The Lyons Roar by David Harrison, VJC President

Since the last Lyons Roar in August, a lot of water has flowed thru the radiator, to coin a phrase. The first Jaguar related decision in September revolved around Watkins Glen and the NCJOC Concours in Reston, they were both on the first weekend after Labor Day. I really wanted to take my Swallow to both , but this seemed impossible until I realised that the big street festival and Concours at the Glen was Friday and the NCJOC was Sunday, which left a day in between for travel. Reston (near Dulles) is on the way back from NY State. My next impediment was lack of a covered trailer. The little Swallow is not a duck, the wooden body frame is allergic to getting wet, and a 4 day jaunt to Northern parts was likely to run into rain somewhere. Fortunately my son in law Billy saw a trailer with a cute homemade covered body in Mechanicsville, it sort of looked like an ark on wheels, and I got it for a very reasonable price. I bought and titled it on Monday, borrowed Bill's F-150 and got the trailer interface, lights and brakes working Tuesday, got it inspected Wednesday afternoon, loaded the Swallow Wednesday evening and Una and I drove to the Glen on Thursday. I must admit feeling a little frazzled.

The down town festival at the Glen restored my energy. The weather was perfect and the downtown festival folk were most gracious. The town is "Peyton Place" pretty with Lake Seneca at the bottom of Main Street. We were the oldest car and were placed in what looked like the pole position. This lasted a couple of hours then I heard a putt-putt-putt, and in came a 1904 single cylinder Cadillac to take pride of place. The Caddie looked brand new, in fact I could not see any part that looked old except maybe the engine. My Swallow looked a little shabby by comparison, but perhaps more authentic. I kept myself and the crowd amused by cranking my engine on request (747 cc of raw power) with the starting handle. Several burly young bloods attempted the feat but there is a knack to it.

After enjoying a complimentary box lunch with wine and meeting some really nice MG folk , Una and I cadged a ride in a golf car to Lake Seneca and took the narrated lake cruise, informative and a lot of fun, and some wonderful scenery. We walked back along the main drag, by now filled wall to wall with classic cars, mainly British. We met some old friends, Bob Vitrikas, Otto Linton who drove an MG J3 in the '48 race, Ron Embling, Bob Green the Glen historian, and Dave Kyle in his "new" Allard. After some more fraternising at the Concours, it was award time and we were honoured to get one for a. Car of historic significance.. The racers then roared off for the reenactment on the old road course, it was great to see Otto at 90+ years old driving Denver Cornett's old racing TC. After the dust had settled Una and I drove the Swallow through the back streets. We ended a prefect day at the lakeside marina eating fish and chips with our new friends Russ Vollmer (BRG MGTD) and Joe.

What a change a few hours can make. The next morning dawned with heavy rain for our journey south through the PA mountains to Reston. One of the items provided with the trailer was a broken sway bar, I had not had the time to source and fit a replacement. The trailer would wag the dog at speeds over 50 mph, so it was a slow and slippery trip back to Reston. Forget the mountain curves, the most terrifying were the last twenty miles on the Beltway avoiding insane BMWs. Ironically the rain stopped shortly after we checked in to the ritzy Regency Hyatt in downtown Reston, the host hotel for the NCJOC Concours. The complimentary bottle of wine in the fruit basket sent up by NCJOC Concours Chief Michelle Dawson was soon put to good use as we met up with VJC members Dick Geoghegan and Sara Rosenberg.

The next morning was sunny, the girls ate a leisurely breakfast while I unloaded the Swallow and drove her to the Concours area, beautifully located in Reston town square, a few steps away from the back of the Hyatt. Reston is a planned new town and has a real centre, with fountains, trees, little bistros and boutiques, rather European in appearance and ambience. The NCJOC folk were busy setting up an impressive award and silent auction display, and Concours Jaguars were rapidly arriving and being directed to their allotted classes. My Swallow was placed under a large glass arch next to a display of brand new 2009 XFs and XJs from Manhattan Jaguar, sort of an alpha and omega setup. Our very own Wayne Estrada was Chief Judge and organized the usual judge assignment huddle. The Swallow was one of the first to be judged, I don't think the judges had seen too many before and JCNA will probably never issue a guide to originality with only 5 Swallows in the USA, they were very gentle on the car. I have to say here and now that the whole NCJOC event was well organized by Michelle and her team and most pleasurable. The choice of Reston was brilliant, and I hope this will be the venue for future events.

After I discharged my judging responsibilities on other cars, Una and I got together and refreshed ourselves with tea, and a cheese and fruit plate at an adjacent bistro . Reston has a genuine town centre and lots of people were now walking around enjoying the sunshine, having a coffee or glass of wine and looking at the cars. Una and I try to look the part of a dapper 1930's couple, and lots of folk would come over if we were by the car. I would tell them a little early Jaguar history, show them the engine if they were interested, let the kids sit in and blow the horn and occasionally hand crank the engine for a laugh. Thus did the day pass pleasantly until awards time and I was pleased that the Swallow got its second Concours award in two days.

I was apprehensive about the drive down I-95 in the late afternoon but was pleasantly surprised by the light traffic. The only back up was at the Dulles tool booth, suddenly dozens of black SUVS and DC police cars appeared and the booths were shut down as some Washington bigwig was hustled back inside the Beltway. In retrospect , we drove about 900 miles, I was tired for a couple of days after we returned. Una finally got to see Watkins Glen and liked it, I had been helping friend Hugh Burruss to campaign his Sebring MGA for several years in the Collier Cup and had been extolling the Glen's virtues for several years. The two Concours were well run and enjoyable, and definitely favoured by the weather gods. Gas at $3.50 was a bit pricey, but as our visitors from the UK keep telling us, its cheap compared to their nine dollars.

Next Installment; The VJC Concours and Mr Madison

Pictures from Watkins Glen, 2008