Jeffrey, she has allowed me to accumulate a fleet of six semi-driveable old cars, she encouraged me to tear down the dilapidated spare garage on our property and replace it with a 32x36 steel building (reminding me to “make sure it’s tall enough to put a lift in” (lift not yet procured)) and she cheerfully joins me on outings with my various old car clubs where at around age 50, we are 20 years younger than the average member. When I tried to sell the '25 Dodge after buying the Jag, she said “I don’t think we should sell that yet.” She also faithfully serves as comptroller of the Johnson family fisc, keeping me from driving us into insolvency. And she’s pleasant to talk to and is pretty easy on the eyes.
Slot cars are the least of my worries. She’s a keeper!
Hi Frank, I’ve been under the weather and not had the chance to take pictures, possibly Covid though I’ve had the booster shot, oh well. As soon as I’m out of the house from quarantining I’ll post pictures. This is not a show quality 100 point car, just an honest driver I purchased in the midst of Covid in Leigh high Valley PA almost two years ago.
The car was given to a friend to be cleaned up for sale by the PO’s widow, unfortunately the car sat in a garage for over 40 yrs and has taken over a year so far with the restoration. The engine runs great and idles at 40 lbs oil pressure and compression still sits at 150 lbs with the original engine awesome!
I sold my original 1967 primrose yellow car that was painted silver for this original black beauty with red interior that came complete with the factory hard top. I was told at first it was a parts car, but after seeing the car I had to sell my 67 for this 66 roadster, I had to have it. Can you believe they thought this was a parts car?
Anyone here with an amazing story that you would like to share, I love a good story especially during Christmas, it puts a great smile on my face. PS Here’s the primrose yellow car shot in silver paint by the PO. I sold it to a fellow in Georgia and retained the hard top for my stallion/my black gold. My stallion was parked for over 40 yrs before purchasing and thank God the garage was climate controlled. Share your story if you have one, It would be a pleasure to read, Cheers!
Wow Garth, that’s a great find. My car is a bit younger, 1970, and didn’t sit quite so long. It was last inspected in 1985. I just pulled that old inspection sticker off last week.
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BillJag
(Bill Bilotti 1966 S1 OTS (in boxes))
8523
Hi Bill, Iv’e been looking on line for the same bullet mirror, apparently they are rare and not easily found. I’m sure I’ll have one before the car is ready for the road in the Spring.
The one I have is similar to the one you have. There’s a fellow in Mass that does mirrors headlights etc, I’ll give him a call tomorrow and hopefully he has what I need. Have a good evening.
Your car is lovely. And I love the look of the chrome instrument bezels on the S1 dash - if I wasn’t intent on keeping my completely stock, I’d do that mod in a heartbeat.
Regarding the heavy steering feel, have you been able to get a good front end alignment yet? My car had a fairly heavy feel when I got it and I attributed that to the 205s, but after caster was properly set the steering lightened up significantly. Now, the only reason I’d see to put on power steering is if one is particularly old and soft.
It was the only mod I did to the interior….I kept the originals too. It does really ‘ pop’ with the chrome. Other mods are limited to:
Hi torque starter
Electronic Lucas fuel pump
Electric cooling fan
Relays for the headlights
Overdrive
Led dash bulbs
Drove to Lowes, Kroger and McDonalds for last minute Christmas necessities. On the way home at 75 MPH on the highway the car started feeling squirrely, like huge gusts of a crosswind. Slowed down and took the next exit. As I was looking for a safe place to pull over and check things out I heard the whomph, whomph, whomph of a flat tire; left rear if it matters. I broke out my homemade jack, lead hammer and spare and started to work.
As I was in the middle of the tire change a guy drives up and gets out of his SUV.
Does he offer assistance? No.
Does he start asking me about the car and then telling me about all the Jaguars he’s owned in the past?
Yes.
Dammit, I’ve got hot fries to get home, I don’t have time for his automotive ownership history lesson.
Does he look annoyed when I pay him little attention to concentrate on the task at hand? Yes.
Anyway, it was a nice drive and I got to bond with the jack and spare tire.
