Filed under: Classics, Coupe, Jaguar, Misc. Auto Shows



Jaguar has made a lot of great vehicles over the years, but as far as historians are concerned, it still very much lives in the shadow of the original E-Type, small as it was. In its image, Jaguar has made two generations of XK and the new F-Type, but what we have here is the most faithful continuation of the E-Type heritage yet.

Alongside the Range Rover Sport SVR and the F-Type Project 7 (making its US debut), Jaguar Land Rover and its new Special Operations division will roll into Pebble Beach this year with the continuation Lightweight E-Type. Of the 72,500 E-Types which Jaguar built between 1961 and 1975, only a dozen were Lightweight versions, and they remain the most coveted E-Types of all. It originally planned on building 18 examples, though, and five decades later, it's now committed to completing that original production run in faithful detail.

The Lightweight E-Type was based on the standard roadster and was homologated as such, just with some key upgrades to make it lighter and faster. The biggest change, of course, was the lightweight aluminum bodywork that cut 205 pounds off the curb weight. To replicate it, Jaguar took the last example (the only one made in 1964 after the original eleven were made in '63), scanned half its body surface, mirrored it to ensure symmetry and set about reproducing it with the same standard of materials available in the Sixties (and resisting the urge to go with more modern grades of aluminum). 75 percent of the 230 components are made in-house, with the largest stampings outsourced and built on machinery built to Jaguar's specifications off-site.

Like the originals, the continuation Lightweight E-Type uses an engine based on that in the Le Mans-winning D-Type, but ditches the iron block in favor of an aluminum one. The 3.8-liter inline-six features triple carbs, dry-sump lubrication and optional mechanical fuel-injection to deliver upwards of 300 horsepower and about 280 pound-feet of torque, channeled through a four-speed manual, fully synchronized with a single-plate clutch, lightweight flywheel and Powr-Lok limited slip differential.

All of that rides on 15-inch perforated wheels wearing Dunlop racing tires. The Lightweight packs the same rear brakes as the standard E-Type but upgraded front discs, with no servo, fitted to a double wishbone front and independent wishbone rear suspension. The rack-and-pinion steering is fitted to a wood rim in an interior swathed in period-correct Connolly leather under a standard aluminum hardtop. But with only six to be built, each one will be made to order - fully FIA certified for historic racing - at the new Jaguar Heritage workshop at the company's historic home at Browns Lane. The example pictured here, to bow in Monterey, is Car Zero that will be handed over to the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust as part of its permanent collection.Continue reading Lightweight E-Type to show historic side of Jaguar Special Operations in Monterey

Lightweight E-Type to show historic side of Jaguar Special Operations in Monterey originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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