NZ JAGUAR NATIONAL RALLY 2018
Three years of hard work by a special committee formed from members of both the Otago and Southland Jaguar Drivers Clubs culminated in a very successful National Rally in Invercargill at Easter.
Organizing Committee spokesman Brett Flintoff was delighted with the success of the event, which is hosted every three years by a nominated Jaguar club in New Zealand. A host of activities, both during the day and each evening, over the four-day holiday weekend helped keep everyone involved.
“I was delighted with the way the weekend went. It was a huge effort by the committee, and we were very pleased with the turnout of 250 Jaguars and 490 people registered,” Brett said.
He was especially pleased with the support that the rally had received from Rothbury Insurance Brokers, the Invercargill Licensing Trust, and the Daimler Jaguar and Lanchester Owners in New Zealand
Spare Parts Club, along with great support from Jaguar New Zealand, all of who helped make it happen, he said.
“We were also very lucky to have such great speakers at the evening functions, such as TWR Racing’s Alan Scott speaking about the company and its Rover Vitesse and Group C Jaguar specials on Saturday evening,” Brett said.
Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt welcomed everyone on the Friday evening at the official rally opening. He was followed by former Jaguar UK engineer John Butterworth, who attended the National Rally. John played a video message from legendary Jaguar development engineer Norman Dewis, as Dewis (97) was too ill to attend. John had a busy-but-enjoyable weekend in his role as head judge, with Otago’s Mark Paterson in the rally concours judging.
Rally entrants enjoyed some fantastic venues for car enthusiasts all over Southland. They also made trips as far afield as Te Anau and Stewart Island, enjoying some of the great driving roads and sights in the region.
There were, of course, various events to show off the cars. A wet start on Saturday for the public display at Queens Park eventually changed to sunny conditions, and there was a huge turnout of Jaguars for everyone to enjoy.
On Sunday, many took the opportunity to get in some track time at Teretonga Park. The saloon and sports car gymkhana events resulted in a great demonstration of how Jaguar made its name from the 1930s through to the 1960s. The company has survived and thrived, with today’s exhilarating models showing their paces and a little tyre smoke along the way.
A nice touch on the grid at Teretonga was added by Southland member Dave Taylor, who sourced 240 Jaguar-branded green overalls through local supplier Warwick Woodfield for the events.
John Endean displayed his pride and joy, a 1932 Austin Swallow from the earliest Jaguar days.
Invercargill’s long-time Jaguar specialist Windsor Motors provided replacement parts or service for those unexpected breakdowns over the rally weekend.
Pace there was in abundance, with some very quick standing-quarter-mile times, and the gymkhana trophy for sports cars donated by Southland’s Laird Motorsport went to John Munro in a Jaguar XKR, while the New Zealand Classic Car trophy for the saloon gymkhana stayed local with Paul Thayer in his XJ40.
The National Rally dinner added to the motoring atmosphere of the weekend, with the function held in the main hall of Bill Richardson Transport World, and Southland Jaguar Drivers Club member Neil Lewis taking Best in Show with his Jaguar XK150 drophead.
Comedian Sim Mckinney stole the evening with an entertaining performance, and the contingent from Australia reckoned that it was one of the best Jaguar national rallies they had attended.
My wife Linda and I were very pleased to be guests at the Jaguar National Rally dinner, and what an enjoyable rally it was. It will be a long time before another Jaguar National Rally comes to the deep south.
The next Jaguar National Rally is set to be hosted by the Waikato Jaguar Club in 2021.