Original Lightweight E‑Type hitting the block with Bonhams

Author

Bob Murray
Categories

Race

Historic
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An original racing Lightweight E-Type from 1963 is to be auctioned in the US in January. The tenth of 12 factory Lightweights, the rare and historic Jaguar has incredibly had just three owners from new and covered only 4,000 miles and is expected by Bonhams to make between US$7.5-8 million (about £6-6.3m).

News of the car’s sale – it is the first Lightweight to be offered in the US since 1999 – is sure to spark huge interest among Jaguar collectors, since Lightweights change hands so infrequently. It is believed one sold in the UK in 2015 for something over £4m.

The Lightweight E-Type is one of Britain’s true GT greats, created out of racing necessity in the ‘60s, and today more acclaimed than ever, as anyone who has seen it dominate in the RAC TT Celebration race at Goodwood recently will confirm. At Revival, it really has earned its nickname as “the Ferrari GTO killer”.

Why is the car so special? Compared to the regular steel-bodied E-Type, the Lightweight boasted a hand-formed alloy body and, living up to its name, was homologated at just 960kg. The 3.8-litre dry-sumped alloy-block XK engine put out 300bhp or more through a close ratio four-speed ‘box. So it wasn’t just
beautiful, but also fast and – say those who race it today with such vigor at Goodwood – a delight to handle. It’s a recipe that Jaguar Special Operations has followed exactly in its continuation run of six further Lightweights (there was originally meant to be a total of 18) announced in 2014 and now all long sold at circa £1m each.

Unlike its predecessors, the Jaguar C and D-Types, in period no Lightweight E-Type won at Le Mans or Sebring, but the car in the Bonhams sale is a championship title-holder. In 1963 Bob Jane drove it to victory in the Australian GT Championship – beating a Corvette and an E-Type in a 10-lap title decider at Calder Park. Down under, Bob Jane is a motor racing icon, as well known for his four Bathurst wins and multiple Australian Touring Car titles as his chain of Bob Jane T-Marts car accessory shops.

Since its moment of fame in the Antipodean sunshine 53 years ago, little is known of E-Type Lightweight Competition number S850667, one of 11 surviving cars (excluding the modern continuation models) at Browns Lane from 1963. With a total of just three owners from new, the car has been out of the public eye for much of its life and comes to the Bonhams Scottsdale sale in Arizona from a private collection where it has been since 1999.

As you would expect, the Lightweight is in fine original fettle, with almost all the interior just as the car left the factory. Bonhams says it is “almost unheard of” today to have a championship-winning car in such original condition. “It is without question one of the best, most original examples of the Factory Lightweights in existence.”

Bonhams also points out that any Lightweight is far rarer than the C-Type (53 made) or D-Type (71 cars) and that few collectors in the world can boast of having all three famous Jags. Perhaps there will soon be another? What a trio of cats to have in your garage…

Bonhams Scottsdale Auction is at the Westin Kierland Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona, on Thursday, January 19^th, 2017.