Norri do you realise what you are letting yourself in for.

I can now post my entire Swedish XK whipping trip photo set!

 

Swedish whipping trip? Please, this is a family-friendly forum.

 

Don't worry it has all been done in the best possible taste!

 

25 May 2013 Best day with the car (and misses) yet!

Drove the 100 miles from Rotherham to Whitby. Over the Yorkshire Dales on the Roads Clarkson used for the XK8 Top Gear Test. (and I think the X150 XK)

Great roads for a drive, 20% grades, corkscrew turns just after blind creasts - one of which got a scream from the wife. 60MPH limit but there are stretches where a law abiding person could bury the throttle as you come out of a tight bend. (and some where a none law abiding person could head towards maxing it out).

No speed cameras I notice.

Spent 10 minures keeping up with a new DB9, (the wife said I should so it looked like we were with them)!

After a few hours at Whitby we took the almost as good coast road to Scarborough. Thats when I remembered to take some pictures.

On the way home a boxter driver did some almost suicidal multi-vehicle overtaking to prove he could get away, but a maserati granturismo was fun as well. (all at legal speeds obviously).

All in all 240 fun miles at 25mpg (UK) and a massive fly kill on the nose cone.

 

I've lived in Los Angeles for over 30 years and never knew about Glendora Ridge Road until baxkr (from this forum) mentioned it to me. Drove it today - it's a wonderful, twisty drive. Thanks baxkr!

 

Found this Glendora Ridge Road drive on YouTube:


Looks a great drive.

Graham

 

That was mesmerizing....

While I've never wanted to live in LA, I've always wanted to spend a couple of weeks there just driving the world-famous routes that surround the area....

 

 

Up in Napa Valley California yesterday and came accross this pair at Chimney Rock Winery. Kind of partriotic in Red, White and Blue. Blue Jaguar on the right is mine, the Red XKE was a V12. The cars are from a new company in Sonoma that will be renting out classic cars.

 

I thought it was fun to drive to the local Dominik's Supermarket. But then again, I was in Portugal the past two weeks and needed some fresh supplies and hadn't driven since then. Then I proceeded to ride the back roads for three hours on my Heritage Springer, as it almost hit 70 degrees F. Almost as much fun as the XKR.

 

I found my XKR March 2012, a year 2000 coupe in BRG with just 18k miles. Here's that lengthy story with images

Found my XKR, BRG

Put 1300 miles on during the last 14 months or so until last week when did 1300 mile round trip from Manhattan to Raleigh, NC for a hobby convention for fountain pen collectors. A friend dropped down by train from Albany to meet me in NYC for the trip. With tires freshly placed and with (iirc the proper term) Hunter road force balancing done, we hit the trail in scenic fashion, opting instead of the 500 mile straight shot down Route 95 to head west to Pennsylvania for a 650 mile trip down through the Blue Ridge Mountains/Shenandoah Valley. A national treasure (and partially a national park) is Skyline Drive, a 400+ mile road at top of the mountains, built/started during the Great Depression.

We did about 70 miles on Skyline Drive. We pushed nicely through the twisties with no problem. Scenery was... remarkable. As to the car narcissism thing... well... we stopped at one of the resorts along the way to get drinks. Before we could open doors, we were approached by a fellow standing by his Civic (somehow tricked out to tune of $27k), carrying a camera. He noted he was a photographer and car nut and having just seen a V-12 Aston within the hour was surprised to see such a minty XKR. I'm not surprised though that those with killer cars like to take scenic drives. We let him shoot the car. He was stunned to learn his Civic cost waaay more than this Jag. We discussed the power of depreciation. Of course, I have put a few thousand into solving glitches, since buying the car. Soon we had crowd of 5-6 people asking questions. Did nice show and tell... engine... interior.... discussion of history of the car. Fun stuff, really.

After work with dealer to solve a couple glitches (despite the low mileage) including a persistent check engine light, occasional performance limiter, and a mid-range whir-whir noise at speed (which did prove ultimately to be the tires), the car was a monster. Perfect ride. Quiet. Ate the road. Unending acceleration...

Here be muh wee Growler at one lookout (this one early on, not quite the 3500 ft max) on Skyline Drive in the Blue Ridge Mountains




regards

David

 

Excellent drive Dave. Thanks for the picture. I lived in NC for about 2 years and drove this road several times. It is indeed awesome.

NC is also full of little hidden back roads that are a blast to drive. (where do you think those early NASCAR guys got their training?)

 

Hi all.

Took a trip to Dalen Hotel in Telemark in beautiful summer weather. The hotel is from 1894 with dragon-heads, turrets, balconies, and cornices. Also found a Mk. II from 1959. Nice visit. Recommended if you come to Norway.

 

Out on the back roads by home. My Blue Jag at the Blue Victorian Winery in Suisun Valley, CA.

 

Took a nice drive from LA to Ojai, CA for lunch. Then we headed to Ventura and down the Pacific Coast Highway to Malibu, coffee then home. Sunny in Ojai, June gloom in Malibu. Nice drive altogether.

 

Ah, June gloom. Used to live in Dove Canyon and the kids went to school in Dana Point. We don't get it as bad in the bay area but, it's still here. Yesterday it was 107, today 75. Regardless, I don't think there is a better place to own a Jaguar than California. We're doing a run to Monterey on the 22nd of June. You should try to make it.

 

12 mile round trip to Walgreen's for soda. But it was still fun.

 

Sounds like fun. What are the details for the Monterey run?

 

Check out the link below. MarcB is the organizer on this one.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/w...2nd-run-93179/

 

Sultan, Washington, just south of U.S. Hwy 2 looking east at the North Cascades Mountains.