Google defines Trailer Queen as “A trailer queen is a pampered vehicle that gets trailered to car shows by their owners.” OK, I confess. With the restoration of my 1963 E-Type FHC, I have created a Trailer Queen! Many folks will consider this to be a ridiculous state of affairs for what is simply a 4 wheeled conveyance for 1 to 2 people to get about in. But let me explain.
When I acquired this car over 20 years ago, it was fully dis-assembled, with no instructions. Life got in the way but I started the restoration of this car in 2020. A perfect Covid project, in retrospect! As it did not come with re-assembly instructions, I decided to restore it to a standard of “how it came from the factory”. This is sympatico with the guidance of the JCNA Concours d’Elegance Rulebook and gave me firm guidance, generally speaking. I also decided that it might be my last major restoration and, if I was going to do it, I should do it right.
I am proud to say that, 4 1/2 years and many thousands of manhours later, I am done. The car basically presents in as-new condition. I plan to take it to several JCNA sanctioned concours events this year and get some validation on what I hope I have achieved.
The highest category of JCNA concours judging is called Champion. In Champion, almost every facet of the car is evaluated. Cleanliness is of course important. A wise man will spend many man-hours getting his car ready for Champion competition in his home garage, not in the parking lot of the event hotel! As such, the real players detail their car to the nines and load it into a trailer for transport to the show. Once there, the car does need to be able to get to the show field under its own power but final cleaning should be minimal.
Knowing this was my gameplan, I decided to purchase a trailer. Briefly, I needed a trailer wide enough to be able to get in and out of the car while inside the trailer and long enough to fit the car in and get it strapped in with ratchet straps. And it needed to be able to be pulled by my Ford F-150 truck. I decided to buy a new trailer from Kaufman Trailers. I discussed my mission requirements with one of their sales staff and decided on an 8.5’x 20′ enclosed trailer. It will easily hold the car and leave room for incidentals.
I have signed up for my first show, put on by the Jaguar Club of Florida, the 3rd weekend in March. I am excited and nervous, as we will see how my work stacks up. I am confident with my preparation but it seems like every day of watching yet one more Youtube video, I discover some nuance that I need to run down. I will be using this Some Assembly Required column to keep those interested up to date on how the old girl’s show circuit goes. And I will of course be at our CJC concours at Little Switzerland.
Previous Some Assembly Required and other Jaguar related articles can be found on my website http://www.newhillgarage.com.
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