I won the Elizabeth Drake Award with a car that used to be my daily driver. That still feels strange to say. This wasn’t a purpose-built race car. It wasn’t trailered to events. It drove there, raced, and drove home again. Daylight runs, night rally, cold air, pressure building with every start line. It was … Continue reading "🏆 The Trophy, The Rally, and The Realisation"

After weeks of repairs, preparation, and problem-solving in the workshop, the Spain rally was always going to be the real test — not just of the car, but of every decision we made before turning the key. Trusting a sixty-year-old Jaguar to drive all the way to Spain is never just a road trip. It’s … Continue reading "Lady Eleanor: 1965 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 4.2 Straight-Six | Gunmetal Grey — Spain Rally Journey"

When Eleanor arrived, the plan was simple.Get her ready to move again. That turned out to be optimistic. The first problem was physical and unavoidable: the rear tyres were wrong.Too large, too wide, and pressed hard into the wheel arches. The car looked fine, but it couldn’t roll properly. Until that was fixed, nothing else … Continue reading "Miss Eleanor — Before the Trip"

These three episodes weren’t planned as a trilogy — but they became one. What started as a careful first service on an extremely rare car quickly turned into a lesson in restraint, improvisation, and living with the consequences of working on something that simply doesn’t have spare parts. This is the short story of Episodes … Continue reading "Black Betty — Service, Survival, and a Bodged Headlight"

Episode 4 — One Mistake = Game Over Some days in the workshop are calm. Methodical. Predictable. This wasn’t one of those days. Episode 4 was supposed to be simple: get a new ramp into the workshop, give Black Betty her first proper service since we bought her, and call it a win. Instead, it … Continue reading "Black Betty – 1934 Triumph Dolomite 8C"