We Fully Support This 1JZ Powered E-Type Drift Car Build!
This Jaguar E-type only exists because someone saved half a shell. So we say let it drift!
Larry Chen’s adventures bring him all around the world. In England, he stumbled upon a shop that restores classic cars, and found an amazing Jaguar inside. Curated by Charlie Seward, Charlie’s Classics N Custom built this amazing E-type, and we promise that you’ll like it. Even if it is highly modified from its original form.
As you can see, this E-type started out as barely even half of a shell. Instead of doing a full restoration, Seward decided to go wild with a build. Seward describes how the idea to build this car came about, saying, “we had the 1JZ engine sitting around, and the only rear-wheel-drive shell was an E-type.” So from there, they simply set up the engine with basic bolt-ons. As it sits, it has just over 400 horsepower. The speed is plenty enough to achieve an 11 second 1/4 mile time.
New body panels needed to be made with only part of a car existing. They also didn’t have to stick to original dimensions either. “When we realized we had no money to build anything else, but we could make things, we set about making all the chassis structures and all the new floors,” said Seward. The rear arches were widened to house 18×10 inch rims.
“What started as a simple project quickly got out of control,” Seward explains. He sure wasn’t kidding. Any kind of part could be added to make this car complete as it only had rusty metal to work with. BMW donor cars supplied the transmission, rear axles, and suspension.
The engine received the most amount of ingenuity and Chen’s fascination with the cooling system is warranted. Space is at a premium under the hood of a Jaguar, so a charge cooler had to be used instead of an intercooler. Describing the setup, Seward explains, “On the back of this multi-pass radiator are fans which are always on, then this fan on top and another back here are for the engine.” Bear in mind, clearances were even tighter to allow the front wheels to move more for drift events. The whole setup is really remarkable to look at.
However, some unique touches of the car stayed true to the E-type. The original layout of gauges remains in the car, though the gauges are new. While the lines of the car may be a bit exaggerated, the silhouette is unmistakable for anything but an E-type.
We truly like this build because it saved another E-type. It may not be your style of car, but we’re glad there’s another E-type on the road.
Photos: Charlies Classics N Custom
Join the Jaguar Forums now!
