Can anyone recommend a E-type and XK1n0 specialist

[grubnut]

Can anyone recommend a good E-type and XK1n0 specialist convenient for the Kent ; Surrey Borders?

[a8hex]

Slightly further west would be Racing Green Cars, they advertise here quite a lot.

www.racinggreencars.com/

The main contact for Classic Jags is Peter Hugo, the main technical man is Chris Window.

[NormanD]

a8hex said:

Slightly further west would be Racing Green Cars, they advertise here quite a lot.



http://www.racinggreencars.com/



The main contact for Classic Jags is Peter Hugo, the main technical man is Chris Window.

I agree, they know their stuff.



Someone else had a thread asking, he too was from Kent if I remember, and he is going to RG next month.

[Johnniem]

I have PM'd you with a number and e-mail address. The XK and E-types are what he is best at.

[NormanD]

Johnniem said:

I have PM'd you with a number and e-mail address. The XK and E-types are what he is best at.

So why can't we all share in the information?

[lowdrag]

If you go slightly further you will find in Sussex CKL Developements. They build racing E types, and look after my Lynx D types. They are not dear, are very professional, and do excellent work. In fact they look after Michael Cowdray's cars CUT 7 and 49 FXN, the low drags. Go here to see their site and if you ring Chris keith-Lucas or Melvin Floyd say Tony recommended you. Chris has two XK's and he and his wife race them. They are both ex Lynx and what they don't know about Jaguars isn't worth knowing.

http://www.ckldevelopments.co.uk/

Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 26th May 09:05

[a8hex]

lowdrag said:

If you go slightly further you will find in Sussex CKL Developements. They build racing E types, and look after my Lynx D types. They are not dear, are very professional, and do excellent work. In fact they look after Michael Cowdray's cars CUT 7 and 49 FXN, the low drags. Go here to see their site and if you ring Chris keith-Lucas or Melvin Floyd say Tony recommended you. Chris has two XK's and he and his wife race them. They are both ex Lynx and what they don't know about Jaguars isn't worth knowing.

http://www.ckldevelopments.co.uk/

Edited by lowdrag on Saturday 26th May 09:05

They don't just look after Lynx D-Types, they look after at least one of the Jaguar ones too. At the XK Trackday that they organised for the XK Club and JEC at Goddwood the owner of a D got Chris to take me for a few laps in his D-Type. Not only does CKL know a thing or two about Jaguars, he knows a thing or two about what to do with them

I've never had them work on my XK, but when I've spoke to them they have been really helpful.

[falcemob]

Er, what's a Jaguar XK1n0?

[a8hex]

falcemob said:

Er, what's a Jaguar XK1n0?

Jaguar XK120, XK140 & XK150, C-Types, D-Types and XKSS are usually lumped in with them too.

The Jaguar XK120 was launched at the Earl's Court Motor Show in 1948. The name comes from:

XK, the name given to the engine. X for experimental, K revision (a,b,c,d I think was the first one to make it as far as being made... e,f,g,h,i,j nearly there, let's just make it a bit bigger, k - ah! got it at last)
120 the projected top speed, which was easily achieved, thankfully.



This was then followed by the XK140, where the number did not represent the speed.



Lastly in 1957 came the XK150



Cheers

Ken


edited to fix links to pictures

Edited by a8hex on Sunday 27th May 09:11

[Myobb]

Well I suppose if your rich & money means nothing Racing Green or CKL or even CMC are first rate. But they are very expensive & charge very high hourly rates. I have used Colin Ford (of CF Auto which is based just of exit 1 of the M25)) on my Series 2 E-Type for the last 6 years & have been very satisfied both with the quality of his workmanship & his charges. In addition he is the Jaguar Enthusiast Club´s E-Type "Guru" so he does know what he is talking about.

[lowdrag]

In reply to your above comment what do you consider a reasonable hourly rate? After 30+ years of Jaguars I've seen cheap rates that cost the owner dear in the long run and dearer rates that worked out cheaper. I'm not maligning you own people but I am curious as to how much they charge an hour just to compare.I know what Lynx used to extort (sorry, charge) before they closed down, know Peter Hugo well and CKL as well so I am able to compare their rates, but first I'd like to know what you consider reasonable, because for me CKL, as specialist Jaguar people with many many years behind them, are not at all dear.

[Coco H]

lowdrag said:

In reply to your above comment what do you consider a reasonable hourly rate? After 30+ years of Jaguars I've seen cheap rates that cost the owner dear in the long run and dearer rates that worked out cheaper. I'm not maligning you own people but I am curious as to how much they charge an hour just to compare.I know what Lynx used to extort (sorry, charge) before they closed down, know Peter Hugo well and CKL as well so I am able to compare their rates, but first I'd like to know what you consider reasonable, because for me CKL, as specialist Jaguar people with many many years behind them, are not at all dear.

I think there can be truth in that - we bought a car that had not run for a while so was a bargain but had supposedly been professionally restored some years previously. Whilst the photos are a great testament to excatly what happened to the bodywork - we have found lots of mechanical and other bodges. We do all the work at home but we have had need to consult specialists - in fact I would be grateful if someone could recommend someone used to prep comp cars / cars for long distances!

[lowdrag]

CKL, who I have known since their inception in 1999, specialise in competition Jaguars but also more run of the mill cars. The maintain the two low drag coupés, Tojeiros, XK's and many real D types as well as Lynx cars. If I tell you that I spent a lot of money buying a car sight unseen it will indicate my faith in their honesty and integrity. If Chris says to me it's good I believe him. Their hourly rate is £35 by the way which, given their expertise and craftmanship, I find actually relatively cheap.

[a8hex]

Coco H said:

We do all the work at home but we have had need to consult specialists - in fact I would be grateful if someone could recommend someone used to prep comp cars / cars for long distances!

Racing Green also prepare competition cars, apart from their own I've seen several of the XK championship cars there.

http://www.jec-racing.org.uk/2007/silv-3103.htm

They've also run their XKSS in the Mille Miglias.

I suspect that many of the runners in the JEC XK series are run by classic Jaguar Specialist. "Grahame Bull" mentioned in the report above runs Camberley Marine, I don't know whether they work on anyone else's cars though, I looked at buying a rather tuned Mk2 from him. That car had been put together by Ken Bell of Coombes fame, Ken himself I believe is still in the business (Ken Bell, Crooked Timbers, White Hart Lane, Wood Street Village, Guildford, Surrey GU3 3EA sorry I can't find a website)

[Myobb]

In response to "Lowdrag" Colin Ford" charges approx 25 pounds per hour & he does know his stuff since he has specialised in E-Types (& only "E´s&quot for the last 25 years. Very well known amongst JEC memebers he has never needed to advertise which says a lot.