Cats are out of the bag as Jaguars hit Route 66

The British are coming - and going today.

Sixty Brits will start the engines of 60 vintage Jaguars Sunday in downtown Chicago. They'll head west on historic Route 66, which begins on Jackson Boulevard, and keep driving until they reach the Pacific Ocean at the Santa Monica Pier in California.

Sound a little eccentric?

"We just like doing things a bit differently," Jaguar Enthusiasts Club Director Simon Cronin said with British understatement. "Life can be quite mundane. This is doing something outside the box."

Actually, the Jaguars had to go inside the box briefly so members could ship them to Illinois. And last week, a utilitarian warehouse at Cargo Tech in Elk Grove Village turned glamorous for a brief time as curvy blue, red, cream and black sports cars dating back as far as 1954 lit it up.

Sure, they could rent cars. But "it's nice to say, 'My car's been across America or across Africa,'" Cronin said.

This is the club's third tour of America. The first was in 2004 when members drove from Galveston, Texas, to Charleston, S.C. Last year, they motored along the East Coast and this time, they'll travel about 2,400 miles, doing 250 to 300 miles a day. The goal is to reach the Santa Monica Pier on Oct. 10 after crossing Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California.

"I've always to do this since I was a boy," Cronin said. "The song 'Get your Kicks on Route 66'" was one of my favorites."

I had to ask Cronin if all the club members were millionaires.

"Not really rich," he replied, "obviously, there's some people who are very wealthy." For others, it's a matter of where they want to spend their money, he explained.

This trip will be the club's last excellent adventure in America.

"It's getting very expensive," Cronin said. "Shipping costs and everything else have started to get a little bit too much."

Cronin, who owns a Mk2 Jaguar, has loved the luxury car since he was a boy.

"I'm very English and I only drive English cars," he said. "Jaguars have a great sporting history."

Club members don't fly solo in their Jags. There's two people to every car, mostly husband and wife teams. There's strength in numbers, Cronin said, especially when drivers run into trouble.

"On the last trip, I broke a half shaft on my car in the middle of nowhere," he said, adding that other club members came to his aid.

Obviously, when 60 Jaguars are unleashed they get a lot of attention.

"You meet a lot more people this way," he added. "When we drove through New York, people were stopping us at traffic lights."

Separated at birth?

Forget Tina Fey. This columnist has noticed more than a passing resemblance between Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and O'Hare Modernization Program Executive Director Rosemarie Andolino. Both are brunettes with long hair who sport glasses. They're both feisty women who hold positions of authority. Of course, the two are polar opposites on politics, Palin is a GOP loyalist and Andolino works for uber Democrat Mayor Richard Daley.

But after checking with radio and print colleagues who cover the airport and also saw a similarity - I went to the source.

"She's a beautiful lady and very intelligent," Andolino said, amused at the question. She admitted friends have been teasing her about her high-profile doppelgänger. However, "I don't know how to dress a moose or hold a gun."

Incoming

• Elgin residents beware. Repair work on the Jane Addams Memorial Tollway bridge over Route 31 begins this week and will continue through late October. This means the exit ramp from westbound I-90 to southbound Route 31 and the entrance ramp from northbound Route 31 to westbound I-90 will be off limits for about three weeks.

• Do you live in Naperville and ride the Metra? Your morning commute may being getting easier if you use the Route 59 station. Pace is starting a new bus route Oct. 6. The "Park-N-Ride 95th Street Express," AKA Route 672, will go nonstop from the park and ride lot at 91st Street and Wolf's Crossing Road to the station mornings and evenings. Also, Pace is expanding the Route 675 Route 59 Express during rush hour.

• And if you thought that was all the Route 31 traffic news, sorry. Head a little further north, and the Illinois Department of Transportation plans full closures of the arterial road on weekends starting Oct. 3. The construction zone stretches along Route 31 from Lindstrom to Arbor lanes between Carpentersville and Algonquin. Work will occur starting at 10 p.m. Fridays until 5 a.m. Mondays for six weeks. Route 25 will be a detour. The reason for all this pain? Culvert replacements.