J
ames Bond would have had a field
day! With prestigious classic cars
ranging from the 1959 Jaguar XK-
150 DHC (Drop Head Coupe) to
the 1991 Porsche 944 S2, our
favourite secret agent would have
been so proud of the huge selection of vin-
tage cars at Classic Car Club in London’s
Old Street. In fact, one of the cars available
at the club, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage,
would have been a fond reminder for 007,
being a relative of Bond’s delightful car in
the opening scenes of the 1987 James Bond
film,
Living Daylights
(with Timothy Dalton).
I went down to visit Classic Car Club
on a nice sunny day (one of the few we’ve
had this year so far) to experience what it’s
like to be driven in a classic car that would
have been popular in its day. Simon Clarke,
responsible for the marketing of the com-
pany and my designated driver for the
experience, greeted me with a warm wel-
coming handshake and showed me around
the premises. I had my eye on the 1977
Porsche 911 3.0 Carrera but Simon led me
to the oldest cars they have in their fleet;
the 1959 Jaguar XK-150. He advised me
that this particular car had been mod-
ernised with a tuned 3.8 litre unleaded
engine, five speed gearbox, Koni suspension
and upgraded braking system to cope with
rigours of modern day driving.
A sports car that was produced by
Jaguar between 1957 and 1961, it replaced
its predecessor, the XK-140, and features a
one piece windscreen instead of a split
screen, a wider bonnet and a dashboard
trimmed in leather. I was amazed at the tiny
rear view mirror which looked more of a
handbag accessory used by us women to
check our make-up rather than a car mir-
ror to see who’s driving behind us. The
trimmed leather dashboard and leather
seats brought back memories of my late
father’s Austin Cambridge (another classic
car in my opinion). I remembered a time
when the sun was so hot that you could fry
an egg on the bonnet of a car in the late
1970s, and you were guaranteed to get a
burnt bottom as the leather seats would be
scorching from the heat.
The driving experience around the out-
skirts of central London in the Jaguar was a
vigorous one.Although the engine sounded
like it was struggling with the modern roads
at times, it kept up the pace impressively
well and turned quite a few heads (well, it’s
a good way of getting noticed and the clos-
est I’ll get to being a celebrity); people were
either mesmerised by the sound of the
engine or the pleasure of seeing a classic
car on the road. For a car of its calibre and
age, this vintage beauty can go extremely
fast as Simon kindly demonstrated. I’m a
fast driver myself but I must admit, I held
onto the handle of the door when it shot
forward a few times. I guess being a passen-
ger in these moments is a completely differ-
ent story to actually being the driver.
Classic Car Club,which started in 1995,
proudly offers an exclusive private mem-
ber’s club “that will improve and enhance
your life – raising you to new, untold levels
of driving experience”.New members pay a
meagre one-off joining fee followed by an
annual subscription and in return, are given
access to a vast fleet of sexy, classic, mod-
ern and quirky automobiles to suit every
need, whim and fancy. Anything over and
beyond the annual fee is bore by the com-
pany, such as depreciation, maintenance,
A
Real
Real
Classic
Classic
Example
Example
JADA BROOKES GIVES AN ACCOUNT OF HER DRIVING EXPERIENCE IN ONE OF THE
PRESTIGIOUS CLASSIC CARS AVAILABLE AT CLASSIC CAR CLUB IN LONDON.