Then came the big day when the Jag was to be towed out of its underground Brussels garage and brought to the premises of Garage Dolf De Ridder & Zonen in Haasdonk. Here follows the story and pictures…

Hans Knol ten Bensel

A “dépannage” truck came, accompanied by Alex de Ridder himself in his Range Rover Discovery. He wisely had brought this car along as a towing car, as the ceiling of the underground garage does not allow trucks to enter it.

Alex had also brought a hydraulic crick and a professional portable compressor. We decided to push the car on the lone flat tyre out of the garage into the central area, where there was more room to attend the flat tyre. The Jag moved quite easily, and happily the brakes were not seized up! Once out of the garage, Alex quickly put the car on his hydraulic crick, and put the compressor on. Indeed, the tyre now promptly inflated, as the sides of the tyres now caught the wheel rim properly.

 

The car was now very gently and professionally towed away by Alex and his colleague from the “dépannage” service, who crept behind the wheel of the Jag, with Alex in the Range Rover.

The two men had to tow the heavy Jag through a sharp curve from its underground floor, but masterfully accomplished this task, very slowly and gently pulling the Jag without any jerks uphill. They were also so wise to wrap the pulling rope around the front axle, avoiding attaching the rope around the supporting struts of the front wings, which are mostly corroded, and are indeed also in bad condition in our Jag. They would simply snap under the pulling forces when the car would have been towed uphill.

The two men continued to pull the car cautiously in a slow constant motion, as the Jag had no brakes whatsoever, with only the hand brake working. Once on the road, the Jaguar was swiftly pulled on the recovery truck, and off they went to Haasdonk.

Alex De Ridder inspects the Jag, seeing daylight again for the first time after many years...

There I found the car back, parked near the workshop of Garage de Ridder, and of course I could not resist taking further photos of our Jag, before I went on holiday in France

Our Jag amidst younger brothers on the premises of Garage de Ridder... after a safe first journey on the trailer...

A week later, Alex phoned me that on the first check it had appeared that the brake master cylinder was seized up, and that the greasing nipples had blocked and seized. Putting new ones is easy enough, but to remove the old ones might be more difficult.

The XK 120 record setting car driven by founder Dolf De Ridder stands proudly in the showroom of Garage De Ridder...

Alex now has decided to focus first on the engine, and to see whether the engine runs properly. Look for the following chapter of the Jaguar restoration saga soon!

Garage De Ridder is the oldest still existing official Jaguar dealer on the continent...

... catering also for classic Jaguars for restoration and service, as can be seen here with this Mk II on the bridge the day our car was brought...

Hans Knol ten Bensel