Behind the wheel of Jaguar’s most iconic cars of all time
The brand conjures up magnificent British cars with a heritage that is the envy of most manufacturers.
I mean, mention E-Type in any conversation and you would have to be living in a cave if it didn’t conjure up images of one of the most, if not the most beautiful car ever designed.
And even if you’re not a car person, you can’t deny that Inspector Morse’s Jaguar Mark II was a thing of beauty.
Built from 1959 to 1966 it was the preferred car for both the police and the gangsters they were trying to apprehend and was famously used as the getaway car in the Great Train Robbery.
Throw in the XK150, S-Type, XJ6, XJC, the savagely fast XJ220 supercar, F-Type R and the all-electric I-Pace and there’s not a design flaw in sight.
Jaguar may make beautiful cars but they’re not just a pretty face and have an impressive racing history with some of the world's most iconic race cars.
If the 24 hours of Le Mans is the pinnacle of endurance racing then seven wins in the iconic race is not to be sniffed at.
They won it in 1951 with the famous and beautiful C-Type, built by using aeronautical engineering, a tubular frame and an aluminium body. It was powered by the company’s XK straight six engine that Jaguar produced continuously from 1949 to 1992.
It was followed by the instantly recognisable space frame monocoque D-Type, again using aeronautical engineering, with its headrest fairing and aerodynamic fin and magnesium alloy body that took the honours three times in succession.
After a fairly long hiatus 1988 saw the Silk Cut sponsored XJR-9 with its 7.0-litre V12 engine again raising the Jaguar flag with the XJR-12 completing a one-two finish in 1990.
Interestingly, one of the drivers of that car was former F1 pilot Martin Brundle now regularly seen doing his F1 grid walk interviews for Sky Sports.
The classic Jaguar collection is looked after by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust that preserves the legacy and maintains the collection of these historic vehicles. They also preserve their archive of business documents, artefacts and product records.
We had the rare privilege of getting behind the wheel and being a passenger in a handful of them around the Goodwood racetrack.
Climbing into the S-Type (produced from 1963-1968) harks back to the days of real wood panelling, a fully analog dash with a plethora of dials for everything including water temperature and oil pressure and a mirriad of switches and levers to set up the car just as you like it.
The smooth black leather seats were made to be more La-Z-Boy than racer providing limited support when going around corners at speed but it was never intended as a speedster so they’re perfect for cruising along country roads.
The steering is vague at best compared to what we experience today and heading into a corner takes some planning, taking a while for your steering inputs to register but again, country roads…
For a classic, the suspension is not bad at all fitted as it was with Jaguar’s independent rear suspension first seen on the E-Type in 1961, a rare occurrence for that time considering most cars were using rear live axles.
What followed was an exhilarating passenger ride in the legendary Le mans winning C-Type.
Under its beautifully shaped bonnet sits a 3.4-litre straight six engine with triple Weber carburettors churning out 164kW to the rear wheels with a four-speed manual gearbox.
What impressed me was that the driver didn’t hold back at all, thumping the gears through the gate as we sped around the track.
The passenger side doesn’t have a wind deflector so my neck got a good workout especially down the main straight at about 170km/h or so with the speedometer needle bouncing around between 100 and 110 miles/h.
Unbuckling the five point safety harness and squeezing out rather ungainly you realise just how crazy and brave the drivers of years gone past must have been.
There are no luxuries, only the bare minimum to show what’s going on in the engine. There’s no roll cage, no ABS, the seats are narrow and uncomfortable, in the case of the C-Type, no roof, steel disk brakes, it’s noisy, cold and windy, gears are changed with a clutch, there’s hardly space for the driver’s feet and they did it lap after lap in sunshine, rain and wind for 24 hours!
On the other end of the scale was driving the E-Type Series 3 soft top.
Under the famous stretch bonnet sits a 5.3-litre V12 engine that at the time was good for 203kW with four Zenith carburettors and the car we drove was a four speed manual.
Surprisingly, that bonnet had little to no effect on the line of sight.
It’s also pretty nimble around the track considering its age with some wind noise through the soft top which is to be expected but who cares, it’s an E-Type.
The amount of torque the engine delivers is remarkable and I could have completed the track without changing from fourth gear only doing so because of the delightful roar 12 cylinders provides.
Climbing out and watching our international colleagues doing the same from the pits, I couldn’t help but think of the words of Jeremy Clarkson…. “It’s a Jaaaaaaaag”.
And while all of this was going on in an ironic twist with V6s, V8s and V12s roaring in the background, the guys from Jaguar TCS Racing, their Formula E team, were explaining the ins and outs of how it all works.
It’s common knowledge that Jaguar will no longer be developing or building internal combustion engines (ICE) by 2025 as part of its fully electric Reimagine strategy.
The merits of that call is still causing much debate among fans and petrolheads alike, but the decision has been made and as they say; that’s that.
TCS racing uses the same formula that F1 manufacturers do by using the R&D to eventually see the technology trickle down to road cars.
So rather than have full-on sponsors, they use strategic partnerships that allow them to use data strictly associated with the battery electric racing car as part of the research into the company’s EV future.
It seems to be working for them having secured the teams’ title as well as the manufacturers’ championship for the ‘23-’24 season.
Still, it’s a brave call considering their rich ICE heritage.