Hello to all you New Zealand members of Jaguar Forums, I am not your Regional Coordinator but coordinator for Queensland. But being an expat Kiwi I feel I can step in here for a bit and get things rolling for when one of you step up to the plate.
About me, I am originally from Tauranga/Mt Maunganui ,but have been in Brisbane for the last 26 years. I belonged to all sorts of car/rod/bike/ and jet ski clubs around the Bay of Plenty.

I would like to ask you all to post a quick hello in this thread outlining your City/Town/area and any affiliations you might have with a local Jaguar or car club. And contact details for those clubs should other members want to make enquiries.

If you are with a club or organisation and know of any drives/shows/events please start a thread including dates,times,locations as well contact details of the organiser where available such as web page links,or the person to contact for details.

If you want to organise a local JF members meet or drive please start a thread with you Ideas. interested people will respond.

This change to the forums has come about as our major cities are 10+ hours drive apart(or separated by ocean) and having smaller regions(1.9 million km/s) for Queensland makes it so much easier for a coordinator and members to organise things. As for NZ, almost impossible for a regional coordinator from Australia to be a lot of help.

Any ideas you have to improve our collective JF experience please feel free to start a new thread or add to existing threads.
We are working on moving the relevant threads from the Australia/NZ forum to New Zealands forum asap,but this will take time,bear with us while we sort the threads.





Kind Regards,
Clarke Bryant

 

Clarke!!
I turn my back for a couple days and you get a brand shiny new funnel over your desk! That'll teach me to look away!

Hearty Congratulations from me to you on your new Position!
(';')

 

C'mon guys, get those names added to the list....lets get this section moving, onwards n upwards

 

Hi all,
My name's Glen, I'm from Wellington, and I have a 2000 XJR.

I've had a couple of Jag's over the years, starting with an '84 Sovereign HE, followed by an '81 Daimler Double Six, both of which Ray (On Edge) should remember fondly...
From there I moved on to a '95 XJR, which met an untimely end on the desert road, and now I have the 2000 V8 version, which I love, and have been working on upgrading the stereo on, as well as a few other little changes... like completely replacing the old tan interior with black.

We're lucky enough to have two local Jaguar clubs here in Wellington, the Hutt Valley Jaguar Enthusiasts Club, and the Wellington Drivers Club.
The Hutt Valley club tends to do more 'technical' evenings, and the Drivers club does more 'social' events. As such, I am a member of both.

If anyone has any questions about either club, I would be happy to help

Regards, and looking forward to checking this section more often,
Glen

 

Hi, I am Al Dray
I am in Napier
I have a 1995 X300 Daimler 6, which is my daily car. I bought it in Feb 2013. It has done 22000km in that time and has had new diff bearings, new drive shaft hanger bearing, new front suspension rubber bushes, $1000 of new genuine water hoses. I have changed the gearbox fluid 5 or 6 times (part changes of about 3-4 litres each time) which has smoothed out the changes.
I had the front shocks rebuilt by Bilstein Motorsport in Auckland - I briefly tried some KYB replacement shocks but they were terrible - far too harsh. The rebuilt original Bilsteins, once re-fitted with the correct bushes, were a revelation
I have fitted the Andy Stoddart ignition timing bracket and replaced the filter box with a pod - these two minor mods really improve mid-range pick-up and top-end power.
It has a set of later X308 Asteroid wheels which I prefer to the 'proper' chrome Turbines (which I have stored away for the future).
I am time-poor and a lazy cargroomer, so I have tidied up the old paint with a clay bar, then I wash with Autoglym carwash (see Trademe) and I can polish the car in under 10 minutes with Meguiars Quik-Wax. It looks great after this quick wash-wax process.

I am lucky to have a really good local independent Jag mechanic in Napier who I thoroughly recommend, Mark Yates of Yates Automotive.
I am also lucky to have met Blue Dorward, ex-TWR race car builder-supremo, who has BluesWay motors in Hastings. Blue also works on Jags and knows everything about XJSes.

Future plans ... I need a V12 at some point, life is too short to not have one for at least a few years. I flip-flop between an XJS and a X300 saloon, which is more practical with 2 growing kids. I bought a set of new-old-stock spare Asteroids from SBWheels in London for any future V12 project.

 

We were lucky enough to have Blue come and talk to us at a Jag club meeting a year or so ago, it was amazing to hear the 'behind the scenes' action that went on with the racing back then!

I've had two old V12's, and my only advice would be to stay as far away from them as possible! The newer X308 V8's are really dropping in price lately, and there are some bargains to be had on Trademe at the moment. Prices for parts/maintenance/labour aren't any worse than you'll be used to with the X300.

I have a set of 19's that are in storage that are Jaguar fitment, if you're ever interested, or if I'm lucky, and they clear my new Brembo's, then my OEM Asteroids may be available too, in a few years time.
I'm after a set of BBS 20's, preferably the Perseus or Detroits, just in case you ever see any come up for sale

 

Hi Glen and Al,
Maybe starting new threads on your cars or projects/plans for them will get NZ forum moving along a bit.
I assume you are talking about when Tom Wilkenshaw Racing was scooting XJS's around Bathurst in the 80's

 

Hello from Richard in not so sunny Christchurch.

I had 4 Jag V12's in a row, three 5.3L XJ-S's then an X300 XJ12. The 6.0L brought the V12 back to life because the 5.3L had become quite strangled with emissions equipment by the end of its run. The 6.0L engine was pretty bullet proof as well.

I felt less of a man when I finally 'traded down' to a 4.0L although as it was an XJR it turned out to be a faster more economical engine anyway. My current 07 XKR is another step up again and I plan to get a 5.0L one eventually.

Here are some pics of my past and present rides. The red XJR and silver XJ8 are now in the North Island somewhere.

 

Hi Richard, Some fine looking cars you have had.

 

Richard,

An excellent selection.

Interesting comment "... now in the North Island somewhere".

I've always kept comprehensive records of my Jaguars but have never had a subsequent owner contact me to ask about any of them. The first thing I do with a new (to me) Jaguar is to contact the PO and ask if there was any major repairs or accident damage not shown in the service history. Only once failed to get a reply and every other time got some very useful additional information.

Graham

 

So they have gone to the Mainland now?

that is me ducking for cover,
Which Island is the mainland could be as interesting as the lump/not to lump debate!

 

I did with the XKR as well. The fact that 'Home' on the sat nav was still the previous owners address helped but I had managed to work out contact details before I discovered that.

I was the first NZ owner of the XJ8 (ex Japan) and bought the XJR privately so met the owner.

I still have a spare fob for the XJR so I had hoped the current owner would get in contact. All the service records going back around 10 years and three previous owners went with the car but the dealer may not have passed them on.

 

The South Island generally seems to be referred to as the Mainland. Not sure what that makes the North Island though.

 

Akka from bumpy old Christchurch. I have a 2001 XKR that I purchased after my father pasted away. He owned an XK120 and always wanted an E-Type. Life is too short so I believe I have purchased one of the best looking cars ever made.


Not in the local jag club as I belong to too many others and the wife would kill me, That and all the wife swapping stories put me off :-).


Working on getting a few bits and pieces sorted out but love driving the car when its not raining or I have to go into town.


Yes - the South Island is the "mainland" and got the Crusaders!

 

So I was hoodwinked all those years my parents told me we lived on the mainland?
Is the capitol on the north Island?
Doe's north Island have 70% of the population?

The only reason I think of for the South to be the mainland is it is bigger than the north Island,and you have so many more sheep.

 

Called the mainland due to the majority of population being in the south island in the old days (before the XK 120).

 

Listing of members below.....


1.Grandell
2.AL NZ
3.U102768
4.akka
5.mobileman
6.cadmium
7.Moodieblue
8.leslie adlam
9.GazaNZ
10.mlp442009
11.Wlisnz
12.muncher
13.PaulP
14.jcgtveloce
15.Veeloo
16.luca2020
17.Distraxi
18.Fotog
19.Davidrnz
20.zathras
21.Liboroking
22.moneypit
23.terry2828
24.u102768
25.Anonymous_29
26.shinenz
27.Drbi
28.2500tc tp jag
29.bobby 46
30.mabmarabnis
31.jagqueen
32.tamer
33.kiwi-XFR-5.0-SC
34.Stan Clark
35.awanohi
36.vs2
37.Laurence
38.mrgreen
39.kiwileaper

 

Hello Clarke and and other members,
Thanks for the welcome. I am Garry Robinson from Dannemora
(Near Howick) Auckland. I am new to the forum as you will realise,
I have a 1996 Carnival Red XK8 and I am on the committee of the
Jaguar Drivers Club Auckland. Previously I had a 2002 4.2 litre S Type
Which was also carnival red. I look forward to further interaction.
Kind Regards
Garry

 

Gidday all,

I'm Garry, Auckland based and have had my '04 XKR Coupe for the last 5 years and just love it.

Interested in the local Jag drivers club but I also had thought it wasn't active because of the website.

 

Hi All

I am Glenn and after driving for 25yrs am finally picking up my first Jag tomorrow. While I have ambitions to move up to an XKR or XFR being a family man managed to convince the wife she could drive the 7 seater and I will be driving a 3.0 petrol V6 XF. Amazed how great they feel compared to comparable European cars and fell in love with them as soon as I accelerated out of the yard on the first test drive.