XK Media Day at Bicester Heritage
Earlier this week Bicester Heritage was alive with the sound of XK engines. The XK Club brought together stakeholders from across the XK world to put on the first XK Media Day. The idea was simple: to give media outlets and those who might not yet understand the joy of an XK the opportunity to not just see and understand what these cars are all about but also to get out on the Bicester Heritage track. To really understand what makes an XK tick, one needs to experience how well they can drive. This was an opportunity for the XK community to show the world how reliable, practical, and enjoyable XKs can be. Between generous XK Club members who brought their cars along and specialists like us, there were examples of every model and body style in the XK range.
The day started with an introduction by Sarah Keith-Lucas of BBC Weather fame and daughter of XK racer and CKL founder Chris Keith-Lucas. Philip and Julie Porter of the XK Club then shared a few words extolling the virtues of XKs before we all headed to the paddock and the test track to use the cars as intended. Towards the end of the day, there was a fascinating discussion panel looking at the future of our classic cars and discussing sustainable fuels. It was particularly interesting to hear what Sarah Keith-Lucas had to share about climate change and how we might all help to limit and reduce our impact. I believe that sustainable liquid fuels are going to be key to keeping classic cars on the road in the future.
We drove up in our fully restored XK140 drophead coupe “Reggie”. It was an early start for us with 100 miles of motorway driving between our workshop and Bicester Heritage. “Reggie” is the perfect car for this journey, having been sympathetically upgraded for modern use. The car features a five-speed gearbox, front disc brakes, an electric cooling fan, and an upgraded wiper motor amongst many other upgrades. These modifications come together to make this XK reliable and incredibly easy to live with. We arrived at the other end of our journey feeling as fresh and ready for the day as we would have felt in a modern car. Some heavy rain showers, heavy traffic, and long stints on the motorway were all easily overcome by the car.
It was a pleasure to see so many Twyford Moors customers and cars among the club members in attendance. The willingness of the XK community to share their passion and their cars was hugely encouraging to see. Amongst the XKs in attendance were what I believe to be the two most travelled XKs in existence, Philip and Yvonne Haslam's XK120 and Neil and Olivia Donnan's XK140. Between them, they have covered hundreds of thousands of miles all over the world on some of the most challenging roads, proving how usable and reliable XKs can be. We are proud to have restored, prepared, and maintained these cars amongst many other successful touring XKs over the years. Another noteworthy XK in attendance was Robert Coucher's charming XK140 fixedhead coupe which we look after and is used as his regular transport in London.
The sights and sounds of so many XKs taking their turns out on the test track were wonderful to behold. It is so important to engage with future generations of enthusiasts and a broader audience to safeguard the future of our XKs. As a community, we need to communicate that our cars are usable, fun, and also sustainable given their low annual mileage and the fact that they were built so many decades ago. We must help people understand that keeping an old car on the road is one of the most sustainable things you can do. I believe that the best thing we can do to keep our classic cars relevant is to get out and use them. Let people see the car, and chat with people. To take things a step further we should be generous with our car. If you have a friend, niece or nephew, son, daughter or grandchild who you can take out in your classic car and share your passion please do so. Better yet, let them have a drive if you possibly can. If people do not get the opportunity to experience the joy of these cars, then they will not develop a passion for them.
