mongooz
Sic Semper Tyrannis ☨
[as promised last week]
Built to bring Jaguar back to Le Mans, the XJ13 has the sad story of never competing in a race. It was initially prepared to take on the mights of Ford and Ferrari at la Sarthe, but Jaguar’s lazy attitude towards racing development caused the project finish too late to successfully race. By 1967, the regulations changed to only allow a three liter capacity and the XJ13 was rendered permanently redundant.
Built from the ground up as a Le Mans prototype, XJ13’s design used all the hallmarks of 1960’s successful race cars. This included a V12 engine in a mid-mounted position which was very new to Jaguar.
The XJ13 was built around a V12 5-litre engine engineered by Claude Baily and called the XJ6 Project. The design basically mated two DOHC six cylinder engines to a common crankshaft and aluminum block. It used Lucas mechanical injection to produce 503 bhp and was directly attached as an integral part of the aluminum chassis. The block and trans axle acted as the only support structure behind the rear bulkhead which meant that the suspension mounted directly onto the sides of the unit.
The gorgeous body was sculpted by aerodynamist Malcom Sayer who was also responsible for the successful D-Type and C-Type. Like those, it had the striking aesthetics that could sell cars and the functionality to win LeMans. Thus, in the hands of Norman Dewis, the car reached 161 mph down the straight at the MIRA test track and established a new lap record.
read more: https://www.supercars.net/blog/1966-jaguar-xj13/
[there are a lot more pic in the article and all the specs]
Built to bring Jaguar back to Le Mans, the XJ13 has the sad story of never competing in a race. It was initially prepared to take on the mights of Ford and Ferrari at la Sarthe, but Jaguar’s lazy attitude towards racing development caused the project finish too late to successfully race. By 1967, the regulations changed to only allow a three liter capacity and the XJ13 was rendered permanently redundant.
Built from the ground up as a Le Mans prototype, XJ13’s design used all the hallmarks of 1960’s successful race cars. This included a V12 engine in a mid-mounted position which was very new to Jaguar.
The XJ13 was built around a V12 5-litre engine engineered by Claude Baily and called the XJ6 Project. The design basically mated two DOHC six cylinder engines to a common crankshaft and aluminum block. It used Lucas mechanical injection to produce 503 bhp and was directly attached as an integral part of the aluminum chassis. The block and trans axle acted as the only support structure behind the rear bulkhead which meant that the suspension mounted directly onto the sides of the unit.
The gorgeous body was sculpted by aerodynamist Malcom Sayer who was also responsible for the successful D-Type and C-Type. Like those, it had the striking aesthetics that could sell cars and the functionality to win LeMans. Thus, in the hands of Norman Dewis, the car reached 161 mph down the straight at the MIRA test track and established a new lap record.
read more: https://www.supercars.net/blog/1966-jaguar-xj13/
[there are a lot more pic in the article and all the specs]
