I would like to open up for discussion a topic that, in the past, has had a very heated response, but one that needs to be discussed, given several points that I will detail below.

Anyone that is here in this forum or who participates in JCNA Concours events does so because of their love of the Jaguar badge and, specifically, the car they own and drive.  It also makes sense that you want to preserve and maintain your car at the utmost level of quality and beauty.

With that said, I have spent the last 5 years restoring a 1971 XKE Series III 2+2 Coupe, a very early one at that, number 16 off the line.  It has always been my desire to "drive" this car, and enjoy it.  The very last thing we did was give it a new coat of paint which was quite the project, as we took it down to bare metal and found all sorts of surprises, which we subsequently repaired,  So, almost a year after we started, we had an absolutely beautiful paint job, which was better than when it rolled of the line in 1970.

After some discussion with my wife, I decided to "show" the car in driven class at several Concours events in the area.  It did not take me long to realize that in order to keep the car looking nice I would NOT be driving it to any show given the rough road conditions in our area as evident from my daily driver's front end.  So my beautiful, newly painted 1971 XKE Jaguar would become a trailer queen and we ultimately attended 10 Concours events last year, and  took first place in our class.

Skip ahead 1 year and now I want to start driving it. I have several invites to take long, winding road trips via country roads, but again, we are faced with road rash and I still want to show the car again this year.  Thus bringing up the topic of clear bras.

As my wife and I again get ready to visit various Concours events this summer, I would much prefer to drive to them, but with some 700+ miles away, that is just not something I am willing to risk. So we have decided to start collecting signatures on a petition, asking the JCNA Rules committee to approve a rules change for the Driven Class, which would support the preservation of our cars by allowing clear bras to be installed on the bonnet of any "Driven Class" car.

In today's market it only makes sense to support this change.  First, the cost of a down to metal paint job is not a cheap investment.  If you want owners to keep preserving their cars, we need to know we can preserve the paint job we paid so much for.  Second, precedents have been set over the past several years when, as a protective measure, the JCNA Rules committee allowed cars to have their windows tinted thereby protecting the cars interior from the southern heat/sun, even though this was not "Factory installed, or an option".  Also this past AGM, LED replacement lights were approved for use on Concours cars, again something not installed at the Factory until recently, but deemed acceptable. So I fully believe as a protective measure for cars in the northern region, the addition of a clear bra to protect against road rash from salt, cinders, sand and the worst of all, deteriorating blacktop which continues long into our summer show season.

I want to be clear that I think there should be very strict guidelines as to what can be covered, as well as how to deduct for a bra that is failing and starting to come off.  I have seen clear bras on other collector cars that are driven, like Porsche, Austin Healey, Corvette, all which participate in shows with no deductions.  I think it is time we join the 21st century and allow a clear bra on our Driven Class Jaguars to help preserve them for another 100 years.

With all that said, we will be gathering signatures for presentation at the next AGM in Arizona.  We are located in the North Central region, so look for us this summer.  If you would like to help please reach out to me at jschindler@yahoo.com or call me at 216-276-3774.  If you are on the West Coast, we would especially like to hear from you.

Regards,

John Schindler