Performance Car - April 1998

THE LIGHT STUFF by Richard Meaden

Lynx Lightweight E-type

The Lightweight E-type epitomises an era of motorsport when saving weight meant using aluminium, and going faster meant reducing drag, not grafting big wings onto the bodywork.

Although officially a production sports car (to comply with homologation requirements) it was in reality a highly developed, thinly disguised racing car; only a dozen or so works cars were built.  To make the E-type competitive, Jaguar stripped-out as much weight as possible, casting the engine block (a hideously expensive operation) and fabricating the bodywork from aluminium. The distinctive Dunlop wheels were more exotic still, cast from magnesium.

The result was an E-type some 560lb lighter than normal, giving it a fighting weight of one ton.  Although the Lightweights were based on the E-type roadster, Jaguar’s celebrated aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer developed a Low Drag roof which was retro-fitted to several cars, most notably Lightweight No. 5, built for German Jaguar imported Peter Lindner and his friend Peter Nocker.

This car was also famous for a fatal accident at Montlhery in 1964 in which Peter Lindner and several spectators were killed.  The crashed car was impounded by the French authorities for many years before the written-off remains were eventually sold. Several owners later, the wreckage was acquired by Lynx Engineering (acknowledged C and D-type experts) in the mid '80s, and Lynx rebuilt the car for a collector using a spare works aluminium monocoque.  Having had unrivalled access to every detail of the Lightweight, Lynx was in a unique position, and as a result of customer interest decided to build its own Lynx Lightweight E-types.

The car featured is the second car Lynx built.  It perfectly replicates the sensational lines of the Lindner/Nocker Low Drag Coupe.  The quality and detail is awesome, but it’s only after speaking to Lynx MD John Mayston-Taylor that the dizzying attention to detail can be fully appreciated.

Not only is the car visually identical, but it is as close to the original mechanical specification as possible.  The engine is a £40,000 masterpiece, featuring an original works ‘wide angle’ cylinder head, crankshaft and rare Lucas fuel injection system.  The result is a thunderous 330bhp and the kind of performance that would humble many a modern sports car.

Sat in the thinly padded bucket seat, peering over the endless bonnet and trembling to the uneven throb of the mighty 3.8 litre engine, it’s like sitting in a Supermarine Spitfire.  Uncomfortable at low revs, the motor splutters initially before clearing its throat with a hearty cough.  Once into its stride the E-type is fearsomely quick, lifting its nose sharply, pulling hard and strong to 6000rpm and bellowing like only a highly-strung XK motor can.

It’s got long legs, too, the rangey ratios of the four-speed ‘box stretching effortlessly around Thruxton’s open expanses.  With even taller Le Mans cogs, Lightweights pushed beyond 170mph down the Mulsanne Straight (in other races, they even gave Ferrari’s GTO a fright).  On old racing Dunlop tyres, it still feels nimble and responsive.  From the progressive way in which it shifts from understeer to oversteer you can tell that with more commitment and cornering speed there’s a delicious four-wheel drift to be had there somewhere if you can muster the skill and courage.  No wonder the Lightweight E-type is one of the most evocative GTs ever built.