The Jaguar XKE was already on the race tracks shortly after its introduction to the public in March 1961. In April the same year, Graham Hill scored the first racing victory for a jaguar XKE.
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
Aerodynamics was the most important idea initially in designing the jaguar XKE, which in turn gave a great chance for the Jaguar XKE to be used as a racer. The jaguar XKE racing career initiated with normal unmodified cars complete with all original upholstery even with cigar lighters and radios. The first racing XKE´s were basically showroom models. All racing XKE´s were convertibles in the beginning, this was to follow in the character of the C and D Type´s racing career. Some were raced open top while others with the retractable soft top up. Many racers noticed an increase in drag with the soft top at high speeds and ended up removing the soft top completely and installing a factory built removable hardtop instead. Despite the weight increase, racers felt much less drag.
Modifications in racing Jaguar XKE´s were diverse such as, a straight banana type exhaust manifold for each cylinder, resulting in the engine boosting around 30 hp more than the standard engine with triple two-inch SU carburetors.
Removal of everything and anything that was not necessary in the racers was starting to be common practice. Upholstery and extra seats were removed, parts of the dashboard and centre console, spare tire and jack also removed. On some cars even, racers had everything striped down, removed and the trunk welded shut. The front thin brake discs were removed and replaced with thicker discs, extra oil temperature gauges for the engine’s protection were added.
Light alloy was used wherever possible by racers, except for parts essentially necessary for strength, like suspension sub frames. The factory at Coventry supplied to some private racers thinner than usual steel monocoques, which resulted in race car uniqueness. Each and every one was different from the other.
Suspension geometry was diverse in the cars, stiffer torsion bars and springs were added and Spax or Koni shock absorbers were installed and antiroll bars bettered and competition wide rim wire or light alloy wheels.
The easy changeability of parts within various jaguar models made it simple in acquiring tougher components necessary to endure the race track. The rear suspension of some lightweights got parts from the Mark X saloon cars. It gave it more strength and occasionally a ZF differential was fitted in place of the cast iron Powr-Lok.
Private race car companies that modified the Jaguar XKE into a racing lightweight had the whole body made from scratch in an aluminium lightweight shell. One of the most famous and fastest lightweight Jaguar XKE ever was modified by the Lindner-Nöcker team.
The Jaguar XKE lightweights won a variety of races against the Astons and Ferraris, and were weighed in at a bit less than 920kg, 50kg lighter than the Ferraris and 230kg lighter than the standard steel jaguar XKE´s.
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
They proved to be very competitive on the track and they were all at this stage well above the 300hp mark, and a special one even churned out 344 hp with a Lucas fuel injection and special banana type long exhaust system.
The 4.5 liter racing units were only just starting to draw near these power outputs a few years later. The V12 engine first ran in 1962, ultimately through the years producing more than 500 hp at 8,000 rpm in 1966.
The same year, Jaguar fitted their innovative V12 to the all new racing XJ13.
Pictures of Jaguar XKE Lightweights taken recently at a Masters Classic Race.
(click on image to see larger size)
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
Jaguar XKE Lightweight
Racing Jaguar XKE Lightweight dashboard
