Jaguar World Monthly – July 2002

THE LYNX EFFECT by Paul Skilleter 

Paul Skilleter encounters the fastest road Jaguar he's ever driven on the public highway!

This was going to be interesting: a fully road legal VI2 E-type equipped with a big-bore, long stroke engine of more than 7.0-litres modified to race specification and pushing out over 660bhp through a six-speed manual gearbox. A car which obviously had all the ingredients to be either an uncontrollable nightmare on wheels, or, if all that massive horsepower really could be channelled onto the tarmac effectively, a truly great motoring experience never to be forgotten.

Fully modified Series 3 E-types are quite rare – most people exercise their talents of the six cylinder cars, probably because of the extra expense of those additional pots.

This car started life as a roadster modified a good few years ago by WP Automotive under its Lister nameplate, a diversion from WP's normal practice back then of upgrading the XJ-S VI2. In fact, it fitted one of its twin supercharged VI2s originally developed for the Lister Le Mans. But the car's owner was disappointed in the E-type's performance and it was thought that the supercharged unit was producing 'only' around 450bhp. Nor was the rest of the car sufficiently re-engineered, in his opinion, the transmission being a weak link for a start. 

BACK TO THE DRAWING BOARD - So the car arrived at Lynx Motors International and, with the encouragement of the owner, the work of  upgrading the car was started all over again. A new engine was built, which substituted extra cubic inches for the superchargers and incorporated all possible modifications for increased power and longevity - dry sump lubrication, new Zytec engine management system, Weber Alpha fuel injection, special manifolds and much else.

But that was just the start: the remainder of the car was then rebuilt and redesigned to make the best of the new influx of power. The dry sump meant that the engine could be lowered and the firewall  bulkhead was refashioned to allow the unit to be mounted six inches further back, giving an ideal 50/50 weight distribution set-up.

The engine's colossal torque meant that some serious thinking had to be done about the drive train, if  gearbox internals were not to be stripped and drive shafts twisted into scrap. So the tough Borg Warner T56 six-speed manual box - as used in the Dodge Viper - was selected and hugely strong prop-shaft and drive shafts fitted. Bigger brakes and wheels were added, plus a host of more minor upgrades and modifications aimed at reliability and safety. All too easy to write down here but all necessitating much thought and experimentation to get exactly right. Visually, the car looks purposeful but in relation to the power available, not extreme. Discreet fender bulges cover the larger wheels, the headlamps are faired in with transparent covers, and the rear lamps are neatly inset into the rounded, bumper- less tail. The alloy hardtop is blended into the coachwork and, with the full roll cage, adds stiffness to a shell which is already beefed up by the addition of aluminium honeycomb reinforcement to the weakest area of an E-type, the front subframe and its join to the centre tub.

What's it like on the road? - I sat in the embracing clasp of the modern sports seat and the accompanying full harness seat belt - both comforting factors in view of what was under the bonnet. The engine idled well enough and was fully warm after a short demo drive by John Mayston-Taylor, managing director of Lynx (and an E-type racer in his own right). I slotted the big gear stick through the gate into first gear and, mindful of the triple plate racing clutch, made a D-type style getaway from rest - putting on just enough revs to avoid stalling without slipping the clutch unduly. Then it was a case of "see what she'll do".

There followed a unique motoring experience indeed. The front of the car lifted slightly and there came a mighty thrust from behind, more akin to a rocket being ignited than the transmission of power to a road surface. The car simply catapulted forward with a ferocity belied by its relatively demure looks, and consumed four of the six available gears within a few brief seconds. 'Staggering' and 'stupendous' are feeble words, inadequate to convey how all this felt from the driver's seat. I do not recall driving any road car, from any manufacturer, which was this quick.

Even the basic character of the Series 3 E-type seems to have been retained – that resilient, controllable feel that is not the last word in precision but which inspires confidence and betokens good breeding. I became amazed at just how much power could be applied on a corner without anything untoward happening, even if the surface was slightly damp. While second or third gear would easily increase the slip angles of the rear tyres, overall the handling was neutral and utterly confidence-inspiring. Exhilaration soon banished nervousness and I was beginning to chuck this amiable monster around like a big Mini.

As with all really good, fast cars, one soon begins to treat their performance as the norm; this happened with the Lynx VI2 E-type and by the end of an hour, I had almost fully acclimatised to its neck- straining acceleration and massively powerful brakes. In short, it was an afternoon never to be forgotten.