Description
LOT 259
1962 Jaguar E-Type Series 1 'Lightweight' FIA Competition Roadster
GOODWOOD FESTIVAL OF SPEED
14 July 2023, 14:00 BST
Chichester, Goodwood
£200, 000 - £250, 000
Registration no. 647 XVP
Chassis no. 877501
• Built to the highest standards, completed in 2021
• Completely new all-alloy body hand built by Classic Jaguar Racing
• Rob Beere hand built 3. 8-litre race engine (circa 335bhp)
• Eligible for FIA Historic Racing in the Appendix K GTS 12 classes
• Road registered with UK V5C
Right from the moment deliveries commenced in 1961, the E-Type began to find its way on to the world's racetracks. In the Grand Touring class for production sports cars the E-Type proved competitive right from the start, Graham Hill celebrating the model's racing debut by winning at Oulton Park on 3rd April 1961.
The elevation of the GT class to Manufacturers' Championship status for 1963 prompted Jaguar to develop a small batch of very special lightweight cars to challenge Ferrari. The FIA's regulations for the Gran Turismo category stipulated that a minimum of 100 cars had to be built, but permitted coachwork modifications, thus enabling Jaguar to claim that its lightweights were standard E-types fitted with altered bodywork. (This is the same loophole exploited by Ferrari to get the limited edition 250 GTO homologated, by claiming that they were re-bodied 250 GTs). In fact, all 12 lightweight E-Types constructed in period were built from scratch with aluminium bodies, though they were invoiced as a new standard road car with additional modifications and numbered in the normal production sequence, albeit with an 'S' chassis number prefix.
To create the 1963 lightweight version, the E-Type's steel monocoque tub and outer body panels were remanufactured in aluminium and the engine dry-sumped and fitted with an alloy cylinder black, 'wide-angle' head and Lucas mechanical fuel injection, producing in excess of 300bhp. The production four-speed gearbox was used initially before a ZF five-speed unit was adopted towards the end of 1963. '4 WPD', the works development E-Type racer campaigned by John Coombs and driven by Graham Hill, was converted to lightweight specification and served as the prototype.
The 12 cars built by the factory were intended for the use of competition orientated Jaguar dealers or specially selected private entrants. Two of them, campaigned by Peter Lindner (Jaguar's Frankfurt distributor) and Peter Lumsden, were fitted with a revised, low-drag tail section devised by aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer, the man responsible for the standard production E-Type. This move to a more aerodynamic design had been prompted by the fact that although the GTOs had proved beatable on British short circuits, on faster tracks and in events of longer duration they decisively held the upper hand.
As is so often the case with exotic, limited-edition competition cars, the Lightweight's desirability and rarity has led to the creation of numerous replicas, there being many more such E-Types in existence today than there ever were in period. Finished in Silver with black interior, this example has been the subject of a no-expense-spared five-year rebuild project that was finished in 2021. This was a complete restoration with every part either refurbished , rebuilt or reconstructed. We are advised by the vendor that the car has been finished to the highest standards, with obsessive attention to detail: the panel gaps are excellent, the paint is immaculate, and the whole drivetrain is balanced with smooth delivery all the way through the rev range.
The interior is beautifully finished with the finest quality hides and luxurious carpeting.
This car was built to emulate the Jaguar continuation lightweight E-Type specification. It is fully road registered with UK V5C registration document and period registration number '647 XVP'. Standout features are as follows:
• FIA Historic Technical Passport, Class: Competition GT Car, valid for 10 years
• Jaguar Heritage Production Record Trace Certificate #34011
• Completely new all alloy body hand built by Classic Jaguar Racing
• Rob Beere hand built 3. 8-litre race engine
• RBR/ Cosworth full race pistons
• Forged crankshaft, fully balanced
• RBR light steel flywheel, fully balanced
• Staenz steel con-rods
• RBR electronic distributor
• Straight-port big-valve cylinder head
• Circa 335bhp
• Dynamometer tested
• Rolling-road tuned
• Denis Welsh Racing peg-drive magnesium alloy wheels
• Leather bonnet straps and external handles
• Cartek solid state kill switches: bulkhead and dash mounted
• Corbeau race harness x2
• Leather interior and seats, trimmed by retired Bentley craftsman
• Bentley style diamond-stitched black leather on the doors and transmission tunnel, trimmed by retired Bentley craftsman
• Woollen carpets
• Long range foam-filled alloy fuel tank, 120 litres
• Electrically heated front windscreen
• Only 1, 250 development miles – never raced
• Monza style quick filler fuel system
• Built by Jaguar in June 1962
• Rolling-road tuned by Tom Barclay racing in May 2023
• Glasurit oven-baked paint system
• Stainless twin-pipe exhausts
Offered with FIA Historic papers, this an immaculate and stylishly finished 'Gentleman's Racer', built and finished to the highest standards and eligible for FIA Historic Racing in the Appendix K GTS 12 classes.
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