Kirkcudbright rally 27/08/23 - Jaguar replicas/kits: Jaguar / Invicta, Aristocat / XK120 and D type.

Being at least a bit into the classic Jag experience these days I was really in my element today at this splendid gathering in the Harbour Square area. Very well attended the public and a freebie. The Jaguar Invicta Special was in good company here as the video shows. A very fine TR6 right along side and the quality continued with a super big Healey, MGC etc and you just glimpse at 0:35 a fantastically original 1957 Land Rover local to this immediate area all its life. Believe me it has to be amongst the best preserved anywhere and I speak as long term Series owner. Next up at 0:46 is an 1979 Aristocat Sports kit conversion in XK140 style but with wider dody, 1960's 4.2 triple SU fed engine, auto, pas, disc brakes etc. Sits on a complex galvanised spaceframe chassis. All the iconic style/performance at an affordable cost. Talking of performance the last at 1:53 has to be seen to be fully appreciated. Again appears to be in GRP (1972 build or donor) but very convincing with body rivets and a race dressed 3.8 litre power unit that looks like it would run stronger than an early E type. NB Fact check: 3:50 the famous Jaguar IRS was introduced with the E type in 1961 not the C type etc as per audio. A reasonably valuable replica vehicle in its own right but trifling compared to Jaguar D-Type that won at Le Mans in 1956* sold at the RM Sotheby's auction in California in 2016 for $21,780,000. Nice patina on this replica from enthusiatic use adds to its considerable charm. Hard core driver's racing machine compared to the cosseting Aristocat or my special. Both the D type (1972 reg) and the XK140 replicas use the short (dry) head stud engine to block deck whereas my 1970 ex XJ6 one is wet stud passing through head, deck and water jacket. Whilst this is stiffer it is also major source of fear among XK 6 rebuilders if these vital studs fail due to corrosion or become corroded solid to the aluminium head. External appearances and low mileage can be lull owners of such engines into assuming all is well within. Core plug removal can reveal corrosion inside the coolant passages akin to that of the Titanic! Look after the coolant concentration and do change and flush it every few years. Better still pay up and smile by going over to Evans waterless coolant. *On board a genuine D type at Le Mans with Hawthorne in period: • On Board with Mike Haw... . Also modern footage: • Jaguar D-type Onboard ...

[@user-mp1gz1go7m]

Thank you Chris as the Aristocat owner I remember your quizzing me on the construction of 'Felix'. I agree it was a very friendly and well run event, I particularly liked the jazz trio that entertained us all day!. Intrigued by your extensive knowledge of the old Jaguars, are you an owner yourself? I have awned several classic cars from a 1956 MGA back in the 1970's to a Rover P3 that I only parted with last year, It was a winner of the Kirkcudbright back in 2019. I totally agree with you it's not about original or replica, it's the fabulous driving experience and the joy of seeing the car that it brings to others. I am so please that it stayed dry for the evening trip back to Galloway.

[@chriswybrew1740]

It was a super day made memorable for the Aristocat and D Type replicas which I researched on my return home. My Jaguar Invicta Special is all XJ6 Series 1 in terms of its mechanics. Only the body is scratch built as a one off and the wire wheels are aftermarket bolt ons unlike your splendid splined ones. I expect you have seen the Invicta evocation in my other channel vids plus various others past and present in the eclectic collection. I have had a Series 3 XJ6 4.2 and the AJ6 3.6 successor. At the moment I am dismantling the cam shafts to resize the tappet shims as the clearances are now nowhere near correct for it (012-.014 thou). I think your engine is probably fitted with earlier non parabolic cams and runs a much tighter clearance to reduce valve train noise that the parabolic profile avoids. My 7L engine has the wet head studs passing through the coolant whereas yours, I noted, would be tapped into the deck of the block and thus be dry. Yours likely to be less of a potential corrosion/ stud snapping nightmare if the head ever has to come off.