Jaguar 2021 Summer Festival

Bicester Heritage welcomes hundreds of Jaguars for the marque’s largest Jaguar event of the year.

Jointly organised by the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ and Jaguar Drivers’ Clubs, the Summer Festival on 4 July 2021 at Bicester Heritage included a seemingly never-ending sea of Jaguars of all shapes and sizes. Arguably, the stars of the show were the many E-types displayed to mark 60 years of the British icon, although there was something for everyone, with hundreds of models from all eras, both modern and historic.

The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust brought several cars for demonstration laps at Bicester’s test track, a rare opportunity to see these historic Jaguars in motion on a circuit. The line-up included the first production E-type OTS (77RW), the European Touring Car Championship-winning TWR XJ-S, the XK 120 that was specially prepared to drive seven days and seven nights at an average speed of more than 100mph at Montlhéry, near Paris, in 1952 (LWK 707), an XJ220, plus the final X100 XKR and the unique XKR-R we featured in the August issue .

Interviews and commentaries were on-going throughout the day and broadcast across the venue via the largest big-screen TV in the UK.

Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club presenter Wayne Scott interviewed celebrities from across the Jaguar world. They included ex-dealer training manager Peter Leake and the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club technical expert, David Marks, while headlining the live stage interview was the former chairman and CEO of Jaguar, Sir John Egan, credited with saving the Jaguar brand in the Eighties.

During his interview at the show, Sir John said, “When I arrived at the factory gates, everybody was on strike. I started talking to the strikers and one said, ‘I’ve got my bag of tools here, without these tools these cars don’t fit together, I’m a craftsman.’ I replied, ‘Well I’ve come here to save the place and to make it as independent as it deserves to be’. That was the deal I had done with [BL boss] Michael Edwardes.”

Speaking on the live stage, the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club chairman, Ray Searles, said, “It’s been a tough year for event organisers and car shows, but we are overjoyed with the success of our first event in two years. A huge thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who made it happen and to the Jaguar community who rallied around to support us.”

“A HUGE THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL VOLUNTEERS WHO MADE IT HAPPEN AND TO THE JAGUAR COMMUNITY WHO RALLIED AROUND TO SUPPORT US.”

Hundreds of XKs were also present to mark 25 years of the model.

LEFT: Former Jaguar chairman, Sir John Egan, is interviewed on stage.

BELOW: Swallow Jaguar’s ex-Palmer Sport XKR. There was a strong X-TYPE presence to mark the car’s 20th anniversary. The first E-type OTS (77RW) on the track. Jaguar Heritage’s final X100 XKR (left) and the unique XKR-R.