ABSOLUTELY MINT 2004 Jaguar XJ8, perfect champagne paint, like-new factory fresh example inside and out, fully serviced with 4 new tires, none nicer, runs like a dream!! Personally driven by National Treasure RADM Donald “Mac” Showers from his home at The Madison across the street to the Willow Restaurant. Fully optioned with all the luxury appointments, heated leather seating, side airbags, rain-sensing wipers, premium sound, power pedals, vehicle stability assist, traction control, power tilt telescopic wheel, xenon headlights, and so much more. Carfax Certified for your protection!!*
$8,500 OBO. Do not miss this opportunity to drive a piece of American History- the personal auto of the last of the Station Hypo Code-breakers! Act now!
I looked at the keyboard. Hell, why wasn’t I buying the Jag myself? I have too many quirky vehicles as it is, but it sure tempting and a real deal. I have a personal involvement with the car- the second estate Jag I have known.
The first one was a curiosity. Uncle Jim showed up in Fairfax on the car train from Florida years ago with a RAF sky-blue V-12-powered monster that had been left to him by a deceased pal in Florida.
Jim looked good in that beauty, though I do not know if he ever got a real chance to enjoy the rocket-like beast. The Jaguar V-12 XJS sedan had one of the premier power plants of the 1970s, and was only the venerable marque’s second engine design to go into production in the history of the company. The all-alloy block was fitted with removable wet liners and had a Single Overhead Cams driving the two-valve alloy head with flat combustion chambers.
(Legendary V-12 engine of the Jag XJS. Photo Ford Motor Company).
As an aeronautical engineer, the power plant of the sleek roadster was of more interest to Jim than the bodywork, but it was a sleek son-of-a-gun. Weird that the vehicle came to him as one of those “last man standing” deals, that began in the Great War. With the passing of PFC Button last year, that generation is completely gone. But the tradition of “the Last Man” continued through Jim and Mac’s war.
That generation is dwindling fast, though there are several ancient bottles of liquor out there that remain to be awarded. Perhaps the most notable is the bottle of Hennessy Very Special Cognac that Jimmy Doolittle bequeathed to the last two living Raiders.
We are getting close to the time that the cognac will be awarded as that generation leaves us. Mac did not have a plan for his Jag, and like the Raiders, he gave up hard liquor a while ago. So whoever the Last Two are, the sweet fire of the Hennessy will probably be appreciated more for the fumes than the way General Doolittle liked, neat, in a fine silver goblet commemorating the first aerial attack on the Japanese Empire.
Mac was working at Station Hypo when Doolittle’s B-25’s launched from the deck of USS Hornet (CV-12) in April of 1942. Doolittle’s Raiders did essentially no military damage, but they caused the militarist regime to lose face. Not knowing the origin of the raid, some on the Japanese Imperial Staff suspected the B-25s had come from Midway atoll. That lead directly to the plan that was decrypted by Mac and the others- and the bold decision of Admiral Chester Nimitz to throw everything including the kitchen sink at the IJN armada.
That produced the most significant naval victory of the war, and the tide that began to ebb with the symbolic attack on the homeland by the Raiders was followed by a draw at the Battle of the Coral Sea, victory at Midway, and then not one defeat on the way to eventual triumph.
Mac was there for all of it. Then, he was driving an old Ford sedan with a Chevy engine. Naval officers are long on pride and tradition but cash poor. If circumstances permitted around the wars of the latter 20th Century, he determined that he would drive a really cool car.
Here it is:
Damn, Mac drove me home on more than one occasion in that beauty when I ventured out after surgery on my leg and could not navigate safely. The rich leather still has the new car smell. Never smoked in, not that I didn’t think about it. Damn!
Mac’s daughter Donna and her husband Tom were down here to get Mac’s condo ready for showing (and attend the black-tie Michigan Inaugural Ball), and to deal with the sleek sedan in the basement garage. All of Mac’s stuff is gone, and the place is looking good for a speedy sale to some couple ready to transition to independent living in a place where assistance is available should you need it. More about that tomorrow, though, as some of you- you know who you are- may be closer to needing that than you might imagine.
Mac knew. He was prepared.
Mac’s world never got that much smaller. In his last weeks on this earth he limited himself to his unit, but right to the last bout with prostate cancer he was driving himself to the Arlington Hospital complex to volunteer at the cancer support center.
This is a beautiful car. This is a bit of history. It could be yours for $8,500. Drive into a world where America is strong, well-led and her future is bright.
Interested? Contact Socotra House Publishing and our courteous, helpful staff will hook you up with the estate.
Copyright 2013 Vic Socotra
www.vicsocotra.com
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