LT-1
Jaguar
I
have always been a life long Jaguar enthusiast and frustrated car designer. It
has been my goal for a while to build my own car from scratch. I thought this
would be the best way to combine both my passions. Build a semi-modern sports
car with basic Jaguar components and style it to look like a Jaguar.
The
Jaguar factory built a few light weight alloy racing bodies for the XK120
chassis which I thought would be a good basis for my car. I started with a
basic LT-1 body shape and added details to it that I liked. The side exhaust,
the head fairing, the extra air opening in the front gave it a more aggressive
look.
Then
I started designing the chassis. The basic structure is loosely based on a C
Type chassis but much stiffer and with modern all independent suspension both
front and rear. The rear uses a Halibrand style quick change differential with
E Type axles and up rights. After that the rest of the suspension was custom
fabricated by XKs Unlimited.
In
the front I started with XJ up-rights and lower a-arms and an E Type steering
rack and then fabricated everything else.
All
four corners are suspended with custom alloy fully adjustable Koni racing
shocks and coil springs.
The
interior I tried to capture the factory racing look. The dash shape is a
modified D type and all the gauges are Smiths gauges styled to look like the
original D type racing gauges.
The
heart of any performance sports car is the engine and of course I started with
a 3.8 liter E Type motor. I did the usual performance modifications including
Carillo rods, JE forged pistons, big valve head, and custom camshafts from XKs Unlimited.
Induction was classic Weber 45 DCOEs and ignition was a restored original
Vertex Jaguar racing magneto.
The
headers and side exhaust were custom fabricated at XKs Unlimited. They sound
aggressive and look great. When the car has been run a while the exhaust leave
a nice dark pattern down the side of the car that looks like a WWII fighter
plane!
The
wheels are Dunlop reproduction racing wheels that would have been used on a D
type or racing E Type.
To see the car in action with Jay Leno go to:
www.xksmotorsport.com
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