Jaguar XJ13 - Motor Trend Classic - video Dailymotion

MotorTrend

Take a look into the past with Angus MacKenzie and the Jag that never got its chance to roar... Until now.

Transcript

00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]

00:34 It's not every day we get to drive a truly one-of-a-kind

00:36 automobile, but today is one of those days.

00:40 This is the Jaguar XJ13, the only one

00:43 of its kind in the world.

00:46 It was designed and engineered in the mid-1960s by Jaguar

00:49 to go racing at Le Mans.

00:51 Though extensively tested, the XJ13

00:54 never actually turned a wheel in anger on the racetrack.

00:58 Changes to the Le Mans regulations

01:00 meant the project was shelved in the summer of 1967.

01:04 The XJ13 was wheeled into a corner of the Jaguar

01:07 Experimental Garage and left there until 1971,

01:11 when it was bought out to publicise

01:12 the launch of the V12-powered Series 3 Jaguar E-Type.

01:17 Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis famously

01:20 crashed the car when a rear wheel broke at 140 miles an hour

01:24 during filming.

01:26 Dewis escaped unhurt.

01:28 The XJ13 was not so fortunate, but it was repaired

01:32 and finally made its public debut in a demonstration run

01:36 at the British Grand Prix in 1973.

01:40 Now owned by the Jaguar Heritage Trust,

01:42 it's been a runner pretty much ever since.

01:44 And most of it is exactly the way

01:46 it was more than 40 years ago.

01:49 Climbing into the cockpit of this car

01:51 is like climbing into a time capsule, a hot, raucous,

01:56 but oh so gorgeous time capsule.

01:58 Well, this is what it's like to drive a piece of history.

02:19 This is loud, it's hot, but it's utterly fantastic.

02:25 (car engine roaring)

02:28 The amazing thing is, this car feels really docile.

02:40 We're driving it at a fraction of the speed

02:44 that it was designed for.

02:46 Yet it's so tractable, so easy.

02:53 The steering feels like you're hardwired to the road.

02:57 You feel every little muscle coming back

03:01 through this old woodwind steering wheel.

03:04 Just listen to the noise of that V12 engine behind me.

03:21 (car engine roaring)

03:23 It sounds astonishing.

03:26 It's like a small war going on back there.

03:29 I don't make up my mind anymore.

03:36 Back in the day, this engine had almost 500 horsepower.

03:51 The normal Jaguar test driver would run it to 7600 RPM.

03:55 We're only allowed to go to 5000 RPM

04:00 because this is the only one of the original engines

04:03 still in existence, so we gotta take care of it.

04:07 (car engine roaring)

04:10 It's a very tight fit in here.

04:33 My former juror was a short man, only 5' something.

04:37 I'm 6'2", so my head's out in the slipstream here.

04:41 Even so, there's not a lot of buffeting.

04:43 It's actually quite comfortable.

04:46 The old car rides really well too.

04:53 (car engine roaring)

04:56 The Dunlop Racing tires are quite compliant

05:07 and the suspension, parts of which

05:09 come from the E-Type Jaguar,

05:11 work really nicely over these roads.

05:14 It's a real shame this car never had a race.

05:20 It was designed to win at Le Mans

05:23 and I think with a bit of development and a bit of tuning,

05:26 it would have given Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche

05:29 a real run for their money.

05:31 (car engine roaring)

05:34 (car engine roaring)

05:37 (car engine roaring)

06:05 The idea of this beautiful British Racing Green Jaguar

06:08 running wheel to wheel with Scarlet Ferraris

06:11 and booming Ford GT40s down Moulin St.

06:14 is enough to set any enthusiast's pulse racing.

06:18 Sadly, it wasn't to be.

06:20 But our drive in the XJ13 has given us a tantalising glimpse

06:24 of what a glorious spectacle it might have been.

06:27 (upbeat music)

06:29 (car engine roaring)

06:32 (car engine roaring)

06:36 (upbeat music)

06:38 (upbeat music)

06:41 (whooshing)

Jaguar XJ13 - Motor Trend Classic

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