28/05/2012 Editor's Choice: Jaguar E-type SI 3.8-litre Competition Roadster
There are few images more evocative of the Le Mans 24 Hours in the early 60s than that of a Briggs Cunningham E-type, battered and grime-stained, pounding round to the 4 o’clock finish. This racing ‘E’ is much cleaner – and probably a little more affordable…
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The car you see here was painstakingly built by marque specialist West Riding Jaguar and is for sale at Coys’ showroom in Richmond, South West London.
It’s based on a tub from a 1965 Roadster and has had many modifications, improvements and lightweight components installed, all in the manner of the famous factory-built ‘Lightweight E-types’.
So, there’s a glassfibre hardtop, aluminium bonnet, doors, rear wings and boot lid, and a full-race, wet-sump engine with triple Weber 45 DCOE carburettors. Everything is to FIA specification and the car comes with FIA/HTP papers.
The racing set-up is completed by the addition of peg-drive magnesium-alloy wheels and Dunlop L-section racing tyres.
Oh, and of course the famous white-with-blue-stripes livery of the Cunningham racing team.
But if you’re not quite ready for the Silverstone Classic, Tour Auto or Spa 6 Hours, popping a passenger seat into the cabin transforms the car into the perfect car for (very) fast, two-up touring.
