Our April monthly meeting was on Zoom, with items discussed as follows:
Apologies received from David, Paddy, Anton, Pat G, Larry.
Clare event:
Arrangements in hand for the event, some nice drives planned by Anton, Ros, and Pat O’B.
Some nice rally plaques shown to us by John, sponsored by Philip and Sal.
Pat O’B has printed colour maps of the routes for the weekend.
Mementos have been procured by Anton.
Bags supplied to Anton by Clare Tourism.
Cheque amounts agreed for insurance (Eoin will post to John):
€350 for individual member subscriptions and club affiliation.
€300 to cover event insurance for Clare and Kerry.
Our plan is for the May monthly meeting to be in-person.
We reviewed the recent Ardmore event
Many thanks to Eoin and Cliona for a wonderfully social evening in their home, and for the fascinating tour of St. Finbarr’s cathedral the following morning.
Thanks also to Anton and Ros for organising the super lunch in Ardmore in the White Horses Restaurant. Although some of us were not confident that conditions would allow us to make the trip to Ardmore, the weather turned in our favour and the event was a great success.
Pat updated us on his and David’s Series 3 XJ – David has done a lot of work to resolve a stalling problem, and with some help he seems to have cracked it. Fingers crossed for trouble-free motoring for the foreseeable!
Rodney has ordered tyres, not P600’s but a Chinese-branded replacement. He’s hoping to have them on the car for Clare.
The March monthly meeting was held on 3rd April, and took place over Zoom:
Apologies from Larry, Val, Paddy, Pat G. and David.
Rodney is looking at replacement tyres for his XJS. Pirelli P600’s are available again (they were off the market for a while) but the price seems to be about €1200.
Social evening in Eoin and Cliona’s this Friday, 5th April. Ring for the gate to be opened. Only park in a space clearly marked ‘Visitor’. Time is 7:30 for 8pm. Don’t bring anything, unless you’re going to drink it yourself! Address will be provided in WhatsApp group.
Saturday morning, 6th April, reserved parking booked in St. Finbarr’s Cathedral. The cathedral officially opens at 10am. We need to have the cars back out by 11:40ish. The tour will be 1 hour roughly. No admission charge for club members, but it is possible to make a donation.
Leaving Cork by 12 noon on Saturday for the drive to Ardmore. Lunch is booked for members who have confirmed with Anton in the White Horses restaurant for 1:30pm.
Regarding the National Weekend, plans are well afoot. Thanks to Phillip and Sal for sponsorship of mementos for the event.
The Youghal event is on May 25th and 26th. Anton has been talking to the Walter Raleigh Hotel about rooms and dinner on the Saturday night.
For September event, Anton has proposed moving the event to the weekend of 13th/14th/15th of September. The previous weekend is busy with a marathon and tour de France in Kerry. Anton will circulate more details to the WhatsApp group.
We talked about the proposed calendar of events for 2024:
Discussion around upcoming planned events based on web page.
St. Finbarr’s is steeped in history, and well worth seeing. Interest will be gauged over WhatsApp group. Suggestion of visiting Elizabeth Fort as well, might depend on time available.
National weekend – organisers doing a dry run of routes this weekend, Anton has put a lot of work into the organisation.
The calendar is proposed, Anton looking for feedback to decide what events will run and when.
Searching for sponsorship for the extra expense of rally plaques for Clare event. Chairman on the case.
Discussion of delays in receiving club magazine. Hopeful that it will be resolved but no insight into how that will happen.
New WhatsApp groups will be created for the club. Expect some WhatsApp messages for updates.
There was a fantastic turnout of 26 members at The Garryvoe Hotel, Co Cork on January 14th at the Annual General Meeting of the Irish Region of the Jaguar Enthusiasts Club. The bright sunshine brought a lightness to the proceedings and coupled with the delicious food made for a very convivial setting for the meeting.
Chairman’s address:
Thanks to Anton for his work over the last 12 months on events, and the preparation for the National Weekend in 2024.
Zoom has been a great success for our meetings, while it’s good to meet in person it’s not always convenient for everyone so we will continue to use Zoom for some of our monthly meetings.
Thanks to David O’Brien for his technical assistance and helpful videos.
Special thanks to Cliona for her contributions to the club magazine through the year, raising the profile of the region and helping to attract new members.
The issue of insurance for the club has been ongoing since Brexit. We have now with your agreement resolved this. However, it incurs an additional cost as we are now required to take out insurance for any event we organise. This can range from €100 to €300 per event. It also requires all our members to pay an annual fee to the Irish Vintage Society who arrange the insurance. This will be done by the committee in a block form. The fee is €30 per member of which €10 will be returned to the club. The club itself also has to pay an annual registration fee of €50.
The committee have been looking at how these costs will be covered and we will have to increase the minimum subscription to €65.00 (revised to €60 at the AGM), this will include your membership to the Irish Vintage Society. Last year the cost was covered from club funds.
Our sympathy to Rodney on the sad loss of Frances, she will be very much missed by us all. One of our former members, John Buckley’s wife Phil passed away in November. May they both rest in peace.
Secretary’s report:
Nine monthly meetings were held in 2023, including:
Six virtual meetings over Zoom and
Three in-person meeting (with virtual attendance accommodated).
That’s counting the November social evening in our house as an in-person meeting, although no club business was discussed.
We held or participated in six events:
the AGM / lunch in Kinsale in January,
the day-trip to Bunratty at the start of April,
the National Weekend in Derry at the end of April,
attending the Youghal Car Show (Classic Wheels Ireland) in May,
the trip to Waterford and the WWETB in July,
and the weekend event in Clare in September where we were hosted by Jaguar.
Acting treasurer’s report:
There were 26 paid up members of the region for 2023, and this was the main source of club funds.
The biggest expense was for insurance via the IVS, met out of club funds to get us covered for our major events.
Election of officers. Post were filled unopposed:
Chairman: John Sheehan
Secretary/IT: Jonathan Sherwin
Treasurer: Eoin Murphy
Events: Anton Tams
PR: Cliona Murphy
Technical: David O’Brien
The year ahead is shaping up to be another busy one and a survey was circulated to gather input and feedback on event ideas of most interest. The highlight of 2024 promises to be the National Weekend on May 4th to 6th in Co Clare with a full programme planned as we look forward to welcoming JEC members from outside the Irish Region, along with IJDC and JDC members. There was a very lively discussion about how best to provide navigation instructions prompting some hilarious stories about drivers and their (sometimes unfortunate) navigators!
The club AGM will be held on Sunday 14th January 2024 in Garryvoe Hotel. We are meeting at 12:30pm for lunch at 1 o’clock sharp, followed by the AGM proper. This will start with with Chairman’s, Secretary’s and Treasurer’s reports, then there will be the election of officers, to fill the posts of Chairman, Treasurer, Secretary, Events, PR, Technical Consultant for the coming year. The calendar of events for the year will be discussed, in particular the National Weekend in early May which requires significant planning and organisation.
We held our October monthly meeting on Zoom. Thanks to those attending. Items discussed:
Some members have recently returned from France and Spain, and updated us on their travels.
Our chairman described his XF handbrake issues, and has been told an electronic brake calliper needs to be replaced.
The November meeting will be held in Jonathan and Eirin’s house, but on Thursday 30th November (rather than Wednesday) from 7pm.
The 2024 AGM will be held in January, Anton will check availability for lunch in Actons, Kinsale and update us.
As usual, we will be electing officers for the region at the AGM, so please consider putting yourself forward for a position, in particular the position of treasurer.
The dates of 4-6th May 2024 have been set for the big event of next year, where we host the National Weekend in which a number of clubs participate.
Rooms are being held for us by the hotel, and will need to be confirmed in January.
Committee members will meet in the next few weeks to advance our plans for the weekend.
The trip to Shannon was discussed, and hailed as the highlight of our activities for 2023. Anton shared some great photos on the WhatsApp group recently.
We discussed electric cars, and Anton gave us the benefit of his experience.
If renting an electric car, check if the rental company supplies a charge card. The car (as long as it’s not a basic model) will probably pinpoint charge locations on the route back to the airport, to help bring the car back fully charged.
The problems around charging an electric car are mostly about payment. Suppliers have insisted that users create accounts with them. However, Applegreen provide fast charging with credit card payment, so hopefully that will become the norm.
Notes from our monthly meeting, held over Zoom due to weather conditions preventing us from meeting in person:
We remembered our late friend, Frances Warnock, and thanked Rodney for his hospitality in Wexford at Frankie’s funeral.
Rugby world cup in progress in France, which is going to plan for us so far, some members supporting.
Regrets for missing the meeting from a few members – Anton and Ros, Larry and Bernie, Val
At the Clare event, we were given a great welcome in the Jaguar facility and Future Mobility, and had some very interesting presentations and demonstrations. Well done to Anton and Ros for organising a great weekend. Anton will have photos to share at a later date.
There was a discussion about the trend in the UK of putting electric motors in classic cars. Some questions about the safety aspects, and how well qualified the people doing the installations are.
Insurance has paid through IVS to cover paid-up members, and event payment made for Clare also. Covered from club funds for now, but next year it will have to be part of the region membership.
The November monthly meeting will be in Jonathan and Eirin’s on Thursday 30th November.
Although it’s early days, some preliminary work has been done on the National Weekend for next year, as it will probably be our biggest event for the year.
Short discussion about an XF electronic handbrake that needed to be re-calibrated, and an intermittent stalling problem with a Daimler Sovereign.
Tribute paid to Frances, Rodney’s wife and club member, who sadly passed away recently.
For Clare event:
Meet at 11:15am Friday at Starbucks near Shannon Airport (Eircode V14 FY92). Exit N18 at Junction 9; take 2nd exit off 3rd roundabout. You’ll see Starbucks on your right, where we are assembling in the car park.
Research facility visit (across the road from Starbucks) starting at 11:30am. Lunch in canteen, and then continuing with visit. Departure time approximately 2:30pm, and it’s about a 40 minute drive to the hotel.
Dinner at Woodstock Hotel at 7:30pm Friday night.
Meet at 10am on Saturday for 10:30am departure, heading to Doolin, break for coffee, driving on to Caherconnell Fort and sheepdog trials; returning to our hotel around 4pm, dinner at 7:30pm again.
Sunday morning meet at 10am for 10:30am departure to Coole Park, and parting ways after that (around 12pm).
As we have no meeting in July here are some important updates.
Insurance
You will be pleased to know that our club is now affiliated to the Irish Vintage Society and active members of the region also.
More details on the insurance will be available at our next meeting, in August.
Trip to Jaguar-Shannon
I’m delighted to tell you that Anton has confirmed our visit to Jaguar and a tour of their premises on Friday 1st September at 11.30am. The tour will take three hours which will include a visit to the test centre. Tea, coffee and sandwiches will be provided for us.
Notes from our in-person June monthly meeting, held on July 5th to facilitate the attendance of a representative of the Irish Vintage Society (IVS):
Trip to Waterford:
Those travelling from Cork will meeting at 8:45am on Saturday at the Botanic Home and Garden Centre (formerly Ballyseedy), Eircode T45 X880, leaving at 9am sharp to arrive in Waterford at around 10:30am.
The WWETB Car Restoration open day/car show (at Eircode X91 PX02) starts at 11am and finishes at 1:30pm. The expectation is for 100-150 cars to turn up on the day.
From the WWETB facilities, we will go to Mount Congrieve Gardens to have lunch.
The position of Treasurer is currently open, we need a member to volunteer.
Use of new 10% Ethanol discussed.
Leo has been using a filter with tin pellets since the change to unleaded fuel.
Larry made the point that the Millers VSPe PowerPlus additive will work with E5 and E10. SU sell a conversion kit for carburettors to adapt them for fuel containing Ethanol. Copper pipes will need to be replaced with Confer(?). Rubber pipes will need to be replaced with Ethanol-resistant equivalent, including the rubber overflow pipe at filler cap. Fuel tanks can be lined (e.g. with a product from Frost), but need to be removed for the process.
Philip said that he has been using Castrol Valvemaster Plus in his cars.
Bernard Crowley of IVS attended to discuss insurance.
IVS is an umbrella organisation for classic car clubs and individual members (around 5,000 members to date).
A club must affiliate itself (€50) and its members (€20 each).
For a static show, public liability coverage can be arranged for €250. For a run, €150. Some common sense restrictions apply.
It could work out to our advantage to pay up front for events planned for the year.
Members present agreed our club should affiliate with the IVS as soon as possible.
Many thanks to Leo for recommending the contact.
Anton still progressing with the Sept event in Clare. 10 rooms have been booked by club members in the Woodstock Hotel. Further rooms that are currently held for us will be released shortly if not booked by our members within the next few days.
Jaguar Enthusiast Club - Irish Region 
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