1949 Jaguar XK-120 SCCA

Dr. Patrick Hergenroeder - 2019 Jaguar National Champion; 1949 Jaguar XK-120 SCCA

A Surgeon for Patients and Automobiles. When I was about four years old I remember using simple tools and taking things apart and putting them back together. As a pre-teenager I would poke around under the hood of Mom’s ’59 Pontiac and my fascination with vehicle mechanics took off from there. 

Over the years my interest in repairing things evolved to repairing people. After entering Georgetown University Medical School, a friend said, “you really oughta try Orthopedics; it’s just like fixin’ the Porsche!” So I did. My Orthopedics internship and residency was at Akron General Hospital and then pursued fellowships in Hand Surgery at the University of California; Sports Medicine with Drs. Hughston and Andrews in Columbus, Georgia; and Arthroscopic Surgery with Dr. Lanny Johnson in East Lansing, Michigan. I returned to my family home in northern Ohio to practice Orthopedic Surgery and car repair! 

In 1974, I purchased the sorry-looking remains of what is now my National Champion 1949 Jaguar XK-120 SCCA Aluminum Roadster--Jaguar’s first post-war race car. To my surprise most of the pieces and parts were with it. Over the past 49 years, and especially during the past two years, I have dedicated untold hours restoring this treasure. Furthermore, I admit to having an emotional attachment to what I now call a true work of art.