The XJ6 modelled was ordered on April 24th, 1976, from Jaguar distributor Richard A. Bellamy Ltd, The Jaguar Centre, Grimsby. The Bellamy family’s professional relationship with William Lyons’ S.S. company, which later became Jaguar, stretched back to the 1920s when S.S. was still based in Blackpool. The customer was lifelong Jaguar enthusiast David Fearnley, the Managing Director of Walter Walker & Sons Ltd, Highfield Mills, Ossett, Yorkshire, a textile firm involved in yarn spinning and twisting.
He ordered several unusual extras, including a black vinyl roof, an electric sliding steel sunshine roof, cruise control, a ‘Biscuit’ leather interior and chrome swage lines along the length of the body with a thin gold pinstripe below. The car cost £6332.73, of which £479.70 was attributed to the extras, and it was delivered on July 12th, 1976. In 1982/83, David Fearnley served as the High Sheriff of West Yorkshire and thereafter he was a Deputy Lieutenant before becoming Vice Lord-Lieutenant in 1992.
The office of High Sheriff was developed during the Anglo-Saxon period and is the oldest crown appointment in England. There are currently 55 High Sheriffs in England and Wales, each serving only a one-year term. He used the car in his official capacities to convey visiting members of the Royal family, including Prince Charles, Princess Anne and the Duke of Edinburgh, as well as other VIPs. During these events, the car was sometimes driven by a trained police driver.
