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The
last four months have been some of the most intense the
Mahon Family Racing team has ever experienced. Some of you
might question how a period of inactivity could be our most
hectic. The truth is that the last four months have only
appeared inactive, because we haven't been seen at a racetrack.
In the last four months we have orchestrated the sales of
our Pro Stock Truck operation, achieved an almost impossible
feat, and have managed the construction of a new vehicle.
By
now any regular to Dragracecanada.com, has seen the HotZone
announcement, pertaining to Mahon Family Racing's commitment
to building the first Jaguar XKR for drag racing. The article
in the HotZone details the basic specifications of the new
car but doesn't tell the reader how you acquire a $130,000.00
luxury sports car for motorsports consumption.
That
isn't a typo, the Jaguar XKR Silverstone lists for $129,500.00.
Obtaining a steel body and exterior pieces for this car
would have been impossible if it weren't for some Canadian
ingenuity; the power of the Internet, and some old fashioned
networking.
In
late July while travelling to an IHRA national event with
our Pro Stock Truck operation, the rig was passed by an
XK8 coupe. The XK8 and XKR are identical cars externally;
I had seen many XK8 convertibles but this was the first
coupe. I actually had to ask crewmember Todd MacVicar, what
the car was when it passed us. The minute I saw the Jaguar
pass us I made up my mind that that car would be my next
racecar.
Many
hours over the race weekend were spent pondering over how
we could obtain a steel body for this project. It appeared
at first that the Jaguar was a "Mission Impossible", however
determination and drive can accomplish amazing feats when
applied with great vigour.
Upon
our return from New York, (where we won the best-engineered
sportsman car award) I was driven to achieving the impossible.
Upon investigation the contact information for Jaguar Canada's
corporate office in Toronto was easily uncovered. More importantly,
Mahon Family Racing learned that the Jaguar already existed
as a racecar. Paul Gentilozzi a former drag racer, had already
been racing a Jaguar in the Trans-Am road racing series.
Efforts to contact his race shop via fax were unsuccessful,
a new opportunity had to be created.
While trying to keep the project as discrete as possible
posed great difficulty in obtaining information. Telling
anyone in the drag racing world would inspire wide spread
gossip. Very discretely I managed to get Ron Fellows' phone
number from John Waldie, of Stratford Motor Products. Ron
Fellow's provided a help to me, by giving me the office
phone number of Paul Gentilozzi Real Estate, Ron had turned
"Mission Impossible" into "Mission Possible".
I left a brief message with Paul Gentilozzi's secretary
about who I was and what I intended to do, to my surprise
Paul called me back within a couple of hours. After talking
to Paul briefly on the phone, it had been determined that
his carbon-fibre bodies were not workable for a Pro Stock
car body. However, Paul had kept the original steel body
he had used to create his melds. I received an invitation
to visit his shop in Lansing, Michigan to take a look at
the body. Conveniently we were leaving for the Mid-Michigan
race within days, and would be driving past Lansing to get
there.
Todd
MacVicar, and myself arrived at Gentilozzi's race shop just
after 9:00 pm, we were late leaving and had some difficulty
finding the shop. Just as we were about to give up our search
one of Gentilozzi's rigs past us (another lucky break).
After speaking with some of the Rocket sports team members,
and taking a brief tour of the shop, we took some pictures
of the body and headed on to the Mid-Michigan Motorplex.
The body was a little sad looking, but it was complete.
A week to the day of my first visit to Lansing, I returned
to bring the Jaguar to Canada.
The
body upon further inspection required a great deal of work,
but was salvageable. With the body at home, the detail work
could then be focused on, L&J Chassis was contracted to
build the chassis, Joe Van Overbeek for the body reproduction
duties, and Bob Yoak would supply an 814 cubic inch mountain
motor. With Bob Yoak having committed to buying the Ranger
we had to park the truck. The early sale of the truck allowed
us to focus on the Jaguar.
A major hurdle had been overcome by securing the Jaguar
body, but the availability of external components was still
questionable. To secure all of the headlights, taillights,
external markings, door handles, front fenders, and doors
we took advantage of the Jaguar Canada contact we had uncovered
early on. Jaguar Canada provided us with all of the components
we required to finish the Jaguar, successfully fulfilling
all of the requirements of "Mission Impossible". Now that
the Jaguar is a reality, I'm not totally certain if I was
passionate about building a Jaguar or if I just wanted to
accomplish what couldn't be done.
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