I have always been fond of convertibles. I will open sunroofs in January. I was asked to “adopt” a 2000 Jaguar XKR convertible the owner of which could no longer drive, but lived in rural Nebraska. Although I am now certain that the odometer was tampered I did fly out to South Dakota and drive the beast home.
It was a very expensive super car when new. Roughly $130,000 in today’s dollars. That said blue book is only around $10,000 now, but still a fine vehicle to own and drive.
My buddy Alan and I went to the North American Auto Show in Detroit and met members of the Rally Kings in their display. I joined the group and went on two rather wild excursions. One to St. Louis and the other to Knoxville Tennessee. My co-pilots were Edward Drukis and Jon Sbvoda respectively. As I texted to my wife, “the driving is kinda sketchy, but it will be the parties that will kill us”. Take a look at the photo on my landing page of this website to see a bit of the Knoxville nightclub party. The bar bill for Saturday in St. Louis ran over eight thousand dollars.
The car has a supercharged V-8 engine and has a governor that will only allow it up to 155 mph. The most I have driven is about 130 and then only for shorter distances where I can see a mile ahead. It gets wintered at a dear friend’s facility. There are much faster cars today, many of which we see with the Rally Kings.
As much as I really enjoyed my two rallies, I may not return. While I may not crash the car I could get an amazingly difficult traffic ticket or even misdemeanor charge in another state, my real concern is that some younger member will get killed and spoil the whole thing. We want drunken wild parties, not a sad wake.
So, it is my genuine toy. I will likely pay a premium for everything from gasoline (high test only) to maintenance and repairs, but we can suffer that. It is a joy to drive and satisfies my convertible cravings.
