So how many participate in their local car shows. Also what has the reaction been from the crowd. Then have you won any awards . Just wondering as in the past I cannot recall seeing any XK's in any of the shows around here.

 

Mine's just a daily driver; a few small paint flaws it possess's. Its not a show car.

 

I only show a couple of my xj's. Reaction always positive. Won my class a few times. All small local club events. Good times.

 

I have owned quite a few classic cars, mostly domestic, and go to car shows/cruise nights nearly every weekend from March through October. I rarely see any XKs except at Jaguar club events or the couple of shows a year that sort of feature European cars. Older Jaguars are usually better represented. Now I normally feel there's no point to bringing a modern car to car show unless its modified, but the XK is one of the few that is rare enough that most show attendees would appreciate seeing it.

In August when its too hot to drive an un-airconditioned classic to a show, I've shined up the XJ8 and taken it. Oddly enough, it gets more positive attention from strangers on the street than at a car show but there is a bit of a domestic car bias locally. I also have a vintage Toyota and have to choose carefully what shows I take it too. Seems many people around here have a friend or family member who was laid off the local GM plant and still hold a grudge. Maybe not take your Jaguar to a pure muscle or hot-rod show, but usually the "cruise night" events are quite diverse and very casual.

What I almost NEVER see at a car show is a Mercedes. Plenty of older Mercedes on the street, but those owners don't seem to care anything about showing them off or even ever washing them. BMWs always outnumber Mercedes at local events.

I see more E-types than any other Jaguar. A good friend of mine just bought a 66 and I got to see it for the first time last weekend. I encourage everyone to get out tho, no matter what model of Jaguar you own. Don't worry about trophies tho. Go to enough shows and you'll get a few even if you drive a beater, but you'll also eventually realize that there is no rhyme or reason as to who gets a trophy at the ordinary weekend parking lot show. Its really about just socializing with like-minded gearheads.

 

I try to go to the local british car show every year called Brits on the Bay (Panhandle British Car Association - Annual Show details). The next one is just a month away! I have put my xk in it a few times. There a 2007 light green xk coup that's usually there and the owners of my old 2008 xk showed up so we had 3 x150s last year. They generally do a "modern class" that includes anything post 2000 or so more and more Ftypes, Mclaren, AM, etc. The pristine classics are always the main draw and lots of fun to look at but it's a fun day. This year it's in a beautiful park adjacent to Pensacola Bay Brewery so that should make it even more fun! My daily driver 08xk got a 3rd place a few years back!

 

I'm afraid if I did, a lot of folks would "show" me every defect. Most everyday non Jag owners are fascinated with it, but Jag owners know better:-)

 

I don't show my Jags per se, but I will attend Supercar Sunday on occasion where four or five hundred cars will show up and you walk around and meet people and talk about cars. No prizes or awards. Jags are a rarity, however, the last time I went there was another XKR and a couple of F-types. I (and several other Jaguar Forum members) always attend the Queen's English Car Show every year usually in April or May. I also take my Pantera once in a while. (Finally getting it back after a respray, engine transplant, and fuel injection conversion. It's been a year)

 

I have shown my Jags in multiple shows every year for the last 20 years or more in both the US and Canada. Awards? Every time...but it is a skill you learn. Jaguars always attract a lot of attention but people are often reluctant to ask questions; I point out to them that part of the reason we own Jaguars is to talk about them, so questions are welcome.
While people love modern Jags like the XK, it is the older ones that fascinate them - a day showing my 66 Mk 2 is satisfyingly exhausting and I am talked-out by the end of the afternoon.

 

I enjoy showing my car. several events including some jcna stuff. I love to polish and keep the car as spotless as I am able. I always get comments on her condition...makes me happy.

 

I usually join Ted at the Queen's English and will be there again this year. I've gone to a few super car Sundays and an all British get together as well as breakfast at the Peterson. Don't see too many X150's; but usually see more than a handful of Jaguars at each of the events other than the super car Sundays.

 

At a recognised car show event for judging etc?
God no......I like to think I'm fairly OCD but nothing compared to these guys I guess, extremely high standards and way outta my league

Mines is a daily driver, used for work so in and out of quarries, stop / start stuff and long motorway drives, as well as family trips.
I take car of her as best I can and she's loved n pampered and usually gets compliments at forum meet events and from the general public sometimes too.




She does look good after a good wash, all door shuts, boot and engine bay always cleaned too, wheel cleaned right through and tyre dressing applied. The interiors always in pretty good shape too.

To my mind there's at least 157 flaws to be found, but generally speaking few see them except me. These are the small imperfections that ca only be found from washing / cleaning every square inch of the car many many times over.

Much respect to those that actually attend / enter concourse events
Jim

 

Jim:
Your XJ looks perfectly show-worthy, and gorgeous.

 

I've been involved in NCRS. Surely nothing more extreme than Corvette judging. Its got to be the most well-documented car on the planet. Essentially as much as a 20 man-hour inspection. Five teams of two judges each. One team for the interior, one team for exterior, one for engine bay, one for chassis and one team to drive the car and verify that everything works exactly as it should. Each team can spend up to two hours on a car so 5 teams x 2 people x 2 hours = 20 man hours. They get really detailed such as checking that every visible bolt has the correct type of plating and head markings. But that's competing against a set standard, not against other show entrants.

While I love the challenge of high-level restoration work, the judging process can be infuriating at times; when you know how much money, time and effort went into making it WRONG, or maybe you're absolutely sure its correct but a judge disagrees, or you knew it wasn't quite exact, but there's no other modern option and you think they just count off too many points for it. I'm not familiar with the JCNA judging, but no, this sort of obsessive-compulsiveness is not for everyone.

In the Corvette world, there's essentially four camps 1) Don't touch a damned thing, leave it all original no matter how awful it looks 2) Absolutely restore it so that its like brand new, 3) Modify it to make it uniquely your own and 4) Buy or lease a new one every time a new body style comes out or even more often. There's room in this hobby for all four of them and quite a few people who fall into two or more camps.

Then there's the Volkswagen folks that do "art cars" and the uber-wealthy folks with their coach-built cars of the 20s and 30s, and the "rat-rod" crowd who've perfected "imitation rust". Among muscle cars, there's the guys who remember them from the 60s and want them original and the guys like me who abused them as used cars and put all the chrome bits from JC Whitney under the hood. Then there's the low-riders and the Japanese bosuzoku folks. I remember when Toyota brought the Scion Xb to the US and they immediately became rolling audio-visual entertainment centers.

Its a wide, diverse hobby out there and plenty of people who'd appreciate seeing a bone-stock, late-model, daily driven Jaguar sedan. At least here in Texas, unlike Mercedes, there's not ten of them in every grocery store parking lot.

 

As a new owner of a 2013 XK, I would like to invite all Jaguar owners to consider attending the CT MG Clubs BRITISH BY THE SEA GATHERING. My wife Annie and I have been the chairpersons of this event for 30 years. I must emphasize that this is NOT A CONCOURS event, it is a fun Gathering of all British Marques. Google BRITISH BY THE SEA 2014 YOUTUBE for an aerial that was taken at our 2014 event, which featured Riley as Marque of the year





The CT MG Club's
30th ANNIVERSARY
"BRITISH BY THE SEA”
JUNE 4TH 2017 HARKNESS MEMORIAL STATE PARK, WATERFORD CT

The CT MG Club's "BRITISH BY THE SEA” is a fun GATHERING of people who own and appreciate British Vehicles of all Marques. Although we do present etched glass mug awards to vehicles selected by popular vote, "BRITISH BY THE SEA" is not a judged show. We want to encourage ALL British car, truck, and motorcycle owners and enthusiasts to attend and have an enjoyable time. Whether your vehicle is in pristine condition, or a daily driver, sparkling paint and chrome or with “Barn Fresh” patina, it deserves to be part of the event and on the display field.
This is going to be our 30th anniversary event, and we want to make it Special ! The Featured Marque for this year’s 30th Anniversary British By The Sea is the MORRIS. As usual, our Featured Marque will be prominently displayed in the front row, and will have generous room to display the vehicles along with any club tents for memorabilia and hospitality.
Our BBTS Gathering is always scheduled on the first Sunday in June, at the scenic 240 acre Harkness Memorial State Park in Waterford Ct., on the north shore of Long Island Sound. We want to encourage people to come down and enjoy a day mingling with other LBC owners, talk about cars, have a picnic, a glass of wine, and also take in all that Harkness Memorial State Park has to offer, such as the beach, the Mansion “Eolia”, and the Gardens. The CT MG Club donates a large amount of our proceeds from BBTS to the Park to purchase plants for the West Gardens, helping to restore the “Eolia” Gardens to their original grandeur as designed by Beatrix Farrand in 1919. In addition, we provide “people power” over a few weekends to plant them.
We have selected a variety of quality food vendors to attend in order to satisfy any appetite, from hot dogs and hamburgers, lobster rolls, and wood fired brick oven pizzas, to Ice Cream for desert. You can also bring a picnic to enjoy and share “out of the boot” of your car.
The expansive lawn areas offer ample room for the display vehicles, vendors, spectator parking and a spacious area for trailer parking.

We hope to see you all on Sunday June 4th 2017.
Please contact us if you need further information,
Steve an’ Annie Wincze
860-603-4249
MGTD52@comcast.net
CT MG Club

 

Right, very diverse hobby and this is reflected in car shows. A 'car show' can be a low key local event, an informal 'show and shine' with no judging of any kind.....or a very intense experience as you've described.

JCNA judging is nowhere near as intense as NCRS....although (as I understand it) NCRS has many divisions/categories, some of which might be comparable to JCNA. I dunno.

Cheers
DD

 

I agree with Gregory. Your Jag looks fantastic.

I'm not sure what sort of concours/club events you have in your neck o' the woods, nor what the judging standards are, but you'd likely do well at a JCNA event.

I might add that (years and years ago) I won JCNA's "Regional First Place" in Championship Division with my daily driver XJ6. The JCNA concours program...even Championship Division.... is very favorable to those who actually drive their Jags. Additionally there is a "Driven" division and every JCNA event includes a "display only" category...so even the most casual enthusiasts can put a car on the field and get the flavor of the event.

I have to think that there are club events available to you that don't require a high level of intensity and where absolute perfection is certainly not expected.

Cheers
DD

 

My XK, while low mileage, has flaws in the paint. Not something I'm going to put a lot of effort into fixing. I got it to drive

But as BLACK52TD posted, there are shows that are more fun gatherings than serious concours events. For those in the DC/NOVA area Britain on the Green will be held at Gunston Hall on 30 April.

Please join the Capital Triumph Register on Sunday, April 30th, 2017 at our club’s twentieth annual car show and second season at George Mason’s Gunston Hall.. Enjoy the 2017 driving season with a picnic, a day of British automobiles and a complimentary tour of the historic house and grounds.

Britain on the Green | at Gunston Hall Sunday, April 30th 2017

I plan to go to this one. First time to put the cat in a 'show'. Should be fun!

 

Saturday evening cruise ins at the local mall are a lot of fun. Car shows sitting in the hot sun for hours listening to the JC make noise, not so much.

My '71 F-350 dually is too big to get into the cruise is so the Jag will get some air time there. Hoping to sit next to the Corvette crowd just to **** them off.

 

I've done Cars & Coffee and our local British Car Day in whatever car I own at the time. The XK was a big hit. Largely due to the Seafrost Green and Caramel interior. Really jumps out of the crowd. XK dwarfs the Vantage or DB9, so the scale of car works to its advantage. People who don't know went for my car over the Aston's every time.

I wash the car before going and that's about it. The general condition of my cars are more detailed than most the cars that show up (at least for BCD).

 

Doug I agree with you and the only thing I would add is there is a division for modified cars for those who wish to do so--as long as it is Jaguar powered.