More than 700 Jaguars filled the grounds of the National Motor Museum for Simply Jaguar, where the Peter James Insurance team joined our partners at the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club for one of the biggest Jaguar gatherings of the year.
There are few better settings for a mass gathering of Jaguars than the sweeping grounds of Beaulieu, and on Sunday 16 August an estimated 715 Jaguars and Daimlers descended on the National Motor Museum for the 2026 running of Simply Jaguar.
For us at Peter James Insurance, events such as Simply Jaguar are an important part of our relationship with the car clubs we work alongside. We don’t simply want to provide an insurance scheme from behind a desk; we want to support our partner clubs at their major events, meet their members and policyholders face-to-face, answer questions and, importantly, listen to feedback about what they need from their insurance.
That philosophy is at the heart of the club insurance schemes we develop, where member feedback helps shape the cover and benefits offered.
At Beaulieu, that meant exhibiting alongside our partners at the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club, which once again had a significant presence throughout the showground.
Held in association with the Jaguar Enthusiasts’ Club (JEC), Simply Jaguar brought together an extraordinarily broad cross-section of the marque, from early classics and sporting Jaguars through successive generations of XJ and XK to more recent performance models and everyday modern Jaguars.
This year there was plenty to celebrate, too, with special displays marking four significant anniversaries in the Jaguar story: 40 years of the XJ40, 30 years of the X100 XK8/XKR, 25 years of the X-Type and 20 years of the X150 XK.
Bringing those generations together is precisely what makes events such as Simply Jaguar so valuable. The cars might provide the spectacle, but ultimately it is the people, friendships and communities surrounding them that keep our motoring heritage alive.
That was certainly evident across the JEC displays. Regional groups from West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent, Hampshire-New Forest, Isle of Wight, Somerset, Tamar, Dorset and Wiltshire were represented, while members from Devon, Oxfordshire and elsewhere could also be spotted enjoying the event.
Jake Harvey, Events Manager, manned the main JEC stand throughout the day, with Regions Director Ian Newman joining him from late morning after visiting the various regional displays and catching up with members.
Perhaps the most encouraging statistic of the day was that 22 Jaguar owners joined the JEC at Beaulieu, demonstrating that major events remain a fantastic opportunity for clubs not only to bring existing members together, but to welcome new enthusiasts into their communities.
The traditional People’s Choice Award provided another highlight. For 2026, the honours went to Jon Knight and his XKR-S, while Martin Bradford’s Daimler Super Eight and Clint Watson’s Lynx D-type took the two runner-up places – three wonderfully different examples of the breadth of Jaguar enthusiasm represented at Beaulieu.
For the Peter James Insurance team, though, the conversations throughout the day were every bit as important as the cars.
Meeting members and policyholders in person gives us invaluable feedback on how JEC Insurance is working for them, the ways in which they are using their Jaguars and the activities they want their insurance to enable. It also gives members the opportunity to put faces to the people behind their insurance and ask questions in a relaxed environment rather than simply speaking to an anonymous call centre.
That personal relationship has always been central to the way Peter James Insurance works with the historic vehicle community.
Simply Jaguar was therefore much more than another date in the events calendar. It was another opportunity to stand alongside one of our partner clubs, support the work its volunteers do and spend time with the people our insurance schemes are ultimately designed to serve.
With more than 700 Jaguars filling Beaulieu and another 22 owners joining the JEC family, it was a pretty compelling reminder of just how healthy and enthusiastic the Jaguar community remains.
And we were delighted to be there as part of it.
Images by Ian Newman
