Classic Cars - May 1998

MISSING LYNX by Martin Buckley

Lynx started building cars in 1973 and has been busy most of the time since.  Jags have provided most of the work, but there have been other marques you might not have heard of... 

1973: D-type 1976: C-type 1977: XKSS

Most Lynx D-types are long-nose version

The classic D-type using E-type identity and a 4.2 litre XK engine.  Outwardly accurate in every detail.  Jaguar IRS makes it more driveable.  Initially offered as a kit, 42 examples built, almost all in long-nose form.

First Lynx C-types date from 1976

Mechanically closer to the original than the D-type (no IRS) but never caught on.  Dropped in 1981 after four were built.

 

 

Some Lynx XKSS cars were converted back to D-types

This was a roadgoing D-type with hood, bumpers, windows and a proper screen.  Six built.

 

 

1978: XJS Spyder 1978: XJ Coupe Convertible 1982: XJS Eventer

Lynx beat factory to XJS Convertible idea

Lynx Spyder pre-empted the factory XJS cabrio by a decade.  Much prettier than the coupe, the Lynx version had rear seats which the factory cabrio lacked.  72 built.

 

 

XJC Convertible proved popular

This one doesn't look quite right, especially with the hood up, but 16 buyers thought it was worth an additional £5000 on top of the price of the car.

 

 

Eventer was world's fastest estate

Perhaps the best-looking and certainly the most useful of all, the Eventer is a proper high-performance estate with sculpted rear seats and a decent load are.  60 built.  Conversion still offered on secondhand XJSs, but Lynx is planning an Eventer version of the XK8.

1984: Saab 900i Convertible 1985: Mercedes 500 SEC Cabrio 1985: Porsche 928 Convertible

Lynx 900i a basis for Saab's own chop-top

Lynx does lots of development work for manufacturers and that's how this one came about.  Lynx briefly marketed the car as a conversion; just two were built.

 

Lynx did a pair of these

Much happier-looking than the XJC or 928, so it's a surprise that this one didn't really catch on either.  It had a power hood, of course, and was extensively strengthened.   Just two built.

One-off built in1985

With its power hood and heavy, bulbous rear end the 928 was built for an American client at a cost of £15,000.  It remained a one-off.

1986: XJS Turbo Performer 1986: Jaguar E-type Low Drag Coupe

Nuff said.....

This monster twin-turbo version of the V12 Jaguar Coupe was fast but proved expensive to develop.  Only three built.

Beautiful low drag coupe still on the books

Lynx version of the Lindner/Nocker car, available in low-drag coupe or hardtop form.  Engine available as 3.8 litre or 4.2, with Weber carburettors or Lucas injection, wide-angle head and dry-sump lubrication.  You can even have an alloy block.  Three built.

 

LYNX:  THE WORKS  

Lynx - The WorksThe Lynx workshops near Hastings always have a selection of the most pukka racing machinery which they sort and sympathetically modify for historic events.

When we visited, a GT40 was rubbing shoulders with a works D-type, Lightweight E and SS100 (old No 8) and the Tojeiro Buick, among many others.  

'We are known for Jaguars,' says Mayston-Taylor, 'but we will do anything.'     

A team of 19 craftsmen do everything bar the paintwork in-house, hand-forming panels over wooden bucks and using traditional wheeling machine methods.  

'Each project is a one-off,' says Mayston-Taylor, 'and with the historic cars we are determined to preserve the patina: we won't restore something unless it just has to be done.'

The other side to the business is the new D-types and Lightweight E-types and the Eventer, still in production.