Big Cats and Cheshire Grins at the Classic Connection

The gurgling sound of a sleek Jaguar prowling around anyone’s back yard should be a cause for concern, but not at the Classic Connection – it’s a way of life. With more than eighty years experience between three expert mechanics, there isn’t an inch of these iconic cars that hasn’t been graced by the hands of the Classic Connection’s Jaguar team.

First though, a short lesson from history. 

Way back in 1927, when the Swallow Motor Cycle Sidecar Company changed direction and started making vehicle bodies, I wonder if William Lyons envisaged that his Jaguar Cars would still be regarded with such devotion all these years later – I like to think he did.

With a shrewd business mind that would today make mincemeat of the Lion’s Den programme, William Lyons gathered a small and efficient team around him, and from their humble beginnings in an old Blackpool warehouse, the Swallow Sidecar Company started making aluminium bodyworks for a number of car manufacturers such as Austin and Wolseley.

William Lyons soon moved his factory to Coventry where he was able to produce larger numbers of body works for his clients, but this practice was soon found too constraining for the creative juices of Lyons and his team. In 1931 the Swallow SS1 was launched at the London Motor Show to great acclaim - the legend was beginning to take shape.

It would be too easy to say that ‘the rest is history’ but history is always in the making with Jaguar. The analogy of the big cat didn’t appear until 1935 when looking for a name that encapsulated the sleek lines of the newly launched Swallow 2.5ltr sports model, the SS Jaguar 100 leaped onto the world’s stage at the Mayfair Hotel, London.

 Grace, Space and Pace

The lean, post-war years were boom times for Lyons and his team as ‘export or die’ became the maxim of the day, and Jaguar was after the Lion’s share of the US market. With a new sports car let loose on the world, the XK120 stole hearts and speed records at a whim, and after a string of back-to-back wins at Le Mans during the 50s’ ensured that the name Jaguar would always be synonymous with winning. 

But it is probably the 60s’ that we all hanker after. The E-Type Jag has been described by Enzo Ferrari as the most beautiful car of all time (and he should know) and the E-Type surely has no equal when it comes to style and grace. The list of superlatives floods easily from a Chambers Dictionary, and I try to keep the cliche's to a minimum here, but to most human beings, the E-Type Jaguar simply stirs the E-motions like no other car can.

The Classic Connection believes in Jaguar Cars. Passion of the marque reflects in the service that’s on offer here. From early XK 150’s to the glory days of the E-Type and beyond, the servicing of Jaguar Cars is indeed in very steady hands.

Restoration plays a major part of the Classic Connection’s heritage; especially as the popularity of the E-Type refuses to fade away; which is great news, of course. But lingering on the past isn’t necessarily going to secure the future.

 

The Classic Connection now offers servicing and repairs that include the very latest Jaguar models as the photograph above shows, and a good mechanic is a highly sought after specialist, but if he’s really good, he’ll bring with him a loyal following of Jaguar owners. Trust creates a brand all of its own, and that’s exactly what has happening here at the Classic Connection.

 

As with all things in British car manufacturing, events over the last five decades since the E-Type have shaped Jaguar Cars; some good, some not so good, but what hasn’t changed is the desirability of the marquee.

The classic car market today is still reasonably buoyant despite the downturn in the economy, and the Classic Connection is living proof that, just like Sir William Lyons, if you have a good business head and select a few key players, remain true to your customers and provide a reputable service, then you can expect to see Jaguars of all marks prowling the streets and highways for many years to come.

For full details visit the Classic Connection at www.classicconnection.co.uk

Better still, pay them a visit and experience what owning a classic car is all about.

The Classic Connection

There can’t be too many opportunities in life to successfully combine true passion with business – but it works here.

 

When I say passion, what I really mean is: heart and soul, life blood congealing with Castrol Oil under Band Aid Plasters, a place where the office becomes an extension of boyhood dreams - somewhere to never properly grow-up. Boys and their toys? Yeah - but so what?

And Charlie Ramsey’s story is something quite unique. The Classic Connection sells cars, but pretty much like anything else in life ‘it Ain't what you do, it’s the way that you do it’ or so the song goes.

From the moment you first step onto the lino of the Classic Connection’s reception area, you get a sense of what is happening here, Charlie has thought this through and wants his customers to enjoy the experience. 

But not by design – this is real.

And what the Classic Connection is not, and this is important, is that it's not a Veneer, it’s not a made-up concoction dressed-up to impress and beguile like a franchise pub or cafe, no, what Charlie has created is part working museum, part private collection, part library and part business.

But, the best part is that the sum of these gleaming and eclectic parts all morph into an Aladdin’s Cave, of which, once the door is opened, you long to stay - because your boyhood dreams demand it.

I'm given free-reign to go where ever I choose, but like a kid in a sweet shop, I want it all. I bound around like a pin-ball taking pictures wherever I can - Charlie has nothing to hide.

I'm even privy to a preview of some gems that have yet to hit the show room. Just when I thought it couldn't get any better Charlie opens up another cave and inside are two rows of cars that have been snapped up from motor jumbles or from trawling the Internet.

One new aspect of the Classic Connection that Charlie is keen to promote is the realisation that he is now in a strong position to attract new Jaguar customers. Charlie's latest recruit is a mechanic with so much Jaguar history he should have his own V5.

But this is the depth that Charlie is willing to go to, to to the job correctly you need the right tools, and definately the right people. I hope that's not to chliche'd, it's just that these cars can be expensive and are people's pride and joy's, and just like people - they need to be treated right.

Sure, there are bargains out there, you just need the time and the experience to know what you're looking for. A large garage bedecked with quality tools, a ramp, and at least one mechanic who has spent his entire working life working on classic cars will help too.

Even the kitchen-cum-staff room has more than a whiff of London's Ace Cafe about it. I'm relieved to find the toilets are gleaming too. 

In the corner of the corridor that leads from the cafe (sorry, kitchen) a stack of new tyres have a film set edge about them; should I duck for cover? It would be fun ...

'I don't expect you to talk, Mr Bond, I expect you to die!'

A very big thank you to Charlie and his staff for a fabulous few hours where I could pretend it was all mine. www.classicconnection.co.uk

Fantasy Top Ten, or what I'm spending my lottery winnings on

Having built the ten-car extension to the mansion I would then park these beauties in reverse order:

No 10. The beautifully curvey BMW 507

No 9. A proper Fiat 500. Because you have to

No 8. Fiat strike again with the 124 Spyder - just to keep you on your toes

Lucky 7. Mercedes 300SL R107. Well, you need something reliable, don't you?

No 6. Lotus Europa. When I was ten years old, this was the car I was going to have when I grew up; it never happend - nor the car!

No 5. Mercedes 300 Gullwing. Get used to seeing Merc's here

No 4. Ferrari 250. I don't care how much, I just want one!

No 3. The E Type. They should have stopped at this and produced nothing else

No 2. Mercedes 280 Pagoda. Thanks' to the little old lady in Harrogate circa 1989. She let me look, she let me stare ...

No 1. Ferrari 275. Actually I would just by ten of these. I suppose that would have to be a Euro Lottery win, then?

And I would move somewhere warmer ... See you on the road.

Mercedes 300SL

You, me, and Alan makes three

Apart from licking my face with all the enthusiasm of an empty food bowl; Alan is a sociable creature.

 

I find there are elements of Alan that remind of Tintin’s side-kick, Snowy. But Alan's as much at home on the rear bench as he is lapping-up his next adventure. Alan is also very handsome. He cuts a fine dash and provides an added air of sophistication to our outing as we head further into the forest.

 

Alan doesn’t feel he needs to rush off and round up ponies either. 

So-what if the speed limit in the New Forest is restricted to a maximum of 40 MPH? The indigenous ponies roam freely here all year-round; it’s their home turf and it's us who fit in around them. If you've come to the New Forest for the day then there is no point in being in a hurry - no one else is. It also means that I get plenty of quality time in a car that I've always coveted.

 

Crazily out-priced by the older W113 series of Pagoda’s, the third generation SL hasn’t changed too much since 1972. Eight engine options have filled the bonnet space of the R107, but regardless of varied incarnations, what remains is a car, given the proper care and attention, will retain all the grace and desirability that three pointy arrows can muster. 

Aside from all that: driving around with the roof down in any car on a stupendously crisp, blue winter’s morning has to be on anyone’s list of natural highs. We're also cruising around in arguably one of the most recognisable Mercedes to grace its Bremen production line; I find our 300SL to be as easy on the eye as it is to drive.

 

The winter sun is struggling to get any purchase in the sky but already the forest is awash with cyclists, walkers and horse riders as we pass through the eclectic mix of bric-a-brac shops and cafes of Burley. Golfers are teeing off as I press harder on the accelerator and we reach the plateau above the village. There’s an imperceptible nudge from the car as it changes up a notch and Alan barks loudly to let everyone know we’ve arrived.

Tipping my head back and stretching my neck to peer over the long nose I suddenly imagine myself as a World War Two Spitfire pilot (or should that be a Messerschmidt 109) lumbering along across one of the many airfields that graced the New Forest in those dark days of the Battle of Britain. The straight-six engine gurgles away, happy as a baby on the bottle, as I struggle to keep the needle smack-on 40 MPH, but I feel she wants to go, she wants to fly – I want to fly.

 

But let’s not get too carried away here. The SL is no revved-up, muscle-flexing Über car. The 300SL is a ‘sport Leicht’ a mile-munching carpet of luxury that will get you from here to there with the minimum of fuss and backache. She sits on the road like she owns it, and best of all, I feel safe.

Here, in the deepest corner of Hampshire, winter has yet again arrived in typical British format: Storms laced with lashings of extra rain and wind bring our 'surprised' country to a halt. 

Ironically though, there’s not a cloud in the sky today, and having booked this drive about three weeks prior, I think we did very well. But as we rise and fall through a series of tree lined bends towards Brockenhurst I catch sight of the drainage ditches on either side of the road that are ominously full. The New Forest might be rapidly filling up with rain water but I can't remember the last time driving was so much fun.

A big thank you to Karl for the loan of his lovely Mercedes 300SL for the day. You might catch a glimpse of the car around Ringwood from time to time; most probably parked somewhere near the heart of the town - Framptons.

If you haven't discovered Framptons Cafe and Bar yet then you're really missing out on something special, it has to be one of the best independant cafe-bars anywhere. Have a look around here to see what you're missing: www.framptonsbar.co.uk

A list of important dates:

Circa 1079 - William the Conqueror finds himself a new playground 'The New Forest'

1886 - Karl Benz designs and patents his/the 'first' motor car

1926 - The first use of Mercedes-Benz as a brand is introduced

1954 - the first Mercedes SL is born, the 'Gullwing'

1972 - the R107 replaces the W113 Pagoda SL series

29/12/2013 - Colin gets to drive his first 300SL