Yesterday I was at the Chicago British Car Festival and they had valve cover racing. Last year there was no Jaguar representation, so I thought this year I would make a racer to enter.
Every part on my racer was found in my garage, even the wheelie bars (cabinet drawer rollers), except the taillights which are buttons from my wife’s sewing room.
There were 8 entries, the others being Lotus, MG, Triumph and Austin Healey. The rules were it had to be a recognizable British valve cover, wheelbase 23" to fit on the starting grid, and under 12 pounds weight. Mine was about 6 pounds.
3 runs for elimination and sadly the Lotus twin cam beat me every time.
The yellow Lotus Coventry Climax was the overall winner.
But I did get some compliments for appearance, especially from the women, who thought there ought to be a concours de valve cover. But I overheard some other woman say, “These guys have way too much time on their hands.”
Next year I’ll add some weight and try again.