My dad's friend owns the hotel and restaurant these cars were at. This is the Jaguar club of Holland cruising on Route 66. They shipped their cars over to New York and cruising to LA. I talked with a lot of the owners and they were telling me about all the cruises they go on (Egypt, Europe, US). They have about 60-70 cars on this cruise. Keep a look out for them, some very nice Jags!
more pics Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Can't go too far without the service team! I was talking with them and the myth about the motors is true, it's amazing how they tune them and repair at almost every stop. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I have a lot of pics, so here are some more: Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
It's kinda funny to see how revered these cars are here. Some of my friends use the 12 cylinder Jags as a base for their Daytonas in the UK.
Going home to Arlington Heights on the Metra yesterday, I saw an old XKE on the Kennedy. I though, "That's a rare sight" and then a minute later a 50's era Jag. It struck me there was a show somewhere! Ken
This is true, I don't know anyone offhand that is a Jaguar nut. Pretty cool to see, these guys certainly know how to enjoy their cars!
I was impressed with so many cars that came overseas to participate in this event. The owners were all very nice and enjoyed talking about their previous cruise experiences. I even helped a guy work on his E Type.
Hi Dino, Those guys must be tinkerers, I have a lot of experience with Jags, MGs and Jensen Healeys. I have driven all of them extensively on long trips. Miami-Chicago, straight through. Key West-Chicago straight through. The '66 MG 7200 miles in a month, Vancouver-Chicago straight through. I had a voltage regulator go out once, it was 14 years old at the time of it's demise and it was replaced in Vegas, for $6.00. For years, the biggest threat to reliability, that any older sports car faced, in the US, was the "technician" working on it. If you had a good mechanic, you were alright, if not well.... The running gear in these cars, are the most straight forward simple systems available. They do require routine maintenance, but not incessant repair and tuning. Add oil to the SU or Stromberg carbs, put a drop of oil on the felt at the back bearing of the generator, check the oil and water, fill it up with petrol and get back on the tarmac. Most mechanics of yesteryear's eyes, would just glaze over, when he saw the two or three SU carbs on the engine, HUH? Jags were the first car that many of them saw, with overhead cams. Imagine the confusion when they ran into some of the cars with the Lucas mechanical FI. Regards, Bill
Ha Billiam, so do I! When the E-type came out in the 60's I had a couple of them. Back then, they were called the 'Instant Poverty Car'. They spent most of their time in repair shops. Same with my 58' MGA, till I sold it. The new owner never had a lick of trouble with it. Guess I had replaced everything by the time he bought it!
Wow - call me a wussy, but if I was them, if they are travelling the old Route 66, I'd be paying REAL CLOSE ATTENTION to the weather in that 'hail belt', and that belt pretty much follows all of Route 66... in the Springtime (ie now).
A decent number of them were heading south (west) on 294 just South of O'Hare this morning around 7:15 am. When I first saw the last one in the line I thought the same thing, a rare site with European plates never the less. Then I noticed more and more as I passed them.
They actually had 3 cars that didn't make it to Chicago. So who knows how many of them make it to LA. I was surprised also with them driving their cars like that. A lot of them had developed rock chips, etc, but nothing a body shop can't fix , I guess. They left Chicago this morning. Bill: I know that Jags aren't the most reliable car, but I was surprised when I arrived to their location to see a minimum of 5-7 cars being worked on and a few others going through minor maintenance. It could also be due to the fact that they drive these cars hard and the amount of driving they do. I forgot to check the odometers and see the mileage, just out of curiosity.
My friends from the UK with Daytona replicas on Jag basis take these cars through Europe down to Italy and back each summer. They always have great war stories about what car broke down when. But all in all they always manage to fix them on the go and somehow limp home. Not unlike driving the real thing cross countries. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I believe some Lancia clubs/owners from Europe did a similar route 66 trip last year for the 100th aniversary of Lancia. It is even more weird considering how unknown Lancias are in this country.
Since I killed this thread, here is news of the Lancia club doing a similar trip. http://www.velocetoday.com/news/news_59.php there are other updates if you click around on the site
The Lancia Stratos was a cool car, and the Delta HF(i think that was what it was called). Anyways, I would love to do a Route 66 cruise one day.
Nick Mason has a few interesting words to say about the Stratos in the latest edition of "Octane". None of them flattering. FOC Midwest used to do a Route 66 cruise but we gave up for the lack of interest. Personally I'm a huge Route 66 fan and love visiting its landmarks.
I always loved the design of the Stratos, other than that I am not familiar at all with the car. I shall check out the article next time I am at the store. Andreas lets go cruising, lol.
I'm a big Stratos fan as well, but never drove one. Mason states you basically have to be a genetic freak of nature like a Fin ralley ace to drive one straight down the road. Everybody else only gets it sideways. He makes a statement something like "I watched oncoming traffic more often through the side windows than the front".
