F-Type projects have included a specially converted Coupe designed to carry the Sky Team’s time trial bikes on the Tour de France and , the latter a car you could actually buy if you were quick enough and had £135,000 to spare. Even by those standards this one is something a bit wild though. No, your eyes do not deceive you, this is an F-Type rally car, built to hit jumps and slide sideways over gravel on forest stages with a rooster tail of dust, mud and stones in its wake.
All very amusing. But what place does Jaguar really have in rallying? More than you might think, given that nearly 70 years ago the XK120 was doing the same on gravel-surfaced mountain passes in the gruelling Alpine Rally. It may not have looked like your typical rally car but the XK’s powerful engine, speed and reliability were proven to dramatic effect by enthusiastic privateer competitor Ian Appleyard and his wife Pat Lyons. The fact she was the daughter of Jaguar founder William Lyons won’t have done any harm but their exploits in NUB 120 have gone down in Jaguar legend, this cream-coloured XK120 now part of the Jaguar Heritage Trust’s fleet and only driven on very special occasions, up to and including this year’s Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard.
Cars competing in 50s regularity events like the Alpine Rally were near-standard models but the rally F-Type has had a rather more dramatic makeover, with a full, FIA-approved rally refit that would have it a scrutineer’s signature away from being able to compete for real. Jaguar insists this won’t be happening but that hasn’t stopped it building the car to a standard where it could.