Since relocating to the Knoxville Tennessee area, Susan and I have joined the Blount British Car Club (BBC). An active club of 80 members. I previously wrote a driveline article on "Garage Tour - Tennessee Style" but this one is a bit different. The club spent a day with Richard Lockhart who is the principle of English Auto in Knoxville, TN. English Auto conducts full restorations and services for British cars. Richard who has been in business for 20 years bought his first TriumphTR6 as a teenager and fell in love. His company English Auto works on all sorts of classic British cars with many being exotic.

On this cool and clear Tennessee day with temps about 70F we visited Richard's shop. The shop is extremely neat, clean and well ordered. Richard does run a tight ship. On this particular day we saw 3 cars of special interest. The first an absolutely flawless black 1953 Jaguar XK 120. As a concourse vehicle the paint alone was well above my pay grade. Richard said the car could be valued at somewhere in the $120-150k area. He had finished the engine and it was a thing of beauty.

Lurking behind the XK 120 was a disassembled silver 1963 Jaguar E-Type. Annnnd boy, do I mean DIS-ASSEMBLED! The front hood was off and leaning against the wall behind the chassis frame. Richard's electrical expert had just finished wiring the entire car and mechanics were underway. English Auto is something special. I almost thought I was "live" on the Velocity Channel!
In walking to the back of Richard's shop I turned right and before my eyes was another rare and beautiful car. A 1956 Austin Healey 104! On this particular classic parts are difficult to come by and in many cases they are special ordered or fabricated. The body was done and painted an absolutely beautiful 2-tone black on red. When this Healey is done it will be a real show-stopper. Richard explained that his customers cars are not restored overnight but are 1 to 2 year projects. I assume that the $$ behind these restorations is supplied by people of means (of course the word "lawyer" came up a lot).

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