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Wow. I would truly like to make that drive in my 06 str. And i do play golf so an extra stay at that locale. Thanks for the stunning write up
Glad you enjoyed the narrative so far.
We had some time constraints and there were some road closures on some of the alternate routes but if you do have a chance and you’re a golfer, I would take 1 to Hope; 3 to Osoyoos; 97 to Penticton and Kelowna and then 97 north back to 1; 1 to Lake Louise (and Banff if you want); and then 93 to Jasper.
Alternatively, staying on 3 from Osoyoos to Castlegar and Trail and Cranbrook and then 93 north to Lake Louise and Banff is also pretty spectacular.
You’ll find lots of golf courses at just about every skill level in almost every town but mechanics and parts will be harder to come by (I travel with a full set of hoses and a few select bits and pieces in the Series 3 VDP’s).
Along the southern route, there’s also several options to cross down into Idaho and from Spokane it’s a nice run back to either Portland or Seattle and then back down to California.
From a course and weather perspective, you probably don’t want to be earlier than mid May or later than the end of September.
We had some time constraints and there were some road closures on some of the alternate routes but if you do have a chance and you’re a golfer, I would take 1 to Hope; 3 to Osoyoos; 97 to Penticton and Kelowna and then 97 north back to 1; 1 to Lake Louise (and Banff if you want); and then 93 to Jasper.
Alternatively, staying on 3 from Osoyoos to Castlegar and Trail and Cranbrook and then 93 north to Lake Louise and Banff is also pretty spectacular.
You’ll find lots of golf courses at just about every skill level in almost every town but mechanics and parts will be harder to come by (I travel with a full set of hoses and a few select bits and pieces in the Series 3 VDP’s).
Along the southern route, there’s also several options to cross down into Idaho and from Spokane it’s a nice run back to either Portland or Seattle and then back down to California.
From a course and weather perspective, you probably don’t want to be earlier than mid May or later than the end of September.
Enjoy and post pictures .
i played on the college golf team with two guys from canada. One from kamloops and the other from kelwona. Maybe they are still in the area. One became a pro in one of the cities
i played on the college golf team with two guys from canada. One from kamloops and the other from kelwona. Maybe they are still in the area. One became a pro in one of the cities
The vanity plate arrived in the mail this week so it was off to the vehicle registry office yesterday to swap the registration over so she could legally wear her new livery today.
The vanity plates come in pairs but I still much prefer the front end without one and Alberta doesn’t require a front plate so the second will go into the file cabinet with the rest of the records.
I also sourced and installed a replacement badge for the one that took up residence somewhere between Kamloops and Valemount on the ride home. To be honest, it wasn’t that hard to source as the local Indie mechanic that has worked on my cars for the past 15 years had a new one still in its Jaguar wrap in his inventory and they literally just snap into place!
None of this can be done on a dirty car so she did of course have get washed first.
Clean or not so clean, with or without all her badges, and regardless of the plate she’s wearing however, the local wildlife still seems to be neither impressed or afraid.
She might not impress the rabbits but she continues to impress me whether I’m behind the wheel or simply looking at her.
Beautiful XJR you have there Ken. I don't think I've ever seen that color in person, but its gorgeous. It's funny, I always disliked red cars when I was younger, but a nice shade of red like yours is really starting to appeal to me as I get older.
Black was - and I think using past tense is correct - my favourite colour. I used to say I was a big fan of Henry Ford's saying "any customer can have a car painted any colour that he wants, so long as it is black."
Over the years I have owned cars in a wide range of colours - almost everything except white or grey or silver. Some cars simply seem to suite some colours and look quite horrid in others although I know there is always some personal preference in those assessments. I do find it interesting to watch what colour the manufacturers use on their brochures and in their commercials for their cars as they're invariably one of the better choices for that particular vehicle. Interestingly enough, according to Motor1.com, 38 percent of the manufactured vehicles in 2020 were painted in white, followed by 19 percent black cars, 15 percent gray and 9 percent silver. That means that 81 percent of all new cars are one of those four basic colours (or non-colours). Also interestingly enough they almost never show white or black or gray or silver cars in those brochures and commercials. I think that's why the richness and beauty of so many of the Jaguar colours stand out so much and so well.
The XJR is my fourth jag. The first was an '87 black on black Series 3 VDP with stainless steel wire wheels. It had been repainted in a very sharp Mercedes black and was very pretty but never really clean for longer than 45 minutes or so. The second was a '92 Regency Red Mica Series 3 with Pepperpot wheels (the car the XJR replaces). The Regency Red Mica was what I call an accidental colour as I thought the car was Black Cherry in the small thumbnail photo I first saw. I'm not sure I would have been as comfortable or as happy with Black Cherry as I was for 15 years with the Regency Red Mica. It was both beautiful and easy to live with. Although Jaguar sells some really complex and beautiful paint colours, their blacks always seemed to have too much brown in them for my eye (and I know there are other eyes that will disagree with me quite strongly, particularly in regard to the Black Cherry). The third was a '92 Oyster VDP with Pepperpot wheels (a car I still have) that gives the car a much different although still rich appearance. The snapshots below show both of these cars.
The Carnival Red Mica on the XJR is as stunning in person as it is in photographs and I think it suits the car particularly well (I say particularly well as almost any colour - except possibly white - seems to suit the car well). It's really close to the Series 3's Regency Red Mica - perhaps just a shade lighter? - although I have never seen them side by side. As with the Regency Red Mica the Carnival Red Mica is also proving to be both beautiful and easy to live with.
Lastly, while the compliments are appreciated I had little to do with earning them except having the good fortune to be able to buy this beast.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; 07-20-2022 at 05:22 PM.
It is quite depressing looking at modern cars going down the highway, they all seem to be black, white, or grey. It's also true that certain colors suit certain cars very well. While I love the Oyster paint on your 92, I think that color would be quite bland on an x308 XJR. I will always love BRG, metallic green, or a deep black on any car. Nothing beats a freshly detailed black car...for the 15-20 minutes that it stays that way
I also agree with Jaguar blacks, they're definitely not "black" enough. They have too much brown tint in the clear. I loved my 2003 XJR in black, but in bright sunlight it didn't look all that black to me. I thought the 98 XJR that I recently purchased was black until I saw it in person and realized it is actually Anthracite. I can't wait to give it a proper detail and get it out in the sun to see the metallic in the paint.
Agreed, I was driving up the thruway the other day and looked over at oncoming traffic and I was struck by a largish grouping of suvs and cars (mostly suvs if I'm being honest) and it was a long like of about 2 dozen blandmobiles...everything was grey, black or some shade of silver...or a variation of this weird new grey that looks like chidlren's modeling clay that all the manufaturers seem to be using these days (I loathe these new colors) It made me feel like it was the middle of March, when everyone's car in the northeast is covered in a layer or grime and they're all the same color, regardless of paint.
One of the reasons I bought my XJR was the british racing green paint. It leaps out at you, especially on the roads today.
We’re having a nice weekend here and there wasn’t much on the calendar so I managed to cut the grass with the old reel motor and then had time to wash the XJR before it got too hot.
I’ve been reading some of the threads on the difficulty of trunk access with dead fobs or a dead battery so thought I’d get at one of those “niggling little to-do things”. Both fobs open the trunk, the trunk release switch on the dash opens the trunk, and the button switch on the trunk lid plinth opens the trunk but the key didn’t as the opening in the badge didn’t quite align with the opening in the lock.
So, not wanting to tempt Murphy’s law on some minus twenty celsius winter evening, after washing the beast I popped off the badge and then headed off to Canadian Tire (I’m not sure if there are equivalent stores anywhere else?) for some double sided auto trim tape. While I was there I also picked up some Meguiars Carnauba Gold Plus wax and some tire dressing because you never know, I might have some time tomorrow as well. I also had to settle for a rain check (I’m not sure what the equivalent name for that is elsewhere either?) for a small 12v dc tire pump that was on sale because you never know about that either.
Cleaned up the old tape and some silicone from the back of the badge to apply the new tape and noticed four stubs that were probably intended to line the badge up correctly with the lock that had been removed. A closer look at the lock reveals it to be slightly off centre in the hole in the boot face. A “test fit” demonstrated that there was still enough room to insert the key in the lock with the badge still aligned in its recess and use the key to open the trunk, possibly because the badge is mounted a touch farther out with the new tape. As I’m having no issues with the lock or using it, I decided I could leave well enough alone on that front, peeled the tape, inserted the key in the lock through the badge opening and set it in place. And voila, something that wasn’t working now does and I have a shorter list.
Now I know this is nothing compared to changing timing chain tensioners or tackling other serious and non serious but real mechanical issues but those of us who aren’t so inclined or skilled still need to take our satisfaction where we can.
But in case it helps one day, if you ever do get locked out of the boot (the lock can seize) don't panic. There is a way to get in by removing one of the number plate fixing inserts, and using a long thin screwdriver to operate the boot release. You could always give it a go so you are practiced.
I’m good with the key and a lubricated lock being the primary backup plan. Murphy’s law says the issue won’t ever come up until it’s parked outside in the middle of a forecast like this.
At that point it’s “call for the tow truck” time as there’s no way to remove the plate and fiddle as needed even if practiced in the procedure.
If she was in the garage I might think differently but there are only four holes for our smaller license plates and they have those inserts to screw the plate onto behind that I don’t want to lose or break “practicing”. I suppose I could look at taking the inside of the boot lid apart while I can get in there to plan an emergency assault but that will likely take a very long time to rise to the top of the to do list.
Last edited by Ken Cantor; 07-24-2022 at 09:47 AM.
05-29-2022, 06:37 PM
