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Yves Paprocki turns a love of Jaguars and woodworking into a business with world-wide demand.
Text by Wayne Caverly, photos by Yves Paprocki.
Yves Paprocki is new to the Montreal Jaguar club (joining this year) but not new to fine cars. His first Jaguar was a 1986 XJ6 which he bought in the mid-90's. He loved the car, but wasn't impressed with the quality of the gear knob so, putting his 30-years of woodworking knowledge to work, he designed and created his own (see photo at right).
As you can imagine, this gear knob attracted a lot of attention and many requests from other Jaguar owners to make knobs for their cars. This led Yves to design more than a dozen different models and to begin selling them on eBay. His hand-crafted gear knobs are made from various woods including (but not limited to) walnut burl, maple burl, rosewood and piano black. They can (and usually do) include an original, custom made gold or silver colour Jaguar Coventry, leaping jaguar or 3D growler metal badge inlay. The one-inch diameter inlay is mounted flush and under the high gloss, crystal glass finish has a "smooth as silk" feel.
As most Jaguar owners have experienced, the OE modern Jaguar factory finish will eventually crack, peal or flake and often gets a milky appearance. The finish Yves uses on his gear knobs (an industrial product not for sale or use by the general public) has been tested and proven to withstand our frigid Canadian winters and hot humid summers. In addition to eliminating flaking, pealing, cracking and turning milky, his durable finish is scratch proof (especially important as gear knobs are constantly being rubbed by rings and bracelets).
About 2.1/2-years ago, after purchasing his second Jaguar--a 1997 VDP--Yves decided to branch out from gear knobs to other Jaguar related woodwork. In addition to key chains and gear knobs, Yves now offers complete interiors for classic Jags. Click here to see photos of some of Yves products.
To learn more about these products please contact Yves at 450-224-7573 or via e-mail: yveslym@gmail.com.
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