Jaguar from the Shop Floor: Foleshill Road and Browns Lane 1949 to 1978 - Hardcover

Martin, Brian James; John Starkey

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1787112799 ISBN 13: 9781787112797

Publisher: Veloce Publishing Ltd, 2018

Synopsis

In Jaguar from the Shop Floor, Brian Martin tells the story of his life as a long-time employee at Jaguar, giving a first-hand account of the development and production processes, and the ups and downs of factory life through the eyes of someone who was actually there.
In this part-autobiographical and part-historical account, the author tells of his childhood in a typical working family of the depression era, and then describes his career from starting at the Jaguar factory in 1949, through a spell doing national service in the RAF and then going back to Jaguar. He left briefly in 1972 to try other jobs, but returned to the factory in the mid-1970s.
Providing a fascinating insight into the Jaguar production process, the book also covers the development of the XK120, Mk V, Mk VII, MK X.  The Mark 1 and 2 (2.4, 3.4 & 3.8 litre) saloons, the XKSS, E1A, E2A, lightweight E Types, XJ6 XJ12 & XJS.

About this title

About the Author:

The author has spent most of his working life in the employ of Jaguar Cars Ltd. He is a long time member of both The Jaguar Drivers’ Club, The Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club, The Jaguar Apprentices’ Motor Club and was a founder member and ex-chairman of The Jaguar Car Club. During his employment he has held various positions with the Jaguar company, from assembly worker to experimental and development engineer, and junior management. He is a lifelong enthusiast of the Jaguar marque and has owned many of the models described in this book. (he currently owns a 2001 XJ8).

John Starkey began life in Birmingham, England.  After school, with dreams of “rock stardom” in mind, he played guitar in several bands, along the way opening for the Beatles in 1963, before becoming Jasper Carrott’s manager. His father’s love of fast cars had passed down to him and, starting with a Jaguar XK120, bought in 1966 for £120, he started discovering this heady world. After a 1958 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta, life was never quite the same again, and the racing bug bit hard when he first drove a Porsche RSR. This was followed by “a beast” of a 935, then a Lola T70 Mk 3b coupé, and a March 84G. These he raced across Europe and America. In 1997, John moved to America, where he began writing, naturally, about racing cars.  After twenty books, John thinks he has now run out of subjects to cover, although he has recently begun a novel about the world of dealing in old cars. He also investigates the individual histories of old racing cars for clients, and together with Su, his wife, enjoys walking his dog Boomer.
 

Review:

We should cherish this low-key, but utterly revelatory, memoir courtesy of Brian James Martin. Unless you're a member of the Jaguar Enthusiast' Club you may well never have heard of him, but he was present throughout much of the marque's tumultuous history and instrumental in a great deal of it. Martin's first job as an apprentice working on the aluminium-bodied early run of XK120s. He was in the pits at Le Mans in 1955 and witnessed the dreadful disaster and Jaguar's response. It was Martin who set off the alarm and summoned the fire brigade to halt the 1957 factory blaze. Later, in the experimental department, he helped build the first E-type. It's all told in a frank and unassuming manner from a shop-floor perspective so often woefully ignored by history. But it's crucial - this is the aspect of the Jaguar story from 1949 to 1978 that no-one else has really told before. - Classic Cars.

About this edition

• Publisher: Veloce Publishing Ltd
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1787112799
• ISBN 13: 9781787112797
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 192