Daily Telegraph Motoring – 21 February 2004

EXTREME E by Martin Buckley

It has more power than a McLaren F1 and is capable of 200mph.  Martin Buckley tries to keep his Rice Krispies down as he gets to grip with the ultimate Jaguar E-type.

The car you see here started life as Series III V12 E-type, probably the pride and joy of some bloke who wore too much nautical clothing, played golf, draped pastel coloured jumpers over his shoulders, had an orange perma-tan and burbled around listening to Radio 2. 

All was no doubt set fair for a tame existence of Jaguar Enthusiasts Club meetings down the Dog and Duck, holidays in France, winter lay-ups and some light restoration once every couple of years. The nearest this car was ever going to get to a race track was when pastel- jumper man watched grands prix on Sunday afternoons in the aforementioned pub. 

But then it embarked on a journey with a difference. Pastel-jumper man sold it, probably to buy an XJ-S Cabriolet, and it eventually fell into the hands of a man - whose name we will never know - who had a perverse plan to build the ultimate E-type for road and track use.

A specialist was selected, all the boxes were ticked and untold thousands spent, but the car that emerged wasn't what the customer expected. A mere 450bhp from a modified (twin-turbo, 7-0-litre) V12 engine seemed paltry and as a driving experience the car just failed to gel. It lacked the edge our mystery millionaire was looking for.

It was at this point that the car ended up at Lynx Motors International of St Leonards-on-Sea in East Sussex, replica manufacturer, conversion specialist and enhancer of all things Jaguar.

"Basically he'd given them carte blanche, and they interpreted that by ticking every single options box, but they came up with a car he didn't really want," says Andrew Parkinson of Lynx.  "So we started again and respecified the whole car." 

Visually, Lynx has done a mild>custom job with some works lightweight E-type styling cues around the lights and a permanently bonded-in, lightweight-style hardtop that is adequately vented and hides the untidy look of the rollcage inside as well as adding to the strength of the shell. There's a hint of 1970s Modsports racer in the fat wheelarches and at the rear, circular, Frenched-in stop and tail lamps replace the chunky, rectangular units of the original.

Inside, the leather seats have been chucked out in favour of figure-hugging Sparcos with full harnesses. There are modern instruments and a chunky steering wheel. A small, light, electrically powered hydraulic pump from an aircraft undercarriage is used for the power steering with an infinitely adjustable valve so you can just bleed off as much assistance to the steering as you want via a knob on the bulkhead; if you're going on to the-track and you want more weight on the steering, you just turn it half way. If you just want to drive in town you turn it right back and its nice and light.

The back end is derived from a late-model XJ-S with triangulated wishbones. Brembo six-piston calipers grip massive, ventilated, custom-made discs. In the boot, there's a 25- gallon fuel tank and twin aircraft-type dry batteries that will "crank forever".

It's under the bonnet that things start to get really exciting. The modified twin-turbo V12 was discarded (it sits in the Lynx workshop awaiting a new home) and replaced with a new, 7-3-litre unit devised with the biggest valves, the highest-spec cams and so on - no expense spared.

This sits lower and farther back within front chassis frames that are strengthened with light, super-strong and very expensive aluminium-alloy honeycomb (normally found in aviation applications), and is mated to a six- speed gearbox from a Dodge Viper; the BMW gearbox fitted by the previous owner wasn't up to the job.

And little wonder. With programmable Alpha XlTEC fuel injection and Weber throttle bodies, Lynx quotes an awesome power output of 660bhp at 5,700rpm and 6401b ft of torque at 4,300rpm; that's more urge than a McLaren Fl, officially the world's fastest road car. 

So are we talking 200mph here? "With the right differential in it, it's got to pull 200," says Andrew. "This is in no way as streamlined as a McLaren but its got another 50 horsepower on top..."  

The V12 ignites on a push button and the fuel injection ensures a reasonably smooth and steady idle with a throaty, expensive hum from the aggressively angled centre tail boxes. The clutch is both sharp and heavy and the novice will inevitably stall a few times before he gets the hang of it. The car chatters quite a bit at idle, too, but once your leg muscles are accustomed to its meaty feel you learn to almost slip it a little and feed in just enough power so as not to let the engine stall. The gearchange is chunky, positive and satisfyingly metallic.

Of course, there is nowhere you can fully extend this car on the public road, certainly not in the home counties commuter belt. The first four ratios are quickly dismissed in a seamless, horizon- demolishing thrust that rearranges your internal organs as it squeezes you ever deeper into the embrace of the Sparcos.

The pull hardly eases off in the last two gears but you'll be deep, deep into licence- losing territory here – and probably a spell in the nick — as 660bhp climaxes with massive torque to outrageous effect. I've never driven a quicker Jaguar, but it is more than just a hot-rod, even if the owner only ever uses it as a track-day car. 

There was no opportunity to explore its outer limits but the car left not only an impression of grip, poise and balance but also a flat, comfortable ride, effortless neutrality and epic braking power that'll bring your Rice Krispies back up in short order.

But it's not as intimidating as you might think. As awe- struck caution turned to electrifying fun, this ultimate E-type seemed to shrink around me; I envy the owner, whoever he is, who drives it on a racing track.  

Back at base, I composed myself and asked Parkinson if Lynx would build another. 

"Oh easily. We could do a second one much faster than the first one because we know what to do-we know which points work and which points don't work, we know where to get the parts and we. know what to put in the engine. It could be done much, much, muchquicker."

Can we say how much it cost? "I can't remember how much we spent on this car in total but the engine alone is £30,000, then there's the gearbox... the parts alone would be £50,000-£60,000 and that's before you throw labour at it. Of course, all the labour in this car wouldn't reflect the cost of doing another one, because there was so much development on this that we wouldn't have to apply to another."

So the next customer will be getting a good deal, then? “The next person will get a very good deal…..”