Respect THE QUEEN AND JAGUAR

Michael Quinn was dealer principal of RA Creamer and Son in Kensington. He dealt with the Royal family when it came to new Daimlers and Jaguars. He is also Sir William and Lady Lyons' grandson and explains the connection.

AT A TIME WHEN JAGUAR IS GETTING VERY LITTLE exciting publicity around the world while it counts down to 2025 for its first all-electric new models, Queen Elizabeth II gave it one personal final boost in the international media following her death.

In 2018 Her Majesty chose to have a new XJ as her hearse at her funeral service, and played a hand in the design with specialist coachbuilders Wilcox. They also built the Jaguar X308 hearse for the service of the Queen Mother in 2002.

The unused 2018 X351 Jaguar XJ was seen all around the globe on television, in magazines and on multiple public occasions. The State hearse was finished in Royal Claret livery, the same colour as the official Royal and State vehicles kept in the Royal Mews at Buckingham Palace. It will be retained in the Royal Collection. The vehicle also featured the late Queen Elizabeth II's personal Royal cypher, and was designed to allow members of the public to have a clear view of the monarch's coffin.

The Queen and her husband Prince Philip were both fans of vehicles manufactured by Jaguar Land Rover, which has its headquarters in Coventry. In 2014 they visited and opened the Company's new engine manufacturing plant in Wolverhampton.

Prince Philip owned a small fleet of vintage Rovers, including a custom Defender, which he had converted before his death to carry his own coffin during his funeral. The Queen drove a succession of Jaguars and Range Rovers over the years, including an XJ8 and X-Type Estate.

Her 2022 funeral hearse has large side and back windows plus a glass roof. It also features three internal spotlights along one side of the roof to illuminate the coffin which was on a raised platform. The design of the car is unique, with the roof pillars thinner than in a standard model and the roof much higher.

Jaguar's 'grinner' badge of a jaguar's face is on the front grille, and their 'leaper' badge of a jumping animal is on the rear panel. The Queen approved the final plans for the design of the hearse.

All Royal Jaguars and Daimlers have been supplied and serviced by the now-gone, but quaint and prestigious, Kensington Mews official dealership RA Creamer and Sons. That was at least for the past forty years. The involvement of the Royal Family with the London Livery Companies is an ancient phenomenon. Monarchs of note such as King James I, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I have all been members of Livery Companies. Both King George VI and Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother were members of Livery Companies.

Sir William Lyons' grandson Michael Quinn rose to Dealer Principal of Creamers, and told us: "I was introduced to the Livery by my boss, the late-Sydney Creamer, who owned and ran RA Creamer in Kensington.

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The quaint Jaguar dealership in a Kensington mews which supplied all of the Royal Family Jaguars. Puzzlingly, Jaguar withdrew its business from RA Creamer and Son in 2016, so it lost its two Royal Warrants and Jaguar representation.

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In 1991 Creamers staged a party to commemorate Lofty England's 80th birthday. Guests included Michael Quinn and his mother Pat (Lyons), and also Arthur Barty who was chauffeur to the Queen Mother.

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During WW2 Princess Elizabeth embraced her role as a driver of Wartime cars, motorcycles and trucks. Her mother appears impressed too!

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Sitting in a very early Daimler with Lord Montague of Beaulieu. The car was from his musuem in the New Forest. Watching horses in action from their Land Rover, the Queen and Prince Phillip were rarely seen this relaxed in public.

"I was accepted as a Liveryman in November 1999, and since then have really enjoyed the various events I have attended. Being in the industry myself, I have felt a natural fit with the other members I met. It has been a great way to further friendships, and meet many great motor industry figures and characters at dinners over the years.

"My grandfather, Sir William Lyons, the founder of Jaguar Cars, joined the Livery in 1952, and in 1972 was the first ever recipient of the Award to Industry, jointly with Sir George Edwards. I know he was very proud of this accolade because he told me so, and even gave me the citation, which hangs on my wall today.

"My years at RA Creamer hold many happy memories, and for a while I was the proud grantee of our two Royal Warrants, from HM The Queen and HRH The Prince of Wales. However, life moves on, and a small independent business in central London could not economically adapt to a new era of Jaguar Land Rover distribution and all that entails."

When announcing the end of RA Creamer, Michael said in January 2016: “This decision has not been taken lightly as our history here is a long and proud one. But the future course of this business cannot sustain the current business model.

“Nor can we rationalise the level of investment required to meet the requisite standards to remain a Jaguar main dealer.” RA Creamer was the highest profile business to decide not to make the investment in the JLR business model.

Cars have been a central part of the lives of the Royal Family since the dawn of motoring at the end of the Victorian era. The Queen herself enjoyed driving both rugged and refined 4x4s around the Royal Estates - and wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty under the bonnet. During World War II, the teenage Princess Elizabeth trained as a driver and mechanic with the Auxiliary Territorial Service.

She was the only person in the UK allowed to drive without a licence, and took an expert interest in all vehicles joining the Royal fleet. Locals in Windsor in Berkshire, Sandringham in Norfolk and Balmoral in Scotland were used to seeing a stream of lightly disguised near-to-launch prototypes in the vicinity - or those slipped in under cover on trailers - for inspection under Her expert eye.

Jaguar Land Rover has held three Royal Warrants: from HM the Queen; HRH the Prince of Wales (now King Charles); and, until his death, the Duke of Edinburgh. The Queen's attendance at an event in Windsor several years ago was her first public appearance in a fifth-generation Range Rover. But even she was pipped to the post by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. They were photographed in the new Range Rover at a St Patrick's Day Parade ahead of its global launch in the U.S.

Prince William drove his wife Kate, and their first-born, Prince George, from hospital to Kensington Palace in an earlier generation Range Rover in 2013. But the Royal links to the motor car go back to the birth of the automobile itself, and particularly Jaguar-owned, Daimler. King Edward VII was an early enthusiast for the 'horseless carriage'. In 1896, as Prince of Wales, he became the first Royal to drive a car, taking the wheel of a Daimler in a demonstration at the Science Museum in London. He bought his first, a 6hp Daimler, in 1900 and conferred the Royal title on the Royal Automobile Club, or RAC, in 1907. But he never learned to drive properly, preferring the services of his chauffeur C.W. Stamper.

Royal commentator Robert Jobson noted in his 2020 book 'The Royal Family Operations Manual', published by Haynes: "For official duties - providing transport for State and other visitors, as well as the Queen - there are eight State limousines, consisting of two Bentleys, three Rolls-Royces and three Daimlers.

"They are painted in a special royal claret-and-black livery, and the State vehicles do not have registration number plates. As expected, the Royal fleet is exceptionally well maintained, so much so that a few eyebrows were raised when the late-Duke of Edinburgh was involved in a collision near the Sandringham estate. He was at the wheel of an ageing Land Rover Freelander."

The ever discreet RA Creamer & Son was within walking distance of

Kensington and Buckingham Palaces, and aside from supplying Jaguars and Daimlers, helped keep the Royal cars on the road.

King Charles loves Aston Martins - particularly his 1969 DB6 Volante, which was converted in 2008 to run on a bio-fuel using a by-product of cheese manufacturing and waste wine.

Although the car was often said to have been a 21st birthday gift from the Queen, Charles bought it himself. Prince William also drove it bedecked with ribbons and balloons with Kate on their wedding day in April 2011.

As a vocal proponent of green technology, Charles was also one of the first to try the all-electric Jaguar I-PACE before purchasing one for his private use. On their own wedding day, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle left for their reception in a converted zero-emission, electric E-Type, maintaining the close Jaguar and Land Rover Royal association.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge followed the lead of the Queen and Prince Philip in Jamaica when they travelled in the same open-top Land Rover that carried William's grandparents on visits there in 1966 and 1994. Prince William prefers two wheels, and has a love of motorbikes.

The Royal tagged-RA Creamer was founded in 1927 by Roland Albert Creamer, specialising in Daimlers then later Jaguars. Son, Sydney, joined the business in 1952.

At one point they adapted the Queen's Jaguar to make it more environmentally friendly. Their picturesque mews were used as a location in several films, including one about George Best buying his E-Type. There was only one objection to a 2020 scheme to redevelop the former Creamer showrooms into private dwellings. It came from a local resident who said: “We cannot force Creamer to remain active in the mews, and they have absolutely left - sadly - not to return."

In our next edition Michael Quinn will reminisce further on his life and career at RA Creamer & Son, where he began his working career as an apprentice mechanic.

Of course, for decades the Queen Mother used a MkVII Jaguar up-graded into the prototype MKVIII. The Australian Prime Minister Prime Minister Ben Chifley ordered six new Daimler DE36 special-bodied limousines for a tour

Jaguar's Royal Warrants.

JLR CEO Sir Ralf Speth explains technical matters to Her Majesty.

The Queen genuinely loved driving and all things about cars. She could have had a chauffeur on all occasions but preferred not to. Her Series 3 V12 Jaguar was fitted with a Daimler grille and boot plinth.

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Her Majesty's last drive was in this specially built Jaguar.

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It's 1949 and these are the six Daimlers built for her father's aborted Tour.

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Enjoying her Daimler with young Charles and Anne.

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Prince Charles at ease with a Jaguar worker.

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The Queen Mother's famous MkVII is retained in the JDHT.

Image 06 of Australia by King George VI in 1949. It was cancelled due to the King's ill health, but the cars were debuted on Queen Elizabeth II's first Royal Tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1954. Two more of the small Hooper's batch were sold on to the Maharajah of Mysore in India, and the remaining four became part of the British Government's car pool.

Her Majesty and Jaguar CEO Sir Nick Scheele enjoy whatever Jaguar's wood expert said!

One of those Daimlers, the 1949 Landaulet, has recently been totally restored and is one of the most treasured cars in the Australian Government Museum. The British Royal Family has owned and used no less than 58 Daimlers since 1900.

To the late-Queen Elizabeth II what else can we say but thank you for your fondness of Jaguars and Daimlers, and the time you gave the Companies and its staff. Well played, Ma'am.

HELD ANNUALLY SINCE 1950, the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance is the climax of Monterey Car Week, a five day long Super Bowl of sorts for car lovers. Early events included specialty car shows, but the biggest draw for many comers was the auctions, which realised record sales this year.

Gooding & Co., the official auction house of the Concours, raised more than $105 million in sales and an 82% sell-through rate, down from $106 million and 87% in 2021. Totals after the final auction hit $456.1 million, beating by 15.6% the previous high of $394.48 million set in 2015 in Monterey, according to data from automotive insurance specialist, Hagerty.

“The week put an exclamation point on what has been an unprecedented year for the collector car market and allayed concerns that economic volatility will cool buyers’ enthusiasm,” Hagerty analyst John Wiley said. Often auction houses will report

Clockwise from above:

Jaguar's pedigree was a focal point for visitors. 1953 Le Mans winning C-Type and an extravagant XK120. The XK120 Phil Hill drove to win the first race ever at Pebble Beach in 1950. Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt's 1953 factory Le Mans winning lightweight C-Type. The D-Type is the Ecurie Ecosse 1956 Le Mains winning - and the first 'production' D-Type, XKD501. William Pope's D-Type XKD528 won 'Best of Show' at The Quail. Masterpiece recreation of the XJ13 in original form is from Building The Legend.

2022