February
It is now necessary to ensure that our car product will pass the Single Vehicle Approval MOT test (SVA). The test is not yet compulsory for car manufacturers but I am anxious to see how the car squares up. We submit the blue car to Yeasdon MOT station near London. The inspectors go over the car with a fine tooth-comb whilst we wait in trepidation for the verdict. To our delight we are told the car will pass the test with only a few minor modifications. The testers are highly complimentary of the construction of the car and particularly praise the brakes, steering, and weight distribution. Apparently many specialist cars have too much weight over the front axle. The corner-weighting indicates that our car has 46% front and 54% rear…..excellent.

June
The Jaguar XK is fifty years old this year and a huge gathering of the best XKs in the world is held at Donington race circuit for a spectacular celebration of the marque. We have a fine position in a shale parking area with views of the track. We have a busy two days and Don Kirby very kindly lends me his red SS100 to add to my blue car already on my stand. The lovely Jaguar XKs are arranged in serried ranks on a recently grassed paddock, seemingly at below sea level. Unfortunately, the weekend rain turns the whole area into a disastrous quagmire and two thousand XK owners have an awful time cleaning their cars afterwards.