up properly and certainly should never be hard work to drive.
Setting up the suspension and steering geometry on an XK is something which is often overlooked. We frequently have cars come in where the geometry is way out or even where suspension components are fitted the wrong way around. Poorly aligned suspension leads to increased tyre wear, poor handling and can even make the steering feel heavier.
Every car we service has the tracking, caster and camber checked to ensure the suspension is aligned correctly. If anything is out of place, we will make adjustments accordingly and if we find something more untoward we will report the problem to the owner.

Jaguar D-Type - E-Type 60 hill climb

We are very much looking forward to E-Type 60 at Shelsley Walsh on the 12th and 13th of June. This promises to be a great event celebrating 60 years since the launch of the Jaguar E-Type. Along side E-Types there will be many other classic Jaguars including XKs, C-Types, D-Types and even Minis. There will be many specialists with stands at the event, technical talks, food, drink and music. 
One of the biggest highlights of the weekend will be the hill climb up the historic Shelsley Walsh course. If you wish to enter in your own car please visit the E-Type 60 website as spaces are limited. Our director Nik is looking forward to taking part in this D-Type replica. It will be his first time using the car in an event and this machine can be a real handful with its 4.7 litre engine producing over 320 bhp. We look forward to seeing how both Nik and the car perform on the weekend.

Jaguar Saloons

In amongst the XKs there is always a few other classic cars floating around. This week we have two magnificent XK powered saloons. Grace, space and pace for all. These saloons make great family friendly classics with enough room for five people, a jolly big picnic and even a couple of child size bicycles in the boot. There are styles and designs to suit a range of budgets from 3.8 manual overdrive MK2s fetching strong money these days to S-Types or the little 240 saloons offering fab value for money.
Pictured here in the foreground is a very rare original, UK, right-hand drive 3.4 litre MK1 saloon. These cars were a real gamechanger for Jaguar being their first venture into the mid-sized saloon market and their first monocoque designed production car. This car is currently available for sale so please get in touch for more information.
Behind it is the majestic Daimler Sovereign which featured in last weeks update making the MK1 look rather modest and understated by comparison.

A year on from reopening

It has been almost exactly 12 months since we first tentatively reopened following the first Covid-19 lockdown here in the UK. We have since worked carefully to make Twyford Moors both a productive and safe place to work. Over this time we have learned and adapted a great deal and we are delighted to now have our full workforce back and once again have the showroom open for viewings. We will keep moving forward and adapting our safety measures to follow government guidelines.
If you would like to visit for a test drive, to view the cars we have available or to discuss work on your classic Jaguar please do get in touch. We ask that customers wear masks when on site and that social distancing is maintained. We have hand sanitiser available around the site, are continuing with regular cleaning and can even offer unaccompanied test drives to keep everyone safe.

Jaguar XK140 FHC full restoration

This beautiful XK140 fixed head coupe is one of our full nut and bolt restorations. We completed and delivered the car towards the end of 2019 and it was handed over the proud owner to have some miles put on it before its first service. With all that has happened over the past 12 months it is hardly surprising that this took a little longer than usual.
This XK140 is an original left hand drive example, although it has spent many years in the UK. It has in fact been in the UK for so long that it had new housing built around the garage where it had been all but forgotten and had to be craned out. The car was restored to the ownerâÂÂs exact specification and they opted to keep the car left hand drive to use in Europe. The owner also chose to retain the original Moss gearbox with overdrive which we rebuilt. The car has a few choice upgrades for reliability but remains largely original.
Now that the engine is run in, the car has had its first service, a full check through and a rolling road tune. We have also rectified a couple of little niggles which inevitably do develop after a full restoration  and made a few fine adjustments to better suit the owner.