The 1950s Jaguar C-Type Is the Latest Le Mans Winner to Get an Ultra-Limited Reboot
There’s even a 3D configurator online.
Seventy years after the Jaguar C-Type gave the company its first win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Jaguar Classic is building a "strictly limited production run" of eight C-Type Continuations. Despite the C-Type first winning Le Mans in 1951, these modern Continuation cars will be built to the same spec as the C-Type that scored Jag its second Le Mans victory in 1953, driven by Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton. After that second win in '53, the British brand would go on to take first place at Le Mans five more times.
In addition to being a landmark car for Jaguar motorsport, the C-Type is also credited for popularizing the use of then-newfangled disc brakes in both racing and production cars. You can thank it for the stoppers that are probably fitted to your car at this very moment.
The C-Type Continuations will be hand-built at the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Work's facility in Coventry and feature a period-correct, 220-horsepower, 3.4-liter straight-six with triple Weber 40DCO3 carburetors and, of course, disc brakes. Jag Classic's team used both modern CAD tech and the company's archived engineering documents to make the remastered C-Types exactly as they were in the '50s. Making the Continuation cars a little safer than the originals, however, is an optional FIA-approved Harness Retention System which will apparently make 'em legitimately ready for historic racing and trackwork.
With just eight cars in the pipeline and an undisclosed price undoubtedly in the seven-figure-and-up range, Jaguar C-Type Continuation ownership is little more than a dream for most vintage endurance racing fans. That said, there's nothing wrong with a little dreaming and to help with that, Jaguar has put together an online 3D configurator to help folks visualize what their ideal C-Type would look like. Look at all the colors!
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