15th National Rally Christchurch 2024

The 15th National Rally was held in Christchurch over Easter Weekend at the Air Force Museum of New Zealand, Wigram.

Our Club had 6 Cars attending, which for the size of our Club was a fantastic turnout. There were approximately 155 cars in the rally, ranging from Pre-WW2 through to the latest cars still available from Jaguar. There was a good mix of models with at least one of every type.

All our members who attended made their own way to and from Christchurch for the weekend, however we were all staying at the same motel and were able to meet up on the Friday (Cleaning our Cars) and then travel to the Rally Registration & Opening of the Rally with a light Dinner.

It was an early Start on Saturday at Wigram for the Public Display/Concours and then Break-Out Sessions in the afternoon (Viking Tours, Brian Devlin & John Miller talking about their Books on the Nelson Jag assemble Plant and finally a talk from Simon Allon from “Dye-Tech” Leather restorations). Saturday Evening there was the Dinner & Dance at Wigram.

Sunday Morning was the “Site Seeing” portion of the weekend where different attractions were on offer for us to attend. These ranged from Visiting Akaroa, Waimak Classic Car Museum then to Hamner Springs, Auto Restorations then onto Auto Haven, Lyttelton then to a Private Car Collection. If none of these tours were of interest, then it was free time to explore Christchurch for yourselves which some of our members did by exploring the city via the Tram system.

Sunday Evening was the final Dinner with the Prize Giving for the Concours etc. Our own Dave Ingrim was acknowledged as he and one other were the only people to have attended all 15 Jaguar National Rally’s. There was also entertainment with an “Andrews Sisters” type trio singing some of the old songs.

The Big announcement for the evening is where will the next (16th) National Rally be held.

TAURANGA has been put themselves forward for this. It will be held in 2027, but not at Easter as Tauranga is already holding a “Jazz” Festival that weekend and the place is already booked out. The date for the Rally is yet to be decided.

A great time was had and I believe those of us that attended really enjoyed the rally as well as the “adventure” of traveling there and back.

The Rallies are a great place to meet other “Like Minded” (Nutters 😉) Jaguar enthusiasts where we can gain more knowledge of our cars as well as making valuable contacts for any repairs/advise etc. we may require in the future. 

March 2024

 Jim Barnett Reserve Picnic – Sunday 17 March 2024

Seven Jaguars, twelve people gathered at the Hautapu Z Station for a 10:30 am start on a coolish Autum morning to travel to the Jim Barnett Reserve at Waotu, South Waikato.

After a bit of socialising, petrol top-ups, caffeine injections, a short briefing and route instructions, we were off with Anne leading the way in her magnificent XKR, top down, wind blowing through the hair.

We took the scenic route, travelling through Cambridge, Leamington and onto the back rural roads, passing through Roto-o-rangi, Pahue Quarry, Pukeatua, over the Arapuni Dam, thru Waotu and up the hill to the Jim Barnett Reserve.

We had the Jim Barnett Reserve to ourselves, great spot for a picnic, permanent rustic picnic tables in a grassy clearing surrounded by native bush complete with native birds, Tui’s, Fantails and couple of Kererū watching over us (Bernard at no time did we place ourselves directly underneath them).

By the time we arrived at the Reserve the sky was almost cloudless, no wind and temperature in the low 20’s. We spaced ourselves around one of the large picnic tables and tucked into our picnic lunches washed down with beverage of choice. There was some great conversation and banter, Easter eggs all round (thanks Jane), and shared crackers, Over-the-Moon blue cheese and smoked salmon (thanks Shane).

Having consumed our picnic lunch, nine of us decided to take a short (15 min) bush walk. The Jim Barnett Reserve has 16ha of native bush with thirteen distinct tracks of varying lengths to choose from, allowing for a combination of routes in a single outing. These paths offer easy walking, featuring occasional short, manageable inclines suitable for most fitness levels. The tracks are well sign posted, there are a couple of track maps. So off we went, enjoying the magnificent native bush. A high light was the 1000-year-old giant Totara with trunk measuring 2.5m diameter. After walking for about 30 min and traversing several of the 13 tracks we decided we were lost – Maybe? Yea–Nah? None of us had a map, but we worked out which general direction we needed to go – thanks to Di’s mobile with google maps. Eventually we got back to a familiar track and returned to the picnic spot some 60 mins after starting. Lesson learned – take a picture of the track map when you start.

A pleasant day out, travelling through some great rural scenic driving roads in South Waikato.

July 2023

Trip to “Jan Shoemark Glass Art” in Waitoa & Café 77 for Lunch.

The day was a beautiful sunny day though quite cool. We gathered at Joe’s Garage in Cambridge from 9:00am for Breakfast/Coffee and catchup with each other.

At approximately 10:30am we headed off for the approximately 35 min drive to Farmer Road, Waitoa for;

The Jan Shoemark Visit (by Helen Prince)

The visit to Jan Shoemark of Waitoa, was an interesting step into another world of fun and fantasy. Areas are set up with different themes and bringing to life her world of Bugs ( Having originated from the beginning of the Covid Bug).

After years of collecting odd pieces of steel, cogs, sprockets along with all the coloured cut glass that Jan uses in mirrors, pictures and bugs which are scattered throughout her garden and through her home, is a true indication of talent and perseverance.

A great Talk by Jan on how she buys her glass and the equipment she uses to make her pictures and art.

A very quirky fun lady, who is self taught and driven to suceed. A worth while visit.

From Waitoa we traveled (15 min Short Drive) to Café 77 located 420b Manawaru Road, Manawaru. Because of our numbers, unfortunatly they had set up tables for us in the Warehouse area that they use for Rock wall Climing etc. which was chilly due to no heating, so some of us elected to sit up in the main Café area where it was warmer. As this appears to be quite a popular spot, not all the items on the menu were available, so the food offerings was limited.

However, due to the great company, a nice time was had by all.

April 2023

Rolls-Royce Collection & Lunch at John Hill Winery

What another good turn out for a Club Run (Winery works again😉). The Jaguars and a Bentley met at 9:00am at BP Taupiri on a very weather changeable morning. At 9:30am we headed up the Expressway pretty much in convoy towards Auckland, coming off on the Ramarama Ramp where we picked up another Club Member. From there we headed to the Takanini Off Ramp where we then headed out to Brookby, where we were lucky enough to visit a very comprehensive Rolls Royce Collection alone with other interesting cars, Bentley’s, Jaguar’s, an Alvis TD21, Bristol’s, Lagonda’s and an Alvis Saracen 6 Wheeled Personnel Carrier. The Auckland Volvo P1800 were also in attendance which was an added bonus as not only were there P1800’s but an Austin Healey 3000 Mk3 and a Porsche. 

Richard Langridge welcomed us all to his property and then gave us all a very knowledgeable run down of each of his vehicles.  How he remembers all the details of each car, I will never know (a real enthusiast).    

Once we had almost over stayed our welcome, we headed of to “John Hill Winery” for a very enjoyable Lunch (Pizza’s, etc.). We had our own tables set aside for us, which was great having our own space to socialise. 

From the Winery everyone made their own way home.   

April 2023

Run to Manukau Heads-Awhitu

What a great turn out for this run (Nothing like mentioning a Winery to get people to come along 😉).  

We started off by meeting up at 9:00am at BP Taupiri, were drama unfolded with a stolen Porsche from Parnell, Auckland, tooting its horn/hazard lights going, racing off down the express way off ramp the wrong way and heading south on the wrong side of the road. (The Police did get them with the spikes).  

We left BP Taupiri and headed up the expressway (On the correct side of the road) north, where we came off at Pokeno and headed the back roads through to Waiuku for an enjoyable “Coffee” Break at “Café Karma.”  

From Waiuku we headed up to “Big Bay” just for a Look as we were in the vicinity, then headed to “Awhitu Wines” for a Presentation, Tasting and Purchase of said wines. 

Our Last visit for the day was to “Awhitu Golf Club” where we parked up and had Lunch. From there we all made our own way to our homes. 

A big Thanks to Dave for a great day out where we were able to stretch the cats legs. 

March 2023

Brits & Euro Classic Car Show, Auckland

What an early start it was for those of us who attended. We met up at PB Taupiri at 6:00am (Only 3x Cars, with another member arriving at the show later), where we headed off up the Expressway at a reasonable rate. We arrived at the Show in amongst a whole pile of other cars including a pile of lovely Jags from the Auckland Club as well as the BOP Club. We were quickly shown where to park with attendants positioning us into place.  

From there we were free to do as we pleased which initially involved watching the other car clubs arrive with their cars. What a feast for the senses with not only seeing the cars but the sounds of the exhaust notes and the smells of fossil fuels burning 😊.  

Most of the Clubs had erected Marquee’s for shelter from the sun and socializing, and everyone is so friendly and only too willing to discuss their cars.  

The range of vehicles was amazing (Over 1200 vehicles), from standard every day cars (New & Old) to Rear Exotica & “odd-ball” vehicles. Most people I spoke to said there were cars there that they had never seen before, or only in books & magazines. 

On site there were plenty of Porta-loos as well as food stands & coffee stands. As part of the grounds there is the “Howick Historical Village” where if we so desired to have a look we would have been able to enter at a discounted rate for being part of the car event. But best of all it had a Café where we could have lunch and have a sit down to rest the feet/legs.  

Once we had had our full look around at all the amazing sights we headed back to our cars where we sat in our deck chairs socializing with our fellow Jag members as well as the BOP & Auckland members. 

At the end of the day (3pm) everyone headed off in their own directions to find their way home.   

Again, this was a fantastic event and I highly recommend it to everyone, even if you don’t have a vehicle in the show. 

July 2022

This was another very successful mystery run organised by John & Marg Hughes with 10 cars lining up for the start.

The format this year was very different to previous years with all participants given a handout with eight photos of well-known locations around the Cambridge/Hamilton area. These photos were in random order and participants had to determine the location of each photo and plan their route to visit all sites, travelling the shortest distance possible and completing the route within 1.5 hours.

The winner was determined by

  1. Number of sites visited

  2. The quality of their photograph

  3. The total distance travelled

The final destination was The Cock & Bull bar/restaurant for lunch, prize giving and a “100 years of Jaguar” Quiz

WINNERS

Mystery Run

  1. Neil and Di

  2. Bernard and Lousie

100 Years of Jaguar Quiz

  1. Neil and Di

  2. Bernard and Lousie

May 2022

Morning Tea at Te Kowhai & Lunch at Alpaca Farm

Hi folks Half way through the year already. Our club events continue to be well attended. The run last Sunday to the “Saints Public House Café” at Te Kowhai was no exception. The line-up of 12 magnificent Jaguars was an impressive sight. And of course, the church is outstanding along with the food and drink service. The partitioned off room at the end of the church was for us and we filled it. What a fabulous venue -- we will be back. My call to need to move to the next venue, interrupted the chatter and the socialising that the members were really enjoying.

The next venue was the Alpaca farm at Gordonton. Our 12 Jaguars and the Tauranga Jaguar Club's 17 Jaguars made for an even more impressive sight. Those who chose to learn about the Alpacas enjoyed a very good presentation from Sam the farm manager, and then joined the others for food and drink. The very small kitchen and cooking facility that the farm has, produced amazing food and in good time. Thanks to all the club members for being sensible and not all ordering at once. What a very enjoyable day and I'm sure we will have future events with the Tauranga club.

June 2021

Mystery Rally Report

Amongst the gloom of a very overcast Waikato day 14 cars ventured out on our annual mystery rally exploring some great back roads on the pursuit of answering a number of questions while negotiating the road directions. A huge thanks to John and Marg for once again organizing this rally ... and good to see that all (finally) made it to the mystery end point in Gordonton.

Easter 2021

National Rally – Taranaki Easter 2021

What a great weekend … about 20 members from our club joined with about 300 others from various Jaguar Clubs around NZ for the 2021 National Rally.

The weekend started with an opening dinner on the Friday night involving a very generous 3 course meal and entertainment. Saturday was the main show day with about 250 jags of all varieties from a 1925 SS 100 through to the latest I-Pace gathering in a local park where the general public could wander and drool over the fantastic display of the Jaguar Marque. For many this was followed in the afternoon with a visit to a local property developer’s private ‘estate; where amongst the groomed lawns and garden (not to mention the tennis court, swimming pool, sand volleyball court, archery area and a children’s playground that even Trevor Mallard would be proud of ) were two large sheds with a vast arrange of collectable cars from Hummers, to Jags, an Aston Martin, Morgan and a genuine Plymouth Roadrunner. Saturday night was a Tartan themed (again 3 courses) dinner, complete with haggis and a Scottish Flute band to dance the night away. The next morning we were up early and off to Stafford for the gymkhana where many willing owners put their precious vehicles through a number of obstacle courses on the damp ground of the local racecourse – the Mountain looked spectacular on the drive out the Stafford. Then it was off the Republic of Whangamomona on the Forgotten Highway for lunch. If you have not travelled this road before it may best be described as a twisting-winding road with bends between the bends… not great for the stomachs of some passengers. Sunday night was a prize-giving night with another 3-course meal (clearly the theme of the weekend) and then Monday morning was a generous buffet breakfast before cars started departing for home – for some of us that meant a visit to the Holden Museum as we finally then said goodbye to the Taranaki. A fantastic weekend and a great chance to stretch the legs on the jags on the way down and back.

For those of you who missed this great weekend, start saving your pennies for the next rally in Christchurch in 2024 – if this rally was anything to go by 2024 should not be missed.

February 2021

Awakeri Rail Tour

Great day out on Saturday at the Awakeri Rail Tour. We had a good group of 10 cars travelling together, stopping at Mamaku Blue Winery near Rotorua for breakfast and then toured around the top of Lake Rotorua and then down towards Whakatane through the lakes. The group enjoyed a three hour scenic tour along an old rail line in carts, stopping at various points, including stopping to feed some chickens. We also took a walk through some native forest and then stopping for a BBQ at a small rail side encampment.

This was great fun and highly recommend to anyone wanting to explore the region. A number of people also stayed over night at the Awakeri Hot Springs and enjoyed the pools and some socializing before heading back to Hamilton on Sunday.

Head over to the Gallery to see all the pictures

November 2020

A fabulous day between showers at the Rotokauri School Gala on 8 November. A vast awry of about 60 interesting vehicles including our 5 club members Jaguars. It felt really great to be able to contribute to a school fundraising event.

The committee have been working away behind the scenes organising the events calendar for the next few months - jump over to the events page to see what’s coming up!

July 2020

A number of members gathered at Vilagrad Winery on Sunday the 19th of July for our AGM.

The club president, Dave, provided an update on activities over the last 12 months, which all parties agreed, had all been very successful. The club is in a very good financial position at the current point in time.

The election of officers occurred, with the existing committee members of Russell, John and Bernard standing again for re-election and addition nominees from Mark and Shane. All five were elected on to the committee with Dave Ingram also being re-elected as the club president.

The club looks forward to a great year ahead as we look for new and exciting activities to attend, as well as the 2021 National Rally in New Plymouth.

June 2020

What a fabulous turn out and time we had at the Glen Afton Railway. The record breaking 16 cars for the day and mostly fine weather. An interesting brief talk from one of the train enthusiasts and then free to wander and view the sights and effort that the volunteers put in to keep the trains in working condition. Without these enthusiasts, these historic places on our doorstep would not exist.