JAGUAR TRIPPIN’—VIRTUALLY

THE JAGUAR HERITAGE TRUST is in Gaydon, south of Coventry in the English Midlands. It’s a vast continent and vast ocean from my home, but I’ve just tripped there—virtually. All in good fun, both for its enriching Jaguar history and also experiencing the latest in online armchair travel. Here are tidbits on this trippin’ virtually.

Getting There. First, click on sirwilliamlyons.com, and while waiting, make yourself a nice cuppa. Imagine it’s a coolish morning and you’re firing up a vintage Jaguar, because the lengthy download may not happen particularly quickly. It took a couple of tries for my iMac 27 to finish its time-filling donut and reveal its Heritage Trust image.

An Informative Visit. From there on, my virtual trippin’ was entertaining and informative. An optional menu listed the nine viewing areas: Early Days, Motor City, Jaguar Grows Up, The XK Engine, The XK120, Aerodynamics, Jaguar Saloons, The E-Type, and Swansong.

The first stop is a “navigation toolkit” identifying the icons. Agreed, I did my virtual viewing on the iMac 27’s full-screen. And following up on icons enriched the tour, with text accompanying the images, occasional slideshows, videos, and 3D interactive models. 

Blackpool Origins. The Early Days video clip of Blackpool cites William Lyons’ 1901 birthplace. We learn from the tour that his parents ran the “Music and Pianoforte Warehouse” in this English “music and leisure capital of the North.”

By the way, this English pleasure town was also the home of Trevor Wilkinson, who established Trevcar, which quickly evolved into the TVR as in TreVoR.  

Advice from an Elder. At an early age, William took to motorcycles, though a headmaster admonished him, “You’ll never get anywhere messing about with engines.” 

Ha. Wait ’til you see the business Lyons started: Swallow Sidecars. 

There’s a neat  3D Interactive rendering of a Swallow product. 

Before long, Lyons had expanded the business to fitting Austin 7s with fetching bodywork. And, in time, he “became nothing less than a full-blown car maker.” 

Familiar Faces, Familiar Cars. I won’t spoil your own trippin’ and discovery, other to mention that familiar Jaguars and their drivers appear. 

The “Leaping Cat” came after Lyons disliked aftermarket bonnet ornamentation.

In September 1948, record-breaker Goldie Gardner drove a modified XK prototype to a world record of 176.694 mph on Belgium’s famed Jabbeke motorway.

In 1950, Clark Gable wrote in R&T of his newly acquired XK120: “I had to have it like a kid wants candy.”

A youthful Stirling Moss piloted C-Type Jaguars at Le Mans and garnered first in one at the Tourist Trophy. His comments are in one of the videos. 

And we’re not even half way through virtual trippin’ at the Jaguar Heritage Trust. Do give it a visit. ds

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2023