Classic Marque Template April 2013 - Jaguar Drivers Club of South ...

which amazed me as well as the spectators at theAdelaide Showgrounds. The car looked magnificentamongst the German ,Italian and other entries inlast year`s “ Melbourne Mille “ . We toured the VictorianAlps encountering snow in Thredbo in Octoberand admiring glances from onlookers at everystop. It`s second longest trip was by boat to Christchurchand the South Island with members of theXK register. Onslow Billinghurst and Richard Smithhave given helpful advice and also much neededand appreciated hands- on help over the years.I am considering taking XK 1958 back to her birthplaceto do some touring in the U.K. and Europe.Retirement is wonderful particularly when you haveall the time in the world to tinker on your Jaguar. Nojokes about gynaecologists carrying out engine repairsvia the exhaust system please !A/Prof. Ossie Petrucco J.P. RFD.‘S’-type Styling…Sir William Gets His Way!Following is a description of Sir William’s stylingof the “S‟-type from “Cat Out of the Bag”, inwhich Peter Wilson describes the years 1961-66in Jaguar’s Competition Department. The followingtext has been selected from an article in theNewsletter of the International ‘S”-type Register,the (Editor’s notes) are those of the editor of thatnewsletter. We thank the editors for their kindpermission to use this material.Towards the end of August(Ed: 1962), we arrived at workone morning to find Sir Williamalready in our shop, togetherwith body designer, Bill Thornton.His presence certainlyensured a very brisk start tothe day‘s activities! Almost immediatelya knock on theGreen door‘ (Ed: entrance tothe Competition Department.)signalled the arrival of a forklift truck carrying a Mk 2 frontend wooden buck. This was brought in and lifted onto our large 8 feet x 8 feet surface table, whilst simultaneouslya labourer arrived with a sack truckloaded with Plasticine.Following a bit of instruction from Sir William, accompaniedby the usual arm and hand waving toindicate what he had in mind, he left. Bill Thorntontook off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, climbed uponto the surface table and, using nothing moreelaborate than an ordinary table knife and spoon, heset to work. During the course of the following weekand after many visits from Sir William, who on occasionswould make a few changes to the Plasticinehimself, the front end style of what was to becomethe ‘S‘-type, emerged. When Sir William was satisfied,the buck was taken away and three or fourmonths later the proto type ‘S‘-type body shell arrivednext door in the Experimental Department.This was typical of the way in which styling was developedat Jaguar. Sir William was the chief stylist.He knew in his mind the shape he wanted and hadvarious people in the Engineering Division createthis in sheet metal, weldingwire frame work, wood and soon, until he could see in frontof him his vision. Not for Jaguarthe huge sophisticatedstyling studios, the army offlash suited stylists, who todaymasquerade in public asthe car designer even thoughthey only create the out-sideshape and interior style. Theonly stylist Jaguar had wasSir WilliamWhilst the ‘S‘-type shape wastaking place in our Shop, Bob Blake took a keen interestbut did not attempt to interfere. He wasn‘t tooimpressed with the end result and thought he coulddo better. Now Bob had recently bought TVC 420,the ex-Bill Heynes Sherwood Green Mk 1 3.4 saloonwhich, following use as an Experimental Departmentfleet test car, had be-come surplus to requirements.We lost Bob for six weeks at the beginning of Septemberdue to back surgery. Whilst recuperating, hekept his hand in by modifying the front end of his Mk1, to reflect how he felt the ‘S‘-type should havelooked.(Story Continued on page 19)15