Jaguar E-type recreations will be a treat for lucky six clients
In May, Jaguar announced it would build the ‘missing’ six vehicles from the ‘Special GT E-type’ project, which started in February, 1963, with the objective of 18 cars.
Only 12 of the aluminium-bodied Lightweight E-types were built and the remaining six chassis numbers lay dormant — until now. Each new E-type will be built by Jaguar Heritage, part of Jaguar Land Rover’s new Special Operations division.
Each of the cars will conform to the specifications of the last Lightweight E-type, which was built in 1964, and will be hand-crafted at the original home of the E-type, Jaguar’s Brown’s Lane plant in Coventry. The cars will be sold as period competition vehicles, and all will be suitable for FIA homologation for historic motorsport purposes.
The six new cars will have the original Lightweight E-type chassis numbers. A race winner for a number of famous drivers during its short competitive career, the car has achieved worldwide fame, and original examples are now valued in millions of euro. In recreating the Lightweight E-type, Jaguar Heritage has called on the superlative skills and experience of engineers and technicians working in a variety of departments within Jaguar.
All, when offered the chance to assist with this unique project, leapt at the opportunity. Some even had an indirect link with the original E-type: one master technician calculated that his family — including his grandparents, his father and his uncle — had a collective 170 years’ service at Jaguar, stretching back to the early 1960s.
The expertise and attention brought to bear on this recreation project are staggering, with the resources of Jaguar ensuring that the six new Lightweights will not only be authentic, but built to the highest quality standards.
So, the six chosen customers will each receive the rarest of things — a new Lightweight E-type, hand-built at Brown’s Lane and just as desirable as one of the originals.
According to Derek Weale, director of Jaguar Heritage Business, the building of these new cars is a testament to the unique skills of the craftsmen.
“Operating from a brand-new workshop at Brown’s Lane — now open for the restoration and servicing of customer cars — the building of six, new, meticulously crafted Lightweight E-type period competition cars, by Jaguar Heritage, is testament to the unique skills within the team.
“To know those same skills can also be utilised to the benefit of existing, classic Jaguar owners means this is a very exciting time for Jaguar Heritage,” he said.
