The Right Oil for Every Jaguar: South Lincs JEC & Witham Group

South Lincolnshire Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club is the only Jaguar club in the south of the county, and is well placed to provide the best club and social experience for enthusiasts and owners of modern and historic Jaguars, attracted by the brand and its history. Following factory tours, visits and close links with Witham Group, the club tells us more in their own words about our relationship and all that the club has to offer…

The Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club (JEC) is the largest Jaguar club in the world and comprises 90 national and International ‘Regions’. The South Lincolnshire Region covers a sizable area, extending from Louth to Cambridge and from Lincoln across to the North Sea. The association between S. Lincs Region of the JEC and The Witham Group started completely by chance, when our Chairman, Neil Jervis, happened to notice a photograph of his replica SS100 Jaguar on The Witham Group’s website. Neil’s discovery led him to have a conversation with Nigel Bottom, who kindly invited Neil to bring some of the Region’s members to visit Witham Oils HQ, where we had a tour of the factory and listened to a fascinating presentation by Nigel about The Witham Group’s history and remarkable achievements.

Afterwards, Nigel generously offered our members a discount on Witham Oils’ products and the rest, as they say, is history. Owners of older cars are often faced with a limited choice of vehicle lubrication products on the High Street. Fortunately, because The Witham Group has such an extensive data base, it can help our members to identify and purchase the ideal products to use in their model of Jaguar. As Neil found, to his delight, switching to the correct grade of Qualube oil immediately improved the fuel consumption of his Suffolk SS100 and reduced its propensity to leak!

We are fortunate, in S. Lincs Region, to have as our Vice-Chairman, Neal Mugglestone, an independent Jaguar Specialist based at Anton’s Gowt, near Boston. Neal and his team provide an extremely professional maintenance service that helps to keep the memberships’ rich variety of Jaguars on the road. Our members’ cars include classics such as Mk2’s, XK’s, and E-Types, through to the large saloons to modern SUV’s and F-Types. Neal now stocks a full range of Witham oils to suit all JLR vehicles, including traditional models. Mugglestone and Co. are very impressed with the quality of product and service they receive from Witham Oils. On a more personal note, when Neal finds time to relax and mess about on the river, he uses Witham Oil’s commercial 15w/40 engine oil in his Volvo Penta boat engines.

Our Region runs a busy programme of events in addition to our monthly meetings, which are usually held on the second Tuesday of the month at The Wishing Well Inn, at Dyke, near Bourne. Each year our calendar includes several regular ‘fixtures’, which tend to include a certain amount of eating. As will soon become apparent, food seems to feature quite heavily in our activities! Starting as we mean to go on, the beginning of the driving season is marked with a ‘breakfast meet’, which, in both 2023 and 2024, was held at Doddington Hall, near Lincoln.

Later in April, we participate in the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs’ National ‘Drive it Day’; an event that is not only great fun but also raises money for the NSPCC. This tour is always followed by a hearty lunch when we reach our destination. Our annual summer barbecue is held at Anton’s Gowt in July, hosted by the Mugglestone family, who also kindly invite members to attend their bonfire party in November. And in December, we enjoy a festive evening meal together at a pub/restaurant.

The 2024 calendar also included visits to: the Shuttleworth Warbirds Air Show, Lincolnshire Aviation Heritage Centre, Nene Valley Railway (for a fish and chip supper), Baumber Walled Gardens at Horncastle (for afternoon tea), and the Ops room at RAF Digby. Members attended car shows at Grimsthorpe Castle, Greetham, and Revesby; participated in the JEC’s Harewood Hillclimb, met for several informal pub lunches, enjoyed cruising along the River Trent, completed a walking treasure hunt around Newark and had a mini break in scenic Snowdonia. Last, but by no means least, we visited Witham Group HQ for another interesting presentation by Nigel, where members were again impressed by the company’s cutting-edge technology and on-going commitment to environmental protection.

In 2025, we plan to continue our tradition of eating out whenever the opportunity presents itself! Arrangements are in place for visits to: the International Bomber Command Centre, a privately-owned light-railway collection, and a return trip to Shuttleworth, this time to the ‘Festival of Flight’. Other outings still at the planning stage at the time of writing include visits to Brooklands, Bletchley Park and, more locally, the ‘We’ll Meet Again’ World War 2 Museum. There will be a mini break in Norfolk and some members have also signed up to go to the Isle of Man Festival
of Motoring.

Our friendly Region considers itself to be as much, if not more, a social club for folks with an interest in Jaguars, rather than one of those car clubs for people who focus exclusively on the more technical aspects of the hobby. Further information about the South Lincolnshire JEC’s activities can be found in the ‘Regions’ section of the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club web pages at www.jec.org.uk/regions or by searching on Facebook for South Lincolnshire Region Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club. New members are most welcome, and we hope to see you soon.