esting, scenery brilliant made it all worthwhile!
aluminium foot pedals inscribed with the Arden name. It was all tasteful and enhanced the XK’s stylish appearance and stature.
And we’re off The route we planned was to drive from Nelson to Westport, then take the spectacular west coast route southwards before being forced inland by lack of roads to cross the Haast Pass to Wanaka and Queenstown, the latter being New Zealand’s most chic mountain resort. From here we would complete a circuit by traversing inland roads through the dry country of Central Otago, heading toward the east
Misty: The mountains of Glenorchy
Forced inland: The dramatic Haast Pass
it’s not often you encounter such a car for hire. It’s one of the early XKs to come off the line; a carnival red convertible with a build date of 12 August 1996 and registered at the model’s release in October of that year. As a hire car I did not expect it to be as well presented as my own XK8 or that of any genuine Jaguar enthusiast. Like all XKs it looked great from a distance but closer inspection revealed an appalling number of swirl marks in the paintwork and the interior leather had seen better days. The headlining had also been
permitted to deteriorate into a soiled and sorry state. But that apart it was generally clean, tidy and had no bodywork damage to speak of.
The car had at some point been treated to a series of Arden additions including a flat front grille, a large rear boot spoiler and lower bumper lip. The exhaust was I suspect quite an expensive modification, emitting a relatively modest but serenely refined growl.
Inside, the additions consisted of much chrome, from bezels on the gauges to
coast then returning back west, crossing Arthur’s Pass to rejoin the outward leg just a few hours drive from Nelson. All this would take six days, which is quite a tight schedule as there is so much to see, but my companion for the trip, Mark, couldn’t spare a full week.
Nelson had been basking in temperatures
of around 30c (although weather reports indicated snow showers in the UK) and our departure day dawned with customary blue skies. The convertible roof was lowered as the first job of the day and remained that way until nightfall.
The first part of the journey on Highway six cleared the neat suburbs of the city accompanied throughout by a backdrop of wooded hills. These serve as foot hills for the Nelson Lakes National Park, whose more rugged summits soon appeared in view as the road climbed and dipped heading southwest to join the Buller River.
➥ 2016 SEPTEMBER GROWLER 15
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