Hi folks,
I went to my first JOC International weekend this weekend, and was really
impressed. There were about 100 cars there, in various conditions. As well
as cars that were considerably better than when they left the factory, it
was good to see a few ropey cars that were at least still on the road. It
was also good to meet a few people from the list as well, especially as TJ
only just made it. Did I manage to buy the infamous Ocker a drink? I was
sorry to miss Iain, he's obviously not as loud mouthed as he says he is as I
kept listening out for a Scottish accent and didn't hear him!
I put my Jensen Healey into the concours, which was the first time I'd ever
done anything like this. Although the car was nowhere near the standard of
the best cars there (the winning J-H and Alison Lawrence's wining GT were
absolutely splendid), it was still judged to be sufficiently good to get a
placing (the 'pass' mark being 60% of the available marks, so despite
coming 5th out of 5 I was quite pleased). At least I know what areas to sort
out for the next time. Unfortunately I'd left the tool kit at home when I
rushed back home to drop off the SP and pick up the Healey, so lost points
for that and lost more points for the fact the car squirted petrol all over
the place - the diaphragm on the carb pump had split. Thanks to everyone
that offered help, especially Martin Shirley. It was just unfortunate that
neither ReJen or Cropedy had the parts there that I needed. I could
understand trailoring a car to concours (which is illegal under JOC rules)
but I don't think that many people have driven there and been trailored
back! At least the tow company that the RAC used was literally opposite the
hotel. It was also very useful to be able to ask questions and actually be
shown things, rather than just trying to explain things via an email. For
example - did you know that you can lower the position of the hood frame?
Very useful if your hood has shrunk slightly as mine has.
Although the hotel could have been better, the organisation by the JOC
(mainly Ron and Thelma Smith I guess) was outstanding. The concours was also
good fun - it's a good way of meeting other owners and I think I got a lot
out of it (not just the bit of paper...) Thanks again to Philip Russell for
that.
The RAC man said that an Interceptor broke down on the M6 that evening -
anyone on the list?
It was also a great pity that Ed Pillenger's new GT broke down on the way -
they finally arrived in the early hours of Saturday morning. At least Ed
didn't have to be up at the crack of dawn polishing as quite a few of the
concours entrants were.
The best part of the weekend for me though was talking to a former Jensen
employee who had recognised my name from the concours entrants. It turns
out that he has bought and nearly completed the restoration of a mark 2
Interceptor that I owned about 12 years ago - those with long memories may
remember it as the Concorde lookalike that was at the Cropredy Bridge open
day however many years ago. I never thought this car would get the
restoration it deserved.
Zac
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