A bit of my friend Richard:

The son of a WW2 career RAF aircraft engineer, born in Wales. Then Scotland, Malaysia and Singapore as family travelled with the service. Back to England and then to Germany, followed by boarding school. He spent time in Zambia, Congo and Zimbabwe. Saudi Arabia beckoned but after 3 years of work and travel went back to England. Richard has a Masters in Engineering. Worked in Dubai and then Saudi again. Here he met Sandy his wife (found in Saudi but Sandy originated from St Louis). As rain was preferable to Saudi bombings so it was time for a change. Relocated to Kanas with the company for projects there. Another company move to good ‘ol Naperville.

Story
Susan and I had annual New Year’s Eve parties (Naperville) where Richard & Sandy came as guests with other friends that we knew. We met them and they have become great and close friends. Richard, being British, of course needs to drive a British car and his car of choice is a Jaguar XJR 3.8-liter, supercharged V-8. This sucker really moves!


I have few regrets in leaving Illinois but one I do have is the social circle we left behind. As friendly as people are in Tennessee, we will never replace what we had in Illinois. We have visited several times and the last one was with Richard & Sandy. Of course, Susan & I took the XE which is our travelling sedan and of course Richard wanted to check it out vs. his XJR. The XE is a 4-cylinder, 2-liter, turbo so it is dwarfed by Richard’s Jag. We had a great time talking about the 2 cars and my experiences with both Jaguars and MGs in Tennessee. Richard is now driving the Jaguar as his everyday car and in contrast to popular thought this old (but beautiful and VERY well kept) war horse is about as dependable as they get. With 265 HP the XJR can boost a top speed of 150 mph and 0-60 in 6 seconds. Not bad for a 20-year-old car. Add the midnight blur color and the champagne interior it is an amazing car!

Richard and I share many things not the least of which is the love of English cars. Although this particular article is about Jaguars my first love is still my ’72 B aka the Mongrel.

Oh, and by the way, the motorcycle is a 1974 Triumph 650. Oh again! The XE might look like a Taurus, but it is definitely a Jaguar.

~~ Ralph Arata