How to build a Jaguar without really trying

If there's one thing you should know about me (besides the fact that I never say no to champagne) it's that I love giving gifts. Not just any gifts. The kind of gift that shows how well I know that person but is also something they'd never buy for themselves. Enter, the birthday present I gave to my dad in January: a tour around the Jaguar Manufacturing Centre in Castle Bromwich.

In case it wasn't already obvious, my dad loves Jaguar cars. And since I'm not quite in the financial position to buy him one, I figured that seeing how they're made may suffice for the time being. It's all totally legit, we didn't break in during the night to take a look around, Jaguar have simply cottoned on to a monumental money-making scheme. It's genius really, and to be totally honest, worth every single penny.

The factory itself was once homed to one of the largest producers of wartime aeroplanes during the second World War (much of the country's Spitfires were built in the buildings that are still in use on the site), today though, it is the main assembly plant for Jaguar Land Rover, and produces the XF, XJ, XK and F-Type Jaguar ranges.

Wearing a high-vis jacket with 'VIP' written on the back and a headset that makes you look like the world's lamest tourist, you, a group of about nine others, and a dedicated tour guide get to spend three full-on hours following the production line of the F-Type sports car.

Right from the beginning at the Press Shop, where lightweight sheets of aluminium are pressed by ginormous machines and robots into the pieces and panels of Jaguar cars (it's really super loud so disposable earplugs are supplied); To the main production house, or 'Body Shop', where those aluminium panels are expertly crafted, shaped and 'riveted' by both man and (scarily majestic) machine until an actual motor vehicle rolls out the other side. Then it's into intense testing (think monsoon weather, high powered heat, an inspection of every inch of body work, and trying out all the electrics) after which the car roars into life and is parked up outside, ready to be shipped to its owner.

Each Jaguar is completely bespoke, and honestly, no two we saw looked the same. The vast majority of cars built at the factory are exported around the world, with people waiting six or so months to receive their utterly individual sports car.

Sadly you're not allowed to take any pictures inside the actual warehouses, but the day was so interesting and intense that I almost didn't have time to miss it. The tour guides really do know their stuff inside and out; every possible detail you could wish to know about a Jaguar car will be bestowed upon you during those few short hours (including that they take small samples of the paint they cover their cars in out to the dessert and leave it there for two years, to ensure it doesn't fade or lose any of its Jaguary pizzazz. Pretty cool, right?).

If you're ever in need of a gift for a male in your life, or you simply want to try out something different, I cannot recommend this tour enough. It was so much fun and absolutely worth the two-hundred mile round trip. If only I'd been able to drive away in that beautiful XJ I tried out. Seriously, you could live in that thing *sigh*.
~ Eleanor xo

The Jaguar Visitor Centre, Castle Bromwich, Chester Road, Castle Vale, Birmingham, B35 7RA