January 2011 Mean & Roofless is Supported By

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Hi Gang.

Welcome to a new look “Mean & Roofless” 1st of 2011.

You will note we have a new Sponsor Sturgess Jaguar Leicester Thank’s Chris & Nikki. I trust you all enjoyed the Festive Season.

Here’s wishing you all the best for 2011 Many thanks for all the electronic Xmas cards, much appreciated.

I hope to see lots of Cabriolets out and about this year, especially August 7th @ Rockingham Castle. & August 21st @ Gaydon. Watch

this space for further details. With so many new Members on www.jagicr.org and many more on the mailing list, I thought in view of

what is being put out and about on the Internet I would just like to put the record straight once & for all as to who really created the

“International Cabriolet Register”. You will then, I hope realise why am somewhat miffed that members of a certain Jaguar Club are

claiming that they created it & that the said Club is backing their claim.

My thanks to those of you who have perhaps, unknowingly sent me snippets that I have been able to use to fill this month’s pages.

You will also notice yet another change this month, I have introduced Hyper Links into the News Letter, which take you directly to

where you want to be, no more copying & pasting into your browser. I hope its self explanatory if you have any problems or suggestions

as to how to improve the News Letter please let me know.

The International XJ-SC Register (Formerly the Cabriolet Register) Click on Logo

In June 1986 I purchased the first V12 XJ-S Cabriolet in Grimsby. On the 11th July 1990, Mr Richard Chillingsworth, (via

Miss Jackie Llewellyn) replied to a request made by me for a list of XJ-S Cabriolet VIN’s. There is no such thing, as they are mixed in

with all XJ-S variants. You could however sort them out if you wish to. I was, supplied with the following information.

The letter ended “I hope this information will be of some use for “Your Register.”

Total number of XJS Cabriolets built 4,993

(Now proved to be 5,013)

Total number of 3.6 Cabriolets built 1,130

(Now proved to be 1,150 - including 107 Auto’s) (not 103)---(the first 5 Cabriolets built were all 3.6 Autos)

Total number of V12 Cabriolets built 3,861

(Now proved to be 3,863) – (2 extra located by me, built in 1983)

First 3.6 built in 1984

(Now proved to have been built in June 1982) (VIN: 108026 - Body No: 5Y001001)

First V12 built in 1985

(Now proved to have been built in March 1983) (VIN: 111121 - Body No 5V001001)

Last 3.6 built in Sept 1988

(Now proved to have been built in September 1987) (VIN: 144591 - Body No: 5Y002147)

Last V12 built in Oct 1988

(Now proved to have been built on 11th April 1988) (VIN: 148594 - Body No: 5V004800)

On the 16th of June 1994 it was agreed that I could search the archives to try to compile a list of all Cabriolet VIN’s, and any other

information I needed, to create the Cabriolet Register.” At the time I did not realise that I would need to check the micro film details of

some 40,543 XJ-S’s, nor that it would take me 18 years.

The Cabriolet Register had been born & with the approval of Jaguar Cars.

The first official Copy of the Register was passed to the then “Archivist” Ann Harris at “Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust” (on a floppy

Disc) which was at that time housed in a Porta Cabin adjacent to the Main Block car park at Browns Lane.

By November 1995 having several Members in such places as Illinois, Saint Joroiz, Kuwait, Singapore, and other such countries, I asked

permission of Jaguar Cars to change the name to the “International Cabriolet Register”. So started many visits to the Archives at Browns

Lane. On Thursday 6th November 2008 the final elusive VIN Was located. (I still have not had the Bottle of Champers you promised

me, Tony!) The rest is history as they say here we are 24 years later still going strong and details of all 5013 located and logged for

posterity in My Data Base. Also held by Anders Clausager at Jaguar Heritage, Browns Lane & Mike Cook Jaguar Landrover North

America.

My thanks to all at JDHT and latterly Jaguar Heritage for all the help I was given to achieve this. And Sandra Brain.

Thanks now to Roger Los for putting all the data on XJSDATA. & of course not forgetting my number one & two apprentices,

Bryan Thomas & Stephen Tebben in Leicester & Chesterfield Mis. Respectively.

250 Owners receive this News Letter 125 have signed up to the Interactive Web Site www.jagicr.org Latest being Xmas Day.

“Bleasie’s Beauties” appeared in “Jaguar Driver” every now and again thanks to the late Tony Dudmesh. Followed by “Mean &

Roofless” .Hopefully we may be able to resurrect it. Here endeth the first lesson.

The earliest, Body # 5Y001005 Vin 128291??? The last one built Body # 5V004800

The French Connection. Way, way, back in the early days of the Register I came across a Clair J Mourier who runs the French XJS

Register. Clair provided most of the additional data I have on the French Cabriolets. A total of 99 (65- 3.6 & 34- 5.3) were dispatched

between Sept 1984 & Dec 1987. Thanks to Clair we have located circa 25 in France, unfortunately several of those have strayed in from

Germany & Belgium.

Clair points out that to the French, a Cabriolet is a convertible, and therefore they would correctly refer to an XJ-SC as a “Targa” (a word

first adopted by Porsche to describe a car with removable roof panels and normally a fixed back window) However, we all know that we

have to forgive Jaguar their little indulgence in christening their targa topped XJ-S invention a Cabriolet and go along with it, as that is

what it is referred to in all of their literature from the very beginning, and to try to give it any other name now would merely cause more

confusion.

Clair’s record keeping is meticulous each time he finds me a Cabriolet I receive an A4 Document dedicated to that car, very similar to a

build sheet. Initially I was slightly confused as it was all in French, with things like Date of matriculation, Prenom, etc etc. Clair & I lost

contact for many years but thanks to Charles on Jaglovers XK8 Forum we were reunited .(I created the XKR Silverstone Register for

Charles ) By the way Clair one of your Cabbies has found its way to Belgium Vin 140426 is now owned by Pieter Hanssens who

brought it to Cabriolet 2010 @ Silverstone.

Sometime in 1995 Gerrard Cibert in St Joritz --Vin 138178 made contact (see Jaguar Driver December 1995 page 46 Photo left)

Somehow I lost contact with Gerrard probably during my 4 years of ill health, however in August this year Gerard signed up on the Web

Site as you will see (photo right) the conifer has grown somewhat but the Cabby is still there. If anyone reading this (based on the

assumption that some do) knows any of the owners list below please ask them to make contact.Xmas Eve I received the following

Good morning Bleasie, I'm sorry I've not answer to your question. I own my XJS-C since 15th December 1988.This car was nearly new, 18 month and only

4500 km.I still own and I don't want to sell it. I own also an 1961 E Type FHC since 1975, I've rebuilt this car in 1993.If you want to see

photos during this rebuilt go on www.jaguarclubgeneve.net/pages/f00_00_us.html

Best wishes for the new year.

Gérard

.

133430 Alain Hoffman. 127527 Roger Planel Chaperon. 133321 Charles De Tourney

125368 Monsieur Cassan. 133944 Monsieur Cavalaro 134356 Jacob Guenoun

139592 Monsieur Prothery 140426 now Pieter Hanssens Belgium .

C351 ARW - VIN: JNACC7CC 125161

I had the opportunity to purchase my current XJ-SC from a member of my local Jaguar Club Region.

Mr Dennis Lynch had been one of the founder members of the Bucks and Herts Region, but in the summer of 2006 he wanted to retire to

warmer climes in Spain, and decided not to take his Jaguar with him, so wanted someone who would take good care of her. A deal was

done, and I became the proud owner of my second Cabriolet - a 1986 3.6 manual in Claret, with unmarked black leather interior and a

rear seat conversion.

Dennis told me that this car had an interesting provenance, as the car was supplied new on 18th June by Stratstone of London. The first

owner was a Mrs J Simmonds, who evidently was an acquaintance of Sir John Egan. I have been told that he used to drive the car. It

would be interesting if anyone could substantiate this piece of history. (Jaguar Cars company vehicles, then a Mrs Simmonds,

1987 Mr Laurie Curtis of Bingley, 1991 Mr Lynch sorry no mention of Sir John)

Nigel’s Cabriolet Vin 125161 Nigel's car's interior

The car was then sold on the 11th February 1987 through the Approved Jaguar Cars Scheme by Appleyards of Harrogate to Mr Laurie

Curtis of Bingley. Mr Lynch then acquired it on the 14th September 1991 and kept her for 15 years, selling her to me in April

2006.During my ownership the Cabriolet has proved quite reliable, although I regret to say that I drove less than 700 miles last year.

My only major expense to date (touch wood) has been the replacement of the air conditioning compressor. I have had all the original

Starfish alloys refurbished, but she is currently fitted with Lattice, which I think enhances her looks. I am tempted to fit the twin

headlamps, but cannot justify the expense given the low mileage I cover.

Regards

Nigel Mason

(Thanks Nigel sorry it has been so long getting to print) having now had a good look through my IN tray I find it is definitely

EMPTY so please let me have YOUR Story & share it with us all.

How often do you see adverts for Cabriolets for sale & in fact owners claiming such things as one of only 2,800, built by Tickford. When

its Vin categorically puts it at number 3,897 of 5,013 built on Monday 9th

Jan 1987. So for those of you who think you have or were told

you have a Tickford read on

Tickford & the XJ-SC.

Stage 1. The standard body was partly assembled at Castle Bromwich, though some panels were omitted.

Stage 2. The incomplete shells were transported to Park Sheet Metal Co. who removed the sail panels, reinforced the underside and fitted

new-style upper side panels

Stage 3. The completed shell went back to Castle Bromwich for painting

Stage 4. The shell was then trucked to Brown's Lane for assembly of all the mechanical components and trim

Stage 5. The near completed car was then taken to Aston Martin Tickford Ltd in Bedford where the Targa panels and hood were

fitted (See photos located by Bryan who had no idea I was writing this article) Stage 6. Saw the car back at Browns Lane, for road-testing, sign off and delivery to the customer.

A complicated process if ever there was one, it was therefore no surprise that Jaguar decided to take the whole assembly process back

"In House" during the winter of 1984-85. (Not very specific, when does winter start & finish?)

But before all that AMT joined forces with Jaguar in the styling design, development and manufacture of the convertible aspect of the

XJ-S cabriolet.

Unfortunately there are no records that tell us which was the last Tickford “involved” Cabriolet & the first “In House” Cabriolet.

What I do know is that Vin 114090 number 102 onto the line 22nd

Nov 1983 off trim 19th June 1984 has a plaque that says #147

completed by Tickford. Could that then be the last one? If you have a similar plaque please let me know.

To my knowledge Brass Plaques were only fitted to the Following Cabriolets

114090 #147 Built Tickford-----144505 Last 3.6 to leave Factory-----144591 Last 3.6 Built-----148594 Last Cabriolet built.

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Squeaky Roof

A few weeks ago Geoff Bott asked the following question.

So what do you use to stop a squeaky roof? My targa panels jiggle very slightly and make an annoying little noise as you drive over

uneven roads. May not be a problem in wet climate but here in Australia it is largely dry and as the body flexes slightly, the panels

jiggle on their rubber seals. I have tried Vaseline but it soon disappears and the jiggle noise is back. Talcum powder isn't much good

either.

I replied

I am sure the silicone oil will do the trick we used it when I worked at Conoco for lubricating rubber seals etc So I always had a bottle

to hand not only does it lubricate but gives the appearance of new rubber when entering Concours, ( I did not tell you about that did I

Bryan?). As you know Silicone spray is OK for the window guides, but lethal if you get it on your paint work.

Hi Bleasie, I have ordered some Silicon Oil and will advise on its performance when I try it. In the meantime it looks like I have sold another

car and will keep the Cabriolet. My wife loves it. This weekend we are off to Canberra for the Terribly British (Display) Day.

Well it looks as though it solved Geoff’s problem

Hi Bleasie.

Thanks for the tip on the silicone oil. I bought some off E Bay where it was for sale for use in radio control model cars for the dampers.

There is a heap of grades so I bought the cheapest one I could find and applied it to the seals. It worked just fine and nary was a squeak

heard on a round trip to Canberra from Sydney. I did over 600 kms and during the trip was driving through 10" of flood water at one

point in Canberra, when we had a torrential downpour.

Suffice to say that the Cabriolet had a very good rinse! But still no squeaks - just squeals of delight from me.

Also I am taking the car off the market as I have sold my old race car (not driven for 4 years) leaving me with the Cabrio and the XJRS

Replica so I am hardly bereft.

As it was quite warm on the way back, I was amused by the wistful comment from a S2 E-type roadster owner that "It must be nice to

have air conditioning!" Could not agree more as an E-type is un drivable in an Australian summer.

Geoff Bott.

No 1 apprentice found these two photos the other day. (No info available)

Via JCNA Concours Results I think it belongs to a Dan Melesurgo?

Who said Cabriolets were not versatile?

Great for carrying Trees & compost way back in 1992 & Grandfather clocks Eh Nick

I miss my Cabriolet (I know the feeling)

Hello friends!

I've known for years that John (Bleasie), whom I first met in the UK in the late 80's, has been working very hard on creating a complete

Register for the wonderful XC-SC. However, I didn't know until a few days ago that the Register is not only a huge success, but also an

International community of friends. Thanks to both of you - and to all others who have contributed.

I bought a brand new XJ-SC from the Jaguar/Rolls-Royce/SAAB dealer in Portland, Oregon in August 1988. My wife and I were on a

vacation trip to the US West Coast at the time. The car was exported to my native Norway the summer of 1989 and registered on

Norwegian plates (SR 29700). Unfortunately I did a serious mistake in selling it in 1992/93. I have missed the car, nicknamed Black

Beauty, ever since and have tried to buy it back from the family who bought it many times. However, they still enjoy the car

tremendously (special occasional summer use only) and do not want to sell, after 18 years of ownership. The car is still in 'as new'

condition.

If someone knows of a decent LHD cabby for sale, anywhere in Europe or America, please let me know. At present I have 'only' one

Jaguar, a 1966 Series 1 E-type 2+2, imported from California in 1997. Since 1982 I've owned a total of 12 Jaguars, daily drivers as well

as 'hobby' cars, and have enjoyed every one of them.

Best regards Stig

It just goes to prove there’s no hiding from Bleasie & now vice versa. Yes indeed Stig, way back in the days of mine & Sue’s Wine &

Antiques weekends in the Cotswolds, Nov 1989 Billesley Manor my 52nd

birthday, the good old days.

Black Beauty How about this one Stig 600 miles from new Click on Photo

With the 30th Anniversary of the Cabriolet fast approaching it’s no wonder several have gone to the graveyard, the latest being

Vin 115013 Jan 1984 along with Vin 123906 May 1985 Vin 115540 Feb 1984

On a brighter note however Steve in Chesterfield Miss. located 2 for sale in South Africa.

Vin 144363 Vin 142156 Click Photos.

Not much to go on re the white one other than 1988. However of the 19 Cabriolets despatched to South Africa only 1 1988

in Glacier White so it just had to be Vin 144363 Ex Charlton Abrahams .But as there is so much duff information out there one can’t

make assumptions. A quick E mail to the seller and Bingo

Good Morning

The digits are SAJJNACW3CA144363.

Regards Eugene.

Re the Blue one??? A little trickier, no details at all. Only 4 Blue Cabriolets despatched to SA from the photo it’s not Arctic Blue.

So that narrowed it down to three cars ---2-- Solent & 1--Westminster Blue. luckily there was a facility to ask a question

Hi

I don't know which 6 numbers you require but the registered VIN is SAJJNACW3CA141256.

Hope this helps.

Thnx. Wilma Shortt

Hi Wilma

Afraid that is not a Cabriolet # although the prefix is correct the numbers are not however 142156 exists but it is or was Moorland

Green a rather rare colour only 15 built in that colour. Could you have transposed the 12 for 21?

Hi me again

I just re-checked the registration and you were right. I reversed the numbers. S/be 142156

Sorry Wilma.

A quick word from our latest Sponsor

Sturgess Jaguar are delighted to be associated with the Jaguar “ International Cabriolet Register” and are pleased to be supporting

John in his organisation. We are based in Leicester just a stone’s throw from Junction 21 of the M1. Please contact us should we be

able to help you in any way. www.sturgessjaguar.com

Sturgess Jaguar is one of the first tri-brand dealerships in the UK (Jaguar, Range Rover, and Land Rover). We have been selling and

servicing Jaguar cars since 1947. All dealers in the UK are having to undergo the Corporate Identity refurbishment, which encompasses

floor tiles, ceiling tiles, lighting & furniture to totally transform the dealership. Now completed, we do really good coffee, and would

welcome anyone who is passing to come and take a look.

Click photo for Video

Well they just keep popping up again no details but a photo of the Vin plate

Vin 128271 Click on photo for more photos & location.

Blast from the past. I got a notification the other day a new member was awaiting approval on checking out the Vin on the data base

nothing other than first owner, George Kyriacou. Yet I instantly recognised the name Eddie Hennessy & the photo of the Cabby he had

posted on the site. A quick search of my pre digital photos Lo & Behold from way back in November 2000 a photo of Eddies Cabby sent

to me snail mail. More next month.

Well that just about wraps it up for another month.

All that remains is for me to wish you all a Click

Bleasie