JLR Classic
Preserving the heritage of Jaguar and Land Rover
We’ve never been anywhere like this. Walking through the doors into the impressive reception area-come showroom of JLR classic is like walking into a modernist temple to these two great marques. When PC’S Matt Tomkins popped in to JLR Classic as part of his Team Adventure (see p34), he was completely blown away.
Hosts Kim Palmer and Alistair Summerville take us deep into the 46,000 square metre facility, through glass doors and into the most incredible workshop we’ve ever seen. 54 dedicated bays allow JLR Classic to offer servicing and maintenance of classic Jaguars and Land Rovers, from E-type and Range Rover through to XJ220… the original factory wing protectors and tool shadow boards hang on the walls to the rear of the service bays.
‘Another part of the business’, explains Kim ‘is the manufacture of parts to OE parts. For example, wheels for the Series 1 Land Rover were out of production and had become seriously rare, so as part of the Series 1 Reborn program, we found the original drawings and commissioned new wheels to be manufactured to OE spec which we can no offer to home restorers along with a wide range of other OE products.
Out the other side of the workshop, we enter ‘The Collection’, where 220 cars tell the stories of the Jaguar and Land Rover Marques. PC Alumnus Neil Campbell curates the collection, and has been keen to share it with us for a long time. He’s busy shuttling cars to an event at Caffeine and Machine during our visit. As Alistair explains: ‘This is a working collection; the cars don’t just sit here, they’re often out at events or even supporting new car launches.’ Many of the cars here were acquired by JLR as part of the famous James Hull collection sale, however there are also classics of the future including a prototype four seater F-type all set to be preserved by a manufacturer clearly very proud of its heritage.
‘Jaguar and Land Rover have always innovated,’ says Alistair, ‘From petrol to diesel and now on to EV, with a full electric Range Rover set to land in 2025. We must preserve our heritage and continue to celebrate it we continue to innovate into the future. We don’t own the brand, we’re just custodians for the next generation and that’s what JLR is all about.’
TOP: ‘Series I Reborn’ in progress.
ABOVE: Collection is impressive.
Contact
jaguarlandrover classic.com