The 48th Annual All-British Field meet, held annually at Portland International Raceway, has come and gone.
With over 600 vehicles, it bills itself as the “largest three-day celebration of British cars in America.”
The Jaguar Club of Oregon was the host club this year (different clubs take on this duty in a rotating fashion).
At the Saturday banquet, I had the pleasure of interviewing collectors Alex and Amy Haugland, from Eugene, OR, as part of the proceedings.
Their collection is rapidly growing and is now over 200 cars. They talked about what they look for in cars they acquire: “It’s pretty simple,” said Amy, “They just have to interest us and have something unique about them.”
They are thinking perhaps down the road of opening a museum. Of course, we all support that idea and wish them well.
Each year the ABFM presents the Paul Duchene Memorial trophy. A fixture for decades in the Portland sports and imports car and bike scene, Paul was much loved by all for both his enthusiasm and his infectious laugh. He served a stint as Executive Editor of SCM and we still recall when he used to bring his pet tortoises to work with him. Paul passed away in 2022.
The award goes a car that best “represents the spirit of a car that Paul, would have bought.” This year it was a 1967 Morris Minor Traveler owned by James Rozee from Portland.
Every year the ABFM presents me with a conundrum. I would like my Jaguar E-type SIII coupe to win a prize. But to be eligible for that, I would have to detail the engine bay to concours condition. And that means erasing the 50-years of well-earned patina, that to my eye, makes the under-bonnet so appealing.
At every show, there are always a few engines so clean you could “eat off them.” In fact, perfectly clean engines are the norm, not the exception.
What would you do? Leave my engine they way it is, which is clean and honest, or enter the competition for perfection with a complete detail.
I look forward to your comments below.
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13 responses to “Keith’s Blog: Jolly Old Weekend”
Drive it and enjoy it as a super clean original. That is what is why it was built.
I would leave it the way it is. 1. Because it’s clean and honest; and 2. Because I don’t have the patience for detailing engine bays.
Keith, you’re correct, keep it clean but don’t restore/detail the engine bay with new finishes.
Why have a concours finish underhood when the rest of the car likely isn’t perfect (since you drive it)?
About the biggest British car show I believe Stowe Vermont is tied with that accolade . It British Invasion and is the best if not the biggest car show in America
Leave the engine bay as it is and the same can bee said for the entire car, in fact ALL of your cars. Show that they are driven and NOT “trailer queens”. Car are made to be driven and used not stored and never driven and only to win concours events,
I would leave it the way it is, “erasing the 50-years of well-earned patina” just to earn a prize seems like a decision you might later regret.
Leave the jag alone…
Drive as-is and enjoy the open road!!!
Keep the Jag’s engine compartment clean, but unless you plan to use the car only for shows, don’t go nuts. I clean my Porsche engine compartment about once every five years, but other than that it survives with only the “oily rag” treatment. As we age, we have bigger things to concern us.
If that’s the case, the judges should ask every entrant how much they spent on their restoration then award the prize to the owner who spent the most. Leave the engine bay as is.
If that’s the case, the judges should ask every entrant how much they spent on their restoration then award the prize to the owner who spent the most. Leave the engine bay as is.
I keep my 67 S1 E-Type in as close to concours condition that I can. It was a multiple 1st-in-class show winner in the late 1980s. Since then, I have installed some upgrades to make the car more comfortably drive-able, such as updated cooling system (the worst component in original E-Types) and a modern starter. This makes it a non-show winner now. Thus, I drive it and baby it, including the perfect engine bay, and all the other components. I choose not to show it at JCNA events, such as the ABFM, because…why bother? It won’t win a concours due to non-originality, and thus I can’t be bothered with the dust and sun in an all-day event where my car would be lost in display-only class. I lurk these shows as an innocent bystander, but am no longer interested in showing.
They don’t have an “Best All-Original” trophy??
Maybe they should…..
With a low-mile all-original car in my garage, I echo Todd’s sentiments exactly. Most shows/clubs/concours do now; time for ABFM to get to work on that. To regurgitate that old auction block line: “they’re only original once.”