News / Articles

Good day to all club members. This has been a different year for everyone. I miss the car events, the Jags ‘n’ Jam, the socializing. I call Mark Mayuga for vehicle advice and just to shoot the bull and it is a great way to lighten up the day.

My latest conversation with Mark involved my latest car repair on a 1992 Jaguar XJS V12 Coupe owned by Melody and me.

Good day to all the Jaguar Club Members. Yessir, Melody and I are sill around even though we are playing it safe when it comes to staying away from gatherings. After months of studying for and passing the Public Adjuster exam for California and putting together all the sample contracts plus all the other paperwork, by ambitious task of starting my own business in the insurance industry might be getting closer. The application is still under review.

Despite the gloomy weather and COVID-19 concerns, members of JOCLA and San Diego Jaguar Clubs got together on Saturday morning October 24 at “SILKY SULLIVANS IRISH/ENGLISH PUB” in FOUNTAIN VALLEY.

Ask anyone who knows me if I enjoy some of the finer material things in life and they will tell you. I have been busy with other tasks for the last few weeks. The Jaguar has been sitting the whole time. Before Melody found this car in 12/2012, I had tested a couple of RR Silver Shadows, but they were just a few thousand quid out of reach. We bought this car after one test drive and drove it 80 miles home.

Well, that is an interesting question indeed especially in this day of catalytic converters, emissions controls, CAFÉ fuel averages, and crash safety. But you know, we gearheads are clever blokes!

Jaguar Cars and Sir William have always been innovators and style setters. The SS 100 of the 1930’s was the beginning of what was to become one of the most revered automobile marques in modern automobile history.

Jaguar Cars has always been about doing things a bit differently, innovation and style have been at the forefront of their thinking and products.

Mark was awarded the Andrew Whyte Service Award at the recent JCNA Annual General Meeting at Jaguar Head Quarters in Mahwah NJ.

March 31 marks the end of the First Quarter of the New Year and the beginning of the JOC Quarterly Newsletter format. First, I would like to hear back from the membership on the NEW LOOK of the Club, the new website headers, EBLASTS, EClubNEWS, improved MEMBER ROSTER format, our new Masthead, and our improved event announcements. We are aware how busy most of you are these days and the BOD decided to take advantage of technology and have it work for us. The benefit is that you get reminded of upcoming events with the EBLASTS, that way you don’t miss-out on some fun stuff, The EClubNEWS is an ongoing club news stream that we are going to expand and include a chat room and Q&A feature to come.

August is here and the beginning of the hot season. A famous local weatherman once said he had the best job in the world. He was the weatherman in a place with no weather. Well, we do have weather now-extreme heat in Southern Cal. and fires in the Santa Barbara area once again. This may be a good time to check your antifreeze level (does antifreeze make sense in this context?) and your cooling system in general, especially if you have an old Jag.

As I write this memoir at my "retirement" residence in the island Republic of Cyprus, I have fond memories of the many fine people I was privileged to know during the years I was active in the JOCLA. In particular, I recall the late Bill Streitenberger, who could best be described as “Mr. Jaguar Los Angeles.”

I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Richard and Karen Radtke about their gorgeous Jaguar XK140 which they have owned for 50 years! As Karen explained, Richard got the car in 1968 as a graduation gift…well sort of.

June is here, HAPPY FATHER’S DAY TO ALL! It’s time to think of summer plans and for the second half of the year!

I thought I would share some photos from Steve’s Jaguar in Canoga Park. Not only do they take care of my S-Type R, they are also a long-time advertiser in the Tales. I send my friends and clients to him, and they are always treated well.

The International Jaguar Festival in Santa Barbara is coming up this fall.

The kick-off event is a private JOC tour of the Petersen Museum’s Vault and dinner, sponsored by yours truly and Heacock Classic Car Insurance.

Well, it is again that time of year for those individuals who would like to step up to the next level of their interest and dedication to the Jaguar Clubs of North America, and consider seeking the office of Regional Director and serving on the Board of Directors of JCNA.

The JCNA International Jaguar Festival 2018 is on track to be a very successful event indeed. As of this Newsletter we have over 148 attendees participating in most of the events.

Spring is here but we are still having start up problems for 2018. We are in a period of turnover as we have had several Board members complete their service and two other Board members are out of the country for extended periods. Several things have fallen through the cracks but we think we have found them all and are moving forward.

Hello fellow JOC Members, As many of you may have heard, I am leaving for a six month “sabbatical” in England in a few weeks. The XK150 is already on the water and will be there when I arrive. I have rented a cottage in the Cotswold’s (sheep and wool country) and am looking forward to attending a number of Jaguar Club events over the summer as well as the vintage races at Silverstone and Goodwood.

By now you’ve seen the striking Jaguar I-Pace.

The good news is that it appears that Jaguars sultry prototype, the all-electric, all-wheel drive, SUV is going to be produced.

The year was 1972. I had just graduated from college and was the proud owner of a 1958 Jaguar XK150, which I purchased the year earlier for $600. Needless to say, it was no Concours queen, but I was young, single and a rather dashing sort….

As I write this just before Thanksgiving there are several things be thankful for and to look forward to. Among the many things to be thankful for, one is that it has been a good year for the JOC.

CASA SANCHEZ, on the Eastside is a well-known Mexican food “joint” in Long Beach. Everybody goes there at some point in time to have their real Mexican food fix. I’ve seen the LB Mayor, City Manager, lawyers, college students, bus drivers, mothers with strollers, homeless people, and even biker gang members testing the salsa or discussing City issues. Somehow this place attracts everyone and its neutral territory with no written rules.

Longnose D-type Body $48,000 (Item no. 122839093789)

test

Let it not be said that the Jaguar Owners Club is shy on events. Once again dear friends, JOCLA leaped into the breach and produced a wonderful event in MORRO BAY. Let’s back¬up, two years ago your president, Mark Mayuga, revived the CAL CLUBS REUNION 2017 in the SEQUOIA NATIONAL PARK, staying in the charming town of THREE RIVERS and enjoying the hospitality of the historic “LAZY J” Ranch motel. Fast forward to 2019, Dorothy and Howard Smith, JAG San Francisco, were starting to plan the next REUNION, Howard became ill with cancer and Dorothy had to transfer the organizing responsibilities to someone, enter the JOCLA and Mark Mayuga.

Jags ‘n’ Jam in Tustin, Orange County was a pleasant outing. What a beautiful day to stretch the legs of our 1992 XJS Coupe. That V-12 really get going on the freeway.

On a sunny and warm St Patrick’s Day 17 JOCLA drivers and 17 navigators met at the General Porpoise Donut shop in Pacific Palisades to check-in and begin a 36.5 mile 90 minute rally through the Hollywood Hills, part of the Cahuenga Pass and ending up at the Original Philippe’s near Union Station in Downtown Los Angeles for a lunch of Philippe’s famous beef (or lamb, pastrami or turkey) dip sandwiches. Participating Jaguars ranged from F-Type Rs to a Mark IX sedan; with a spread of XKs, XKRs XK8s, XFs, XJs and E-types in the middle along with an Alfa Romeo. A good time was had by all, maybe except for Charlie Hallums and Elena Browdy. Charlie’s XKR OTS sprung a leak enroute to Pacific Palisades and had to be towed home. Elena’s 2000 XKR didn’t make it out of the driveway due to brake issues. So she brought her Alfa Romeo Giulietta and Charlie became her navigator.

Our IJF Festivities this year included a private JOC tour of The Vault at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

The AGM (Annual General Meeting) is an opportunity for all JCNA Jaguar Clubs in North America to come together and discuss, share, update, and propose new ideas and ways to promote membership recruitment and retention; evaluate the JCNA Concours Program; discuss Concours Judging criteria; make suggestions on participation in JCNA RALLY and SLALOM programs; and improve the communications between Clubs within the JCNA Regions.

In Long Beach, off a main road down a side road into a
dead end, there are several non-descript warehouses with
treasurers within. On January 12th, 2019 a limited number
of JOC members were treated to a visit to the collection of
Robert and Pam Funari. Bob and Pam have been long time
members of JOCLA (and many other automobile clubs). Upon
arrival, members viewed the collection of cars, as well as
a car lover’s washroom and a library. The collection of cars
was rather eclectic, containing many unusual cars (including
a beautiful BRG Jaguar XKE) and many others, original or
modified, primarily European high-performance sports cars
from the 1960’s onward.

Jaguar Owners Club members, if you haven’t already registered for the IJF Santa Barbara Event time and space are running out! We are at 171 attendees with 250 as our maximum number of participants.

LA JOC Concours - May 20, 2018
Champion Class, Driven Class, Display

The “All Aboard and Margarita Fiesta” was a wonderful event and we missed you guys! The weather gods brought us warm temperatures, 85 degrees. The day started at the Jaguar Land Rover Training Center with 38 members, 21 beautiful Jags and a couple of Land Rovers were all queued-up in the parking lot.

Hello Jaguar Owners Club Members, you missed a great time in the Southern Sierra, Sequoia National Park and the town of Three Rivers. The weather was perfect, and the company was brilliant. There were 40+ Jaguar Club enthusiastic from the Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Sacramento Clubs in attendance. The Lazy J Motel was our host and official event center. Our Club started the annual retreat to the Sequoias back in the mid 1980’s when Bernie Mesco and myself visited the Sequoia Park on a holiday weekend. We immediately fell in love with the area and the town of Three Rivers with its quaint shops, fresh air, snow feed river, terrific eateries and the Sequoia forest. Dorothy (Prez) and Howard Smith (hubby) organized the San Fran group with over 30+ members and their Jaguars leaving from Gilroy and arriving in the late afternoon.