Going Dutch, a Backwater Classic Car Tour

Finally we get around to going on a European tour. I think the Keukenhof gardens in full tulip bloom helped to persuade Jane this was a good idea, followed up by visiting friends just outside Amsterdam afterwards and regular stopovers that made it a relaxed trip. The Wednesday before we set off, the XK came back from its spring fettling at Winspeed and all was looking good. Loaded up Saturday morning and started the 100 miles to Dover tunnel. At about 94 miles, the car hesitated on the motorway. Hoped we were running short of petrol and stopped to refuel at Folkstone services. Fuel wasn’t low!

Jaguar XK being recovered by the RAC

Then it refused to start. The RAC couldn’t help but luckily I managed to facetime Chris at Winspeed to run through some diagnostics, only to declare it was a non-runner – electrics! The joy of classics. We were RAC’d home by 9pm and set off again the following morning in Jane’s Discovery, which didn’t want to start when we arrived at Calais. Deep breaths… It

did respond with the spare key, so we drove non-stop to the picturesque hotel some five hours away and it behaved well for the rest of the tour.

We met up with the group that evening to discover one cancellation and one other breakdown, so their MINI was masquerading as an E-type. That reduced us to four E-types and one XK 140 DHC. We could not have wished for a more friendly group, with lots of chat covering numerous subjects during the whole time we were together. We were also treated to some very special ‘sleight of hand’ by Paul Trill!

Jaguar XKs and E-Types parked outside Keukenhof

The Keukenhof is well worth a visit if you’ve not been. We had preferential parking outside the front gates, where we parked a little to one side of the cars – red Discovery and MINI lurking in the picture and failing to look much like an XK or E-type. Frustratingly, some tourists flocked to see the cars and felt they could lean on and caress them while having

their picture taken, whereas others just looked on admiringly. How cultures differ.

The gardens at Keukenhof

The following day we visited the Louwman Museum, some 40 miles south of the hotel. We were not allowed to park with the classics at the front so were relegated to the underground car park – makes sense, I guess. Again, a great destination with a lovely XK 120 FHC in the foyer – the owners have great taste. Not surprisingly, my wish list has now increased significantly, so I made do with buying a book with the displayed cars pictured. The museum was very close to the historic and picturesque town of Delft, so a slight detour was required on the way back to the hotel.

When we got there, I noticed Hans and Ursula’s XK 140 parked between two E-types. I chuckled to myself taking the picture, thinking ‘a rose between two thorns’, or similar analogies churning through my grey matter. I say this cheekily, knowing that a number of

you reading this also have a E-type, and we’re likely to acquire one as well.

The final day was spent touring the smaller areas and villages including Edam, small ferries across the canals, and a relaxed trip between the destinations. We were thoroughly enjoying the experience and ran out of time to visit the open-air museum of windmills and the like, but it is now on the agenda for our next visit to Amsterdam.

The planning was faultless and the tulip maps were great and very easy to follow. It was Jane’s first time using them and we didn’t take any wrong turns, even following the amendments that Paul and Lyn Trill had to make due to road closures, which made us feel at home. However, that is the only similarity: no potholes, no traffic jams, no aggressive driving – wonderful.

It’s only when you get home and reflect on the tour that you realise how much better it is going with like-minded folk with great taste in cars, even if you have never met before. Having hotels arranged and an itinerary sorted for us took away any hassle or pontificating about which roads or sights to attend or how long each item on the agenda would take.

Thank you to Paul and Lyn and Backwater Tours, and to our fellow travellers for their great company on this Dutch car tour. Hope you all got home safely.

The group at dinner