Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works - behind the scenes!

For a bit of a change, Ian Seabrook visited the brand new Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works near Coventry. This quick-look behind the scenes shows the service and restoration centre, and also the remarkable storage warehouse. Many of the cars here are from the James Hull collection. Over 400 cars!
Sadly, there was not much time to linger, but public tours will be available from September 2017 at £49 per head.

[@MrWurlitzerMad]

I had the privilege of visiting this amazing place today thanks to the Jaguar Breakfast Club XJ meet, and I have to say if you get the chance go, the storage area just took my breath away. Row after row of beautiful, and tatty, priceless and wonderful cars.

[@dazt103]

Child in a sweet shop springs to mind :) Wow.. Jaguar aren't kidding are they? Looks like a huge site. I want a job in there ! :)

[@cebudave]

Great to see this Ian, I really hope they start to press some XJS panels again.

[@raymondsavage9204]

Beautiful, British engineering at is best

[@tramany7]

GORGEOUS!

[@taranbasi1457]

Haha that's only 2 minutes away from me, I live in the same city this is in 😂 Looks quite nice and modern on the outside but I've never got a glance of the interior until now 😄

[@HubNut]

Well worth a look, though it's £49 for a tour...

[@travellifewithjobo5740]

SS stood for Standard Swallow,Swallow originally built sidecars at a house in Davenport,Stockport

[@HubNut]

Swallow Sidecars was set up in Blackpool by William Lyons and his friend. They moved to Coventry in the 1930s, selling cars and sidecars, gradually slimming down the sidecar thing until it was just SS Cars.

[@scottishcarenthusiastsandtrain]

Is that the one at Gaydon Ian?

[@HubNut]

No. This is Jaguar's own collection, in Coventry. It is a slightly confusing situation, I grant you, but the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust is deliberately separate from Jaguar itself.

[@MajorKlanga]

Retro Suit Magazine?

[@lrochfort]

Is this so they have a catalogue of parts for people with older Jags and Land Rovers, or so they can take in old cars and restore them for sale?

[@HubNut]

JLR is remanufacturing parts, rebuilding cars for customers and also rebuilding them for sale.

[@slothinabowl6654]

I remember a Land Rover employee mentioning on a walking holiday in the mid 90's. They could make/supply any part for any car that they had ever made, to anywhere in the world. If only other manufacturers had the same after sales service.

[@HubNut]

I suspect that wasn't actually true to be honest. Some Range Rover bits were NLA by then! Bristol has made a similar claim for a long time, and BMW and Mercedes-Benz have made similar claims too.

[@slothinabowl6654]

In thinking about it, I suspect that it was more in the reality of they had all the drawings to make all the bits that they had originally designed and had the capacity to manufacture anything that they had a drawing for. Land Rover at least did not need to worry much about curved pressed body panels. Bought in parts are always, bought in parts.

[@twocvbloke]

So if you still had your Daimler, how much would they have emptied your pockets to restore it? :P

[@HubNut]

At over £100 an hour, quite a lot!

[@twocvbloke]

Ouch, it'd be cheaper to hire Edd China, wherever he is at the moment... :P

[@nw8000]

OMG! I gots to go................

[@jfrorn]

are you a journalist Ian?

[@HubNut]

jrfi orn Writer and editor. Check out Classic Jaguar and Retro Japanese magazines.

[@dlittlester]

The company was Swallow Sidecars. You looked much more comfortable after ditching the tie. I refuse to wear one.

[@darrenwilson8042]

doesn't float my boat in the way a Nippa an Innocenti Small does lol

[@HubNut]

Don't worry. This is just a quick look at the day job. More dreadful motors coming your way!

[@matthewpeters5578]

My place of work lol

[@llessibm]

matthew peters - is this Honiley (aka Fen End) ?

[@metalman4141]

Can’t think of more pretentious place