MAINTENANCE & PATIENCE

MAINTAINING OLD CLASSICS IS BOTH PAINSTAKING AND REWARDING. WILL ANYONE BOTHER WITH MORE MODERN MACHINERY?

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Chatting with Graham Jordan, the owner of our featured Jaguar XK120 Coupe, reinforced my admiration for the people who devote their time and fortunes to astounding restorations and are then able to maintain those cars, in far better than showroom condition.

Many years ago, during a more pedantic period of my life, I had the privilege of judging some of the nation's best Jaguars in State and National Concours d'Elegance events.

Around 10 years ago I stopped doing it, after realising there was no way a car like Graham's 70-year-old rarity could compete on equal terms with others that were virtually new and could be kept looking that way, with regular visits to the local Jag dealer's spares department None of those newer cars would have run on a salt-crusted British or North American winter road. Or been belted and bogged by a cut-price panel beater in the days when cheap repairs were the only chance an old Jag had of avoiding the wrecking yard.

Modern cars that cop a whack from a clumsy parker can be returned to pristine condition in the few minutes it takes to unclip one plastic panel and fit another. Plus painting of course.