The EJAG News Magazine- April 1979

THE LYNX STORY

If you have an unquenchable desire to drive a D-type at top speed or to feel the wind racing through your hair as you sweep down the road in your XJ convertible, then your first stop in England should  be the shop of The  Lynx Motor  Company in Northiam, Sussex where the restoration and replica  masters can cater to your whims with their creations. In addition to their work as important restorers of the fabulous racing Jaguars, the C-types, D-types and lightweight Es, the gentlemen of Lynx also produce a replica D-type and a convertible conversion for the XJC two-door sedan in either the Jaguar or Daimler version. 

According to owner Guy A. Black, the XJC conversion came about when one of their customers tried to get recognized conversion specialists to do it for him, but without success. There were various difficulties in such a change because the Jaguar uses fender tanks and there is no room for power struts in the fender. Lynx solved this problem by having specially developed powerful, miniature electric motors mounted on the hood frame itself. This was a success and now Lynx's schedule for such conversions is booked up for some time to come.

The converted XJCs, along with their usual luxurious Jaguar accoutrements, have fully lined tops, which classes them as "drop-head coupes." Once the top is raised, the passenger compartment is completely free of wind noise and, of course, is totally weathertight.  In the future, Lynx will try such a modification on the XJ12C, but there are no plans to try the conversion on the four door sedans.

Of particular interest to Jaguar owners in the “Land of the Regulated and the home of the Red Tape”, are the conversion kits which will soon be available to coach builders so that they can do the conversion in their own shops.  All the templates, components and detailed instruction will be included in this kit.  The current price for the conversion in Great Britain, less the V.A.T., is about $10,000.

Converting, restoring, and replicating: the Lynx Motor Company, headed by Guy Black , do all three with great enthusiasm, backed by craftsmanship and knowledge.  While the “converting” is a recent addition to their duties, restoration was the company’s main interest when it began some years ago.  And not just restoration of just any fine car, they favoured the Jaguar C- and D-type racers.  Guy Black and his partner loved D-types and wanted to work on more of them.  However, the problem was of course, that only sixty-three of the racers were made in the mid-Fifties and not all them survived the many races which they entered.  Many D-types still exist, including the famous one that took Jaguar’s fifth Le Mans win in 1957, but not nearly enough to “go around.”  The solution was to reproduce D-types.

Lynx had a choice.  Either they could build their replica as original as possible, utilizing what original D-type spare parts still existed and manufacturing copies of the missing parts, or they could base their version on the E-type.  Considering the expense and rarity of original parts and the difficulty in manufacturing so many missing components, the partners chose the E-type as the basic unit around which they could build their D-type.  Working on D-types had given them a unique opportunity to learn enough to produce a totally authentic, visual reproduction of the car.

The basis for the replica is Lynx’s own monocoque which is very similar to the D and E-types’ shell.  The E-type subframe fore and aft has been modified to fit and the result is a car, in the long-nose form, that is 5½ inches shorter than the E-type, but 1 inch longer in wheelbase than a D.  The standard E-type suspension is bolted onto this structure, along with the engine and transmission, an alloy header tank, a special wide-base lower wishbone at the rear, shortened propshaft and a foam-filled alloy gas tank.  In place of the SU carburettors which do not fit, there are triple Webers.  Since the Lynx D is slightly lighter than the E-type, modifications to the suspension included Koni’s all around with one pair of coil springs removed, one on each side at the rear. On top there is the beautiful hand-made alloy bodywork, trimmed with carpet, seats and headrest in matching material, although no racing D was ever so magnificently fitted.

There are a few other standard parts to the "basic" D-type replica, but other options are available, if you so desire and have the money to choose them. You can have you D-type turned into an XKSS for an extra thousand or two (U.K. prices approximate), or, for the regular rates, you can choose a short nose D with single door and a wraparound windshield. A few engine options can be had, such as a 285 bhp or a 320 bhp unit for another additional charge. If your D will see a track instead of downtown Brooklyn, then the Dunlop racing tires may interest you and, of course, any color you want, but British Racing Green and Ecurie Ecosse blue were the "standards" back in the D's heyday and a mauve D simply wouldn't do.

One major departure from the original D-type's construction is the use of the E-type Independent Rear Suspension instead of the D-'s live axle. The Jaguar works engineers have commented that if they were manufacturing the D-type today, they would incorporate the Independent Rear Suspension.

The D-type, like the XJ convertible conversion, is available in both the completed car and a kit. Unfortunately, only the kit and hours of "do-it-yourself" are allowed here in the U.S. right now, because of the demand for the Lynx D-type, deliveries of the kit runs about twelve months and the completed car takes about two and a half years, with one complete D finished each month. Although there are a few Lynxes in the United States, this car's main market is the U.K., especially now that the new product liability laws here make export of the D-type difficult.

Nevertheless, if you can wrap your fingers around the wooden steering wheel  of a  Lynx D-type, you are going to have a wonderful time. Since each car is made for the driver, performance figures are variable according to the set-up chosen. One of the D-types with a 295 bhp engine did 0-60 in 5.6 seconds, contrasted with the 7.1 seconds of the 3.8 E-type, 5.2 seconds for a 260 hp XKSS tested in 1957 by Road & Track Magazine and 4.7 for a 250 hp version of the D-type, also tested by R&T in 1956. The Lynx and its elder relatives move!

There may be an "antique" feel to the wooden steering wheel, but the handling is up to date. Even set up for racing the Lynx D-type smoothly negotiates corners and pulls away. However, like the original, the ride is rough, particularly at low speeds when, like the princess and the pea, you can feel each bump and stone in the road. But at highway speeds and above, the rough points smooth out. And since the driver's seat is tailored to fit the driver alone, all other potential drivers, and we can imagine there are a lot of them, must fit it like Procrustes' bed. There is a passenger seat that looks like fun, but without room for luggage, long distance trips might be hard to manage, but then this is not a rig you take to the grocery store, anyway.

The Lynx D-type replica is an exotic car with attending exotic difficulties in importing it and an exotic price tag, but if you want to pretend that you're Hawthorne or Flockhart bringing the big cat home at Le Mans, then take out your checkbook and checkered flag and contact the Lynx people.