I’m totally astounded at our twenty year old Jag XJ6 right now. This car was built by men, by a company, that has very little idea that places like this exist, that cars drive on roads like this at all…

And yet the big cat prowls this lumpen, tight tarmac like the real famously slinky black cat slips through tropical forestry. Slick, smooth, totally composed and utterly confident. Where the last-gen Accord which makes up the complement of our small convoy jiggles bounces and crashes it’s way deeper into the reserve, the creaking Jag soaks it up, and even seems to relish it!

It barges up against the 40 Kay limit with ease and seems keen to attack the twisted trail.

The soft air suspension may float a bit but also seems to keep the rubber in contact over any sort of surface with aplomb and dignity.

It utterly redeems itself, after failing embarassingly and heart-stoppingly the night before. Arriving late we were easing our way along in some serious isolation. Not an electric light horizon to pitch-black horizon, neither oncoming headlights nor any in any mirrors. No qualms, everything purring along beautifully…

All of a sudden and with zero warning, everything’s gone. Everything. Electrics, mechanical systems, engine, all just gone, instantly our comfortable cruising family-laden carriage becomes a metal projectile coasting unfeasibly quickly in nothing but the deepest, darkest, inkiest blackness!

Didn’t take long to identify the problem, after luckily being missed by a couple of serious trucks (no hazards even!) and the beefy straight 6 miraculously just firing up again after a while. A too-long while but still…

So we limped very slowly to the next garage and in the light found telltale blackened spot of exposed metal bonnet just above a battery terminal, and a loose rubber cap flapping further up the cable. Cap wedged precariously back into place, we set off into the darkness about 30 Kays from rural Bela-Bela again. Fearfully, to tell the truth.

Made it in the end. Late, absolutely wired to the core but safe and sound at last.

But straight away the next morning she started working her charms. And working them well. By the afternoon the whole family had forgotten the previous night’s indiscretions. She was effortless, everywhere. Smooth autobox, high ride, soft shocks and burbly engine just surprisingly effective and even returning a command driving performance despite being a touch wide at times.

Just amazing where these sort of compelling drives take place. In strange otherworldly conditions like these, sometmes on everyday roads and situations, and often in very unexpected vehicles. Yet they play such integral parts in our lives, that these moments stay with us, probably forever.

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