History of the Jaguar Car Club of Tasmania

The formation of the Jaguar Car Club of North West Tasmania began from an advertisement in “The Advocate” in May 1973. The first meeting was held at John Lamb’s residence in Somerset on Saturday May 12th 1973.

In that same year 1973, a group of Jaguar enthusiasts in the South, David Dungey, Roger Richardson and Chris Riches were also promoting the idea of forming The Jaguar Car Club of Tasmania.

The inaugural meeting of The Jaguar Car Club of Tasmania was held in August 1973 at the St. Ives Hotel in Hobart and interest was sufficiently strong for the official Club to be formed on February 4th 1974 with Chris Riches as the first president.

The first Club run was to Russell Falls National Park and soon after a gathering of cars for display took place at the historic township of Evandale. Early photographs of members cars were taken outside the Horseless Carriage Inn and at the Evandale Showground,

The Club conducted its first annual Concours D’Elegance at Westbury on November 9th 1975 coinciding with the local Council’s fair day at the same location. The setting was picturesque with Maypole dancing and other festivities, serving to bring an English spirit to the village green.

Amongst the Jaguars on display, Mark 2’s, lVs, V’s, XK’s and Mark 10’s were the most prolific. Club membership at this time was 48 with 37 members displaying their cars. Following the Concours, there was a rapid increase in membership to 70.

From 1975 until 1980 the annual Concours was held at Westbury in November. In 1981 the venue and date was changed. The new venue was the attractive grounds in front of Parliament House. The historical waterfront setting was ideal and the new location enabled the Saturday market goers and tourists to enjoy the spectacle of a Jaguar Concours.

At the February 1984 Concours almost 80 cars were on display from a membership of over 100. Regular monthly meetings, social events and outings were held, and an impressive range of vehicles, including a rare SS1 touring car, XK 120’s, XK140’s and a hand-built replica of a D Type racing car. The 10th Annual Concours was held in Launceston on February. 16th 1985. Monthly meetings were held at the Traveller’s Rest Hotel in Hobart.

Early Links with the Jaguar Car Club of Victoria were maintained for a long period of time whilst sharing the same magazine, “Cat a Log”. However it was decided to produce our own Tasmanian magazines, “Jaguar Torque”. The first edition was produced in January 1997 by the then Editor, Shevil Mathers and since inception our magazine has gone from strength to strength.