https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid..._Newsletter_WR

 

lived in Daytona for 30yrs, seen Tullius race many times , his XJR-5 was a great contender!
his hauler driver stopped by my shop in Daytona 1987, the last time ran , rolled the car out in parkin lot,took pix but now lost in space,DUH!
some pix from way back, raced the SR 3 E type won some but said E s had poor polar moment of enertia, a handful to drive ,relative to light weight XJS ,that handle much better!

 

I worked for Group 44 from 1976-80 and did the bodywork and paint on both the XJS and the TR8s. The 78 car in the article was and attempt at weight reduction. British Leyland set up a line in a WW2 airplane hangar to make several lightweight acid dipped bodies. All parts were dipped except the main frame rails. The dipped body was 250 pounds lighter. This car had and aluminum roll cage, designed and built by fellow crew member Ed Nathman. I think it had to be built to withstand and 11 g rollover. Ed had to furnish proof it would pass so he supplied the SCCA a very thick note book all his drawings and figures. With all the updates done on this car it was only 50lbs lighter than the previous XJS. You can tell them apart by looking at the exhaust. The 78 car has one outlet per side the 76-77 car has two. Both were built to be as similar as possible. Each car had dual front calipers on each wheel and water cooled brakes. These cars were very fast and cornered like they were on rails. The scene from Ford V Ferrari where Shelby takes Henry Ford for a ride in the GT40 made me bust out laughing because Bob took me for some hot laps around Road Atlanta, I know how Ford felt. JBL

 

JB thanks for the information about GRP44 cars back then!
a lot of people still think an E type can out handle the XJS race cars ,but not so!
seen that scene in F/vs F movie , i seriously doubt it was true, but its just a movie, altho race car movies stiil hit a nice story!