Bloom And Grow

Kept in storage for 27 years, this standard XK 120 has been restored over time and is now regularly seen on European roads

- Jim Patten

EACH day on his way to school, a young boy would rush onto the bus determined to sit in the same seat. He chose it because it made the perfect viewing point to watch as a new Jaguar XK 120 roared past. It was there every morning and never disappointed.

It is reckoned that the first five years of a child’s life lays an imprint that will remain for the years ahead. If Richard Hale’s experience is anything to go by, then it is true. Richard grew up in an environment that had Jaguar at its heart. Over the years, his father, Reg, had owned a veritable smorgasbord from the Coventry factory. Richard remembers a pre-war 1½-litre saloon and a 1947 3½-litre. The Mk V 3½-litre was particularly favoured and stayed for some years. There followed a Mk 2, Daimler 2½-litre V8 saloon, XJ6 2.8 and 4.2. In later life, Richard’s love for Jaguars would either bloom and he would completely embrace Jaguar, or the growing embers would fade.

Richard’s own motoring began with a standard Mini, owned by his mother. She rarely used the car so Richard effectively had unrestricted access. Somehow, he convinced her that it would be a good idea to take half shares in a 997cc Mini Cooper. Then, in 1963, he rather fancied an MGB, convincing his mother that their car-sharing arrangement should continue. That was replaced the following year by a mineral blue example, but on wire wheels with overdrive, and now Richard became the sole owner of his cars. Following his marriage to Sheila, he took off to Switzerland, which whet his appetite for continental touring.