There was a nice selection of cars on show from both the E-Type and XK Clubs, as well as in CMC's showroom. I saw a beautiful flat floor OTS, the 14th Lightweight, Car Zero, and of course OKV 1, the first works D-Type and the one which finished second at Le Mans in 1954. Philip unloading "the company van" 9600 HP, packed full of cardboard boxes of his publications was certainly a bizarre sight.
The day consisted of four one-hour sessions in each department: trim shop, mechanicals, bodywork and paint and detailing and polishing.
First up for me was the trim shop. Everything is tailored to each car and we were talked through the process of fitting the seals to the roadster frame, involving a very clever process using spray-on chalk to check the shut lines. There's no excuses here, if the car leaks it gets sent back! (A casual bit of solvent abuse followed, what with all the glues and spirits used
) We were also shown the new hood bag for Chassis 60, and the (many) differences between the later cars in all aspects were highlighted. As part of their "conservation" restoration of #60, they had even stripped the original piping core out of the seat trim and re-covered it, since the material is no longer available. The grab handle, gear lever gaiter and scratched dot pattern centre console looked a tad out of place with the gorgeous new red leather, but hey, it's only original once and I admire them for doing that. 
Mechanicals followed, with two cars up on two-post lifts and a good chance to have a neb underneath, a view I don't get very often. Also, were were shown how to correctly set up the carbs and distributor, change the oil filter etc, and where the common mistakes lie.
Lunch followed with a bit of a competition organised by Nick Goldthorp. 20 classic cars (not just Jaguars) were lined up in their storage facility and we were tasked with guessing the make and model based on the silhouette. the rules read "no cheating, no touching, bribing CMC employees is discouraged" ;) Philip Porter kindly donated a year's free membership to the winning couple.
I had a good look around their storage facility whilst I was there, which was just as interesting. Mk IIs, E-Types in various conditions, XKs, all the tooling for the Lindner-Nocker Lightweight, you name it.
Back to the tour now and on to the body shop. A very interesting hour, with not just E-types being restored. An early aluminum and ash XK was there and a MkII destined to be of Callum spec. One of the projects was an Aston Martin DB6, the parts are even more expensive than with E-types! Completely different construction to the E-type with its mostly steel tubular frame and aluminium panels, but the guys there seemed to relish a fresh challenge. Had a quick look around the paintshop (although nothing was being worked on whilst we were there) and on to detailing and polishing. Further to my previous comment about water ingress, they ensure every car has its hood frames fitted and checked in the bodyshop.
Chassis 55 (ex WinSpeed OTS - I recognised the number plate) was there, completely stripped and being restored. All of what you see on the floor there is being disposed of, it's not original and CMC said they can do better.
I have to say I can't remember everything about individual products but they talked us through the use of clay bars, various waxes and how to remove swirl marks effectively. I have room for improvement with my car now, and I did write that product name down! At this point everyone was getting excited by the lightweight replica hairing around the industrial estate, which moved too quickly for me to get a photo
Just a few more pictures that might be of interest to you. Some very early cars there (860005, 860015 and chassis 60 to name a few) which were at varying stages of their restorations. #60 is actually complete now and has been road tested.
860015 with the Radtec "Marston" fitted.
All in all a superb day out and great value, I would certainly recommend taking a peek. (and apologies for all the photos!)
