Over 1,000 Jaguar cars revved up to Blenheim Palace on Sunday, May 12 as part of a record turnout for the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club’s Summer Jaguar Festival.
The show cars featured everything from pre-war ‘SS’ models to E-Types and rare Mark V saloons, up to the very latest factory-fresh XE, F-type and all electric I-Pace models.
Visitors were treated to the largest gathering of Film and TV Jaguars ever assembled, including James Bond cars, the red E-type from Sean Connery’s 1964 thriller Woman of Straw, the Italian Job E Type, the Mark 1 saloon from TV drama Endeavour and Arthur Daley’s beloved XJ6 from classic TV series Minder; a car that has seldom been displayed in public.
Guests also enjoyed an incredible motoring spectacle as a procession of over 100 Jaguars, representing almost every model and era, paraded around the roads of the Blenheim Palace parkland.
The motorcade featured club members’ cars and paid particular homage to the iconic MKII saloon, a model that is celebrating 60 years since its launch and was immortalised by the ionic British TV detective Inspector Morse.
A historically significant moment occurred during the event when more than 60 ex-team members of the legendary Tom Walkinshaw Racing team (TWR), who were based locally in Kidlington, re-united for the first time.
The reunion included personnel involved in all aspects of the team from engineers and mechanics to racing drivers and designers from an internationally famous racing team.
TWR employed hundreds of people in Oxfordshire and beyond during their heyday and became synonymous with Jaguar after taking them to initial victory with the European Touring Car series with the XJS programme of the early-1980s.
Speaking during the event, Andy Wallace, who drove the Silk Cut Jaguar XJR9 to victory at Le Mans in 1988 alongside Jan Lammers and Johnny Dumfries, said “It’s been great meeting up with all my old pals from TWR.
“When we won Le Mans in 1988 it really was a team effort. It was an incredibly important moment in my racing career that I look back at with pride and to be able to share those memories with Jaguar fans today was something special,” he added.
Fans of British GT motorsport flocked towards the Palace courtyard, which displayed the Invictus Games Racing team, giving aficionados an opportunity to get up close with the team’s F-type currently competing in the GT4 category of the championship.
Consisting of two ex-military servicemen, Paul Vice and Steve McCulley, who overcame horrific injuries fighting for their country, the Invictus Games Racing team was represented by their pro-driver team mate Matthew George, who spent the day chatting to fans, signing autographs and explaining the inspirational story behind the team.
The event also offered a trade show, selling everything from hard-to-find model cars to new-old parts and contemporary products for both classic and modern Jaguars.
For fans of aviation, the day was punctuated with a Supermarine Spitfire fly-past courtesy of the Battle of Britain Memorial flight over the house known as the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill.
“We had high hopes for the event at Blenheim Palace and on the day the festival exceeded all our expectations,” said the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club General Manager James Blackwell.
“It was a really special day, made perfect by the glorious sunshine and the elegantly grand surroundings that complimented perfectly, the vast array of classic Jaguars on display.
“We had so many great comments from the more than one thousand Jaguar owners showing their cars throughout the day, so I am sure we will return to Blenheim Palace in the very near future for another Summer Jaguar Festival,” he added.
Andy Webber, Event Manager for the Summer Jaguar Festival said one of the highlights of the event was reuniting members from the Tom Walkinshaw Racing Team,
“It was a very memorable moment and we were proud, through the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club to be the conduit to that historic occasion.
“The Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club specifically opted for Blenheim Palace this year, because not only did the surroundings compliment the luxurious and quintessentially British identity of Jaguar, but it also offered the perfect display area within the courtyard to draw attention to some particularly special vehicles as well as stunning park grounds for hosting our display cars and trade area.
“Furthermore, the surrounding parkland road system was ideal for our cavalcade with a route special enough to give the parade a real sense of occasion,” he added.