Thirty years of Jaguar XJ40 in Dunkeld (Scotland, August 2016): the programme
The big and great celebration of the thirtiest anniversary of the press presentation of the Jaguar XJ40 here in the Dunkeld House Hote, is the initiative of Rory Semple, member of the English forum xj40.com, and Naki Kouyioumtzis, forum coördinator of xj40.com and XJ40 representative of the Jaguar Enthusiasts' Club (JEC). During the organisation, former Jaguar engineer Ed Abbott managed to get several people together in Dunkeld who were involved in the development of the XJ40 or its press presentation in 1986. An important role also played Rob Jenner, who together with the founder John Ratcliffe is the driving force behind the forum xj40.com, that in the meantime has proved to be such a colossal and worldwide success. Rob is also a lifetime advocate of the XJ40, a model that always have been relatively little appreciated by Jaguar enthusiasts.
It was really perfectly organised. The programme had been perfectly drawn up, the venue, dinners and the accomodation were perfectly prepared. The cars could be nicely parked in a row, although not all hotel visitors turned out to be cooperative or polite enough to keep space free for the XJ40s to be parked side by side.
The programme was as follows (of some programme lines I filled in the time myself). See for my impression with fewer words but much more photos the next two pages.
| Sunday 28 August 2016 | |
| 14h30 |
Arrival attendees. Parking XJ40s in a continuous row. Checking in at the hotel. Distribution of the programme file. |
| 16h00 | Meeting outside, on the terrace and in the Garden room. Visit exhibition Paul Skilleter in the Garden room with original photos and documents of the press presentation and the testing and preparing of the XJ40s. |
16h30 | Welcome in the Garden room by initiator Rory Semple. Ed Abbott, in 1986 Principal Engineer Vehicle Proving, tells about the press presentation back in 1986. |
18h30 | Dinner in the restaurant of the hotel. | 21h00 | Presentations in the Garden room. Jonathan Partridge, Vehicle Collection and Communications Manager of the Jaguar Heritage Trust and marketing manager in 1986, tells, among other things, about the market research done before the launch of the XJ40. Ed Abbott, in 1986 Principal Engineer Vehicle Proving, tells a nice illustrated story on the testing under extreme conditions with camouflaged XJ40s. Paul Skilleter, Jaguar journalist, founder of the Jaguar World magazine and author of many books on cars, tells about the press presentation in Dunkeld in 1986 that he attended. |
| Monday 29 August 2016 | |
| 7h00 | Breakfast buffet. |
| 8h00 | Registration of the participants of the rally by Ann and Howard Hunt and distribution of the route book, made by them and Jonathan Partridge in the same style as the route book the press got thirty years ago on this very place. Howard Hunt was XJ40 Launch Co-ordinator cooperating closely with Peter Taylor at 'Special Vehicle Preparation (Press Cars)'. Ann Hunt was head receptionist of the Dunkeld House Hotel in 1986 and had her own surname back then, but OK, then she met Howard and the rest is history. |
| 9h00 | Briefing of the rally drivers in de Garden room. |
| 9h30 | Leave of the first cars. The cars get a serial number and to prevent driving in convoy, which is prohibited, a 90 second interval is taken care of between the leave of the vehicles. |
| 11h00 | Stop and coffee pause near Loch Earn at the Clachan Cottage Hotel in Lochearnhead. |
| 13h00 | Lunch stop in Kenmore. |
| 14h30 | Arrival of the first cars back at the Dunkeld House Hotel. |
| 16u30 | Presentation in the Garden room by David Marks, owner of David Marks Garages, on the complete rebuild of the only surviving XJ40 present during the press presentation, and on the typical technical problems of the XJ40 one can face, their causes and ways to solve them. |
| 19h00 | Aperitive in the Garden room. |
| 19h30 | Festive dinner in the Garden room with prepared seating plan. Every table is called after an historic Jaguar personality (see the photos on a next page). Presentation of Awards. |
| 21h00 | Presentation by Jim Randle, in 1986 Director of Engineering and the driving force and technical brains behind the XJ40. He is well-known because of the 'Randle handle', the 'J-gate', but his influence reached much further, although he presents himself mainly as a suspension specialist. Presentation by Peter Taylor, manager 'Special Vehicle Preparation (Press Cars)' during the presentation in 1986. |
| 23h00 | Drinks until far after midnight … |
| Tuesday 30 August 2016 | |
| Breakfast buffet, goodbye and leave … | |
Next page: my first impressions of the meeting in Dunkeld
Overview and introduction: meeting to celebrate thirty years of Jaguar XJ40 in Dunkeld, 28 and 29 August 2016
Kind regards,
Rens Swart