October 2011 - Royal Automobile Club

Motoring news
The latest in club motoring
Jaguar XK140 eXplored. Bernard Viart;
roger payne By Trevor Dunmore
The publisher descibes this book, not unjustifiably, as: ‘a new
concept in motoring books’. Why is it so special? Well, the whole
concept is wonderfully bonkers! Those of us more attuned to
ploughing the furrow of generalities are constantly amazed at the
dedication of the practitioners of specialisms. And what finer
example of the latter can there be than Viart’s painstaking study
in graphite of this iconic mid-1950s coupe. To produce such a
work of art required many ‘Jaguar friends’, including worldrenowned
XK140 expert Roger Payne, followed by the
dismantling and photographing of all those friends’ cars.
Preparation completed, professional art teacher Viart was then
at last in a position to draw the plates, taking a whopping 7500
man-hours to do so. Was it worth it? Well, it’s a great model to
have chosen. Apart from its resplendent lines (developed from the
even purer XK120), the XK140 is powered by one of the great
designs in automobile history: the XK engine - which was
incorporated into all Jaguar models for more than three decades.
Come, see, believe.
62 | October 2011 | Issue 136
goodwood reViVal
Period costumes were dusted off
for the Goodwood Revival
weekend in September, where,
Chairman of the Motoring
Committee, Ben Cussons
(pictured below) raced in the
Freddie March Memorial
Trophy. ‘Goodwood was, and
still is, a very fast track.’ says
Ben. ‘It’s a track you have to treat
with respect. There are a few
shunts every year’. After
changing positions four times in
the race, Ben finished fifth out of
a field of 23 cars. A costume
change for the legendary
Goodwood Ball followed, this
year the theme was Barbarella
and Space. ‘Yours truly went as
part of the Star Trek crew’, says
Ben. ‘It is an amazing weekend,
both on and off track, there is so
much to see. Competitors and
spectators really enter into the
spirit of the event.’