A Report on the Jaguar Club of Central Arizona'

A Report on the Jaguar Club of Central Arizona's
22nd Annual Concours d'Elegance

The run up to the concours was a harried nightmare of last minute problems and deadlines. Dennis Eynon, Concours Chairman and I were in almost constant communication the week leading up to the show. He arranged the catering and bought the wine and soda. He handled all the registrations and answered a hundred phone calls from people who read the newspaper article and wondered where the show was. We all know where Heritage Square is, and the newspaper reporter does, too. But apparently much of the Valley of the Sun doesn't. Dennis was slightly irritated by the interruptions, but it meant we'd have a good turnout. Friday before the show, I had to pick up programs from the printer, judges' jackets from the dry cleaners, trophy and dash plaques, my wife from Australia on a 2:30 p.m. flight, seats for one car from the trim shop, another car from the detail shop, and I had three others to detail.

Thankfully, I had begun some of the detailing earlier, but no matter what you do, there is always more. The seats I needed to pick up? I also had to dye and install them. My wife's flight was an hour late. After the first engraver couldn't handle the fine detail in the plaques, I had to find another on Thursday who could finish the job by Friday. Many thanks to Aarrow Awards, www.aarrowawards.com, for doing a fine job in a hurry. They stuck around until after closing to finish the job.

With all the detailing, it was touch and go, whether I would have everything done. I did, almost. About 7:45 p.m., I realized that the judges' jackets were still at the dry cleaners. They closed at 7:00. Fortunately, they opened at 7:00 a.m.

The day began well, at least weather-wise, although my day was a rollercoaster of relaxing then realizing that something needed to be done. The first big drop, the one that occurs after you've clanked up for a seemingly endless time, occurred before we left the house Saturday. I had never picked up the programs, and the printer wasn't open on Saturday! Nothing I could do about it then. My only hope was to meet someone at the shop, if they were willing, and if they were home. I knew I wouldn't make any points calling before 7:00 a.m.

Pete Hilgeman did his usual excellent job of planning the layout and organizing the car parking. There were already some cars in place when I arrived at 7:30 a.m. My son Paul drove my Chevy S-10 (not displayed -- for transport purposes only), his friend, J.P., drove the '85 XJ6 VDP, and his college roomate, T.J., drove the '84 XJ6. I drove the XK120. My wife, Andrea, followed about half an hour later in the '86 VDP, after picking up the judges' jackets.

Around 9:00 I called the home of the print shop owners, hoping that someone would answer. My undying gratitude to Bill Freck, owner of Kwik-Kopy at 10806 N. 32nd St. He agreed to meet me at his shop, saving my butt. I then realized that Paul had taken the truck to drive T.J. back to Arizona State. Now I was going to make him wait? After a late start, I hightailed it up the Squaw Peak Parkway, ignoring all traffic laws, to retrieve the programs.

A relaxing day for Mike King and his E type?

Ky & Char Shelton (seated) and their Mark IX

The cars were fantastic. Being a celebration of saloons, it was great to have such a wide range. Oldest was Stan Sackley's 1949 Mark V 3.5L DHC. At the other end, we had Scottsdale Jaguar's 2001 XK8 and S-TYPE. Entrants supplied a 2000 S-TYPE, a 2000 XJR, and one of it's six cylinder predecessors. Series III XJ6es dominated the saloon field, with six, three championship, two driven, and one display. An XJ12L rounded the XJ driven class. Two XJ40s were displayed.

A nice cross-section of the sixties made the show, too. Derek Broughton brought his 1968 3.8S, Rusty and Jolene Beard showed their 1967 420, Mike Corcoran had his 1963 Mark 10, and Ky and Char Shelton drove the whole way from Washington State in their 1961 Mark IX, earning them the Farthest Driven award, by a thousand miles. Surprisingly, we had no Mark 2s.

My photography spell ended when I was asked to rank the competitors for the trophies. About the same time, the sky began to darken, and the predicted rain looked like it was going to move in right on schedule.

In the grand scheme of things, this only makes sense. It always rains after you wash your car. If you detail a car within an inch of it's life and put it on display with fifty other similarly clean cars, what can you expect?

About 2:30, people started asking for permission to move cars into their trailers or the parking garage adjacent to the site. Most of the scoring was completed by that time, so we permitted it.

Stan Sackley - '49 Mark V 3.5L 1st in Class 1B	Sharon Roe - '50 XK120 Rdstr 1st in Class 2	Mickey Saperstein - '52 XK120 2nd in Class D1
Mark Stephenson - '52 XK120 1st in Class D1	Dennis Eynon - D-type Replica 1st in Class 16	Ky & Char Shelton - '61 Mk IX 1st in Class 8
Dennis Eynon - '63 E Rdstr	Mike Corcoran - '63 Mark 10 Second in Class D5	Ron Robertson - 1964 E Coupe
David Robb - '64 E Coupe 1st in Class 15	Christian Roe - '65 E OTS 3rd in Class 5	Mick Sonne - '66 E OTS
Jerry Meyer - '67 E OTS First in Class 5 / Best of Two-Seaters	Rusty Beard - '67 420 3rd in Class 9	Bill Streu - '67 E 2+2 2nd in Class 5
Andrew Alcazar - '67 E OTS 1st in Class D2	Scott McPherson - '67 E OTS	Derek Broughton - '68 3.8S First in Class D5
Mike Silverman - '68 E OTS 3rd in Class D3	Pete Hilgeman - '69 E Coupe	Len Wheeler - '69 E 2+2
Dale Williams - '69 E OTS 1st in Class D3	Robert Auzas - '71 E Coupe 2nd in Class D3	Mike King - '72 E 2+2 1st in Class 7
Larry & Vickie Currie - '73 E OTS 1st in Class D4	Ed Pittman - '73 E Coupe 2nd in Class D4	Hap Nairn - '76 XJ12L 3rd in Class D6
Paul Hanson - '80 XJ6 1st in Class 12	Paul Stephenson - '84 XJ6 1st in Class D6	Terri Thomas - '85 XJ6
Mark Stephenson - '85 XJ6 2nd in Class D6	Mark Stephenson - '86 XJ6 3rd in Class 12	Randy Ontko - '87 XJS
Rigo Duran - '87 XJ6 2nd in Class 12	Rob Uhl - '87 XJS	Ave Wolfley - '89 XJS 2nd in Class 14
Ken Barnhart - '89 XJ6	Rusty Beard - '89 XJS 3rd in Class 14	Paul Hanson - '90 XJS
Miguel Frasquillo - 1990 XJ6	Leslie Streu - '95 XJS 1st in Class 14	Christian Roe - '96 XJR 1st in Class 13
Frederic Ballot - 1995 XJ6	Sharon Billeter - 2000 S-TYPE 1st in Class 19 / Best of Saloons	Jim Mulchrone - 2000 XJR 1st in Class D7
Scottsdale Jaguar - 2001 S-TYPE	Scottsdale Jaguar - 2001 XK8	Scottsdale Jaguar - Ford F-150
Mystery XJSC Do you know me?	If anyone has photos of the two missing cars, or if you know the owner of the mystery XJSC, please e-mail me at info@jcca.us.

For the Jag-Lovers viewing this, from the XJ Lovers list, Jerry Lippman, David Dick, and Doug Grace dropped by. You might also have recognized the names of XJ-Lovers Paul Hanson and Rusty Beard, both club members and entrants. Paul Hanson brought John Steed and Mrs. Peel, and has the license plates to prove it. From the Saloons list, Ky and Char Shelton made the trek as I noted earlier. Their Mk IX has 600,000 miles. They have a couple spare engines which they rebuild as needed and drop in when a change is necessary.

Less than a week before the show, Dennis called me about a change of schedule. Up until this year, we had the awards banquet around dinner time or slightly earlier. Dennis was having a conversation with another club member and it dawned on him to have the dinner after scoring was completed -- about 3:00. The judges lunch that we usually held around 11:00 a.m. became a continental brunch for all entrants at 10:30. The wisdom of this decision quickly became evident. Spells of drizzle began about 2:45 p.m., tablecloths were getting damp, and the pages of the concours program that we laid out for the entrants were beginning to curl. Phoenix averages a half inch of rain in October, so you can see that eating outside is not normally a big problem. We had no contingency plan and no cover.

Christian Roe guards the brunch delicacies.

Heavy rain held off, thankfully, and the food, supplied by Altasta Catering, www.atlastacatering.com, was excellent. I would have enjoyed it much more, warm, but I was busy trying to rank the participants. I was hoping to find my son to deliver some to me, but I discovered later that he had fallen asleep in his car. Thanks to Sharon Billeter who walked the buffet line for me.

Many of the amenities enjoyed at the Saloons in the Old West would not have been possible without our sponsors. The Event Sponsors ($1000 or more) were:

Scottsdale Jaguar, www.jaguardealer.com/scottsdale - See them for your next new or pre-owned Jaguar,
Grundy Insurance Agency, www.grundy.com - Check their great rates for collector car insurance, and
Jaguar Cars, www.jaguar.com, keeping the marque alive.

Their sizeable cash contributions will allow us to expand the club, subsidize more events to entice greater member paritcipation, and donate funds to several charities, including the care and feeding of the black Jaguar at the Prescott Zoo.

Delta Motorsports is filling the hole left by the untimely demise of Auto Brittania. They are located at 2724 E. Bell Road, Phoenix, AZ 85032 or call them at 602-265-8026.

Bill Streu, Dennis Eynon, Howard Wolfley, and Jay Ryan, are heartily commended for their efforts in obtaining these donations. Thanks, guys.

Special Thanks

First and foremost, thanks to all the participants: The JCCA members who brought their cars; Len Wheeler, President of the Jaguar Club of Southern Arizona, who enticed Mick Sonne and Randy Ontko to join him on the trip up; the northern Arizona contingent, Larry and Vicki Currie, Ed and Alva Pittman, and Paul Hanson and his son; and the out-of-staters, Stan Sackley and Jerry Meyer from California and Ky and Char Shelton from Washington State. Without you, the show would be an empty lot.

Thanks to all the club members who volunteered their time in preparation, registration, judging and scoring. Without you there would be no concours.

Donna Hilgeman and Ave Wolfley at Registation

Concours Chairman Dennis Eynon

Photographic assistance was provided by Eric Billeter, who took film photos, and Doug Grace and Pete Hilgeman, who forwarded me shots I missed. Without you the web site would not be nearly this complete.

A special thanks to Chief Judge Ron Robertson. The concours chairman runs everything up until the day of the show, then, like a bombardier, the Chief Judge takes over and flies the plane (no comment about dropping bombs).

I've reserved the ultimate kudos for Concours Chairman Dennis Eynon, who did an absolutely incredible job coordinating the entire event.

Well done, once again, everyone.

Finally, thanks to Eric Billeter and Cable One for donating our web space. Hard drive space like this site consumes, would normally cost at least $30/month.

Chief Judge Ron Robertson

The skies opened on the way home. It is one thing to be driving a saloon in a torrential downpour, but quite another to be driving a roadster with side curtains. My wipers made a few slow swipes, giving me clear visibility for about half a mile and then they stopped just as I was about to get on the freeway. They refused to start again. The wind at speed kept things pretty clear. I was pleasantly surprised that all I had was a couple dribbles down the inside of the windscreen. Lightning and thunder feel quite a bit closer in the thinly covered cockpit. An explosion to the left, only a few tenths of a mile away, blasted over the sound of wind and motor. Another cracked about a mile away to the left, in the direction of the house. Every once in a while I'd feel a tiny drop hit my face or hand. They felt like an errant bit of spray from somewhere, but I have no idea where. As I left the freeway near my home, driving became a bit more difficult. It is hard enough to see the lines on Phoenix streets in the rain when your wipers are working, much less when you are looking through a rain spotted windscreen. I used the curb as my guide, and made it home. With both cars safely tucked in the garage, we wiped them down. The soft top on the roadster looked great after its washing. The hot engines and the open bonnet on the XJ6 -- a habit when we park at the house -- heated the garage nicely, and hopefully quickly evaporated the moisture. The storm turned out to be one of the biggest ever in Arizona in the month of October. It continued through Monday, and even gave us a few sprinkles on Tuesday. We had nearly two inches, all told.

Follow the adventures of intrepid ralliers as they face nature's fury on the British Desert Rallye, the exciting conclusion to the Concours weekend.

Saloon and all other Jaguar owners, mark your calendars. Heritage Square is already reserved for next year, November 11, 2001. So come and join the fun. Are you a sponsor interesting in contributing? Contact Mark Stephenson at info@jcca.us.

Hopefully, everything is correct. If you notice that a picture of your car is missing or if I've left you out completely, if I have the wrong name with the wrong car or if you notice something as minor as a grammatical or spelling error, please drop me an e-mail at info@jcca.us. You are also welcome to comment on the page. I take criticism well.

Finally, I would be remiss in my other Jaguar Club job, if I didn't mention that if you are not a member and would like to be a part of all this fun, joining the Jaguar Club of Central Arizona is easy. We have a short membership application at www.cableone.net/jcca/membapp.htm. Fill it out, mail it in, and join us for our monthly activities. For a list of upcoming events, see www.cableone.net/jcca/upcoming.htm.

Mark Stephenson, Membership Director and Webmaster (loosely applied)
Jaguar Club of Central Arizona

We also had generous $250 cash contributions from...		and a $100 contribution from
National Paint and Drywall 2050 W. Mountainview Rd. Phoenix, AZ 85021 602-242-1013	Roofing Supply of Arizona 5307 W. Missouri Glendale, AZ 85301 (623) 931-0054	Kowalski Construction 8836 N. 23rd Avenue, Suite B-3 Phoenix, Arizona 85021 (602) 944-2645 www.kowalski.com.