John Surtees’ BMW 503 leads this month’s showroom highlights

Can you believe it’s already 12 years since Jaguar Classic unveiled its first recreation project at California’s Monterey Car Week?

The model in question was the famed Special GT E-type (commonly known as the Lightweight) which was due to have been produced in 18 examples across 1963 and 1964 in a bid to take on cars such as the Ferrari 250 GTO and Ford GT40 at the Le Mans 24 Hours and other notable endurance races.

In the event, just a dozen were produced, leading Jaguar to announce exactly 50 years later that it would finally complete the ’set’ by building the missing six and giving them the unused chassis numbers set aside for the original run.

The car shown at Monterey was a prototype example that wouldn’t be for sale – but it still meant that, in reality, seven continuation cars were created, not six. All were built to the original specifications, with 3.8-litre, straight-six engines producing more than 340bhp and all-aluminium bodywork that meant they tipped the scales at little more than a tonne (114kg less than standard steel-bodied road cars). Buyers could also alter aspects of the specification in order to make cars their own.

With a price tag of around £1m, the official continuation cars were something of a bargain compared with the average selling price of £6m achieved by the three original examples that have ever been offered for sale (although race provenance does add value).

The example on offer at DK Engineering is among the most interesting of the six commercially available cars, because it is the actual one used by Jaguar Classic to promote the project in North America. As a result, it was displayed on the at the Monterey Motorsports Reunion on the Jaguar Special Vehicle Operations stand and appeared in numerous magazines and websites, after which it was returned to Jaguar Classic HQ where it was fully stripped down and rebuilt to ‘as new’ condition.

The subsequent owner then covered a mere 700 miles in the car before it was acquired by DK Engineering five years ago.

Between then and now, the car was sent to ADP Classic Racing in Witham, Essex, where it was subjected to a six-month race preparation programme said to have cost £160,000 (with £60,000 going on the engine and parts alone).

According to DK, the work, which included a full and meticulous rebuild of the dry sump engine with its alloy block and wide-angle cylinder head, has turned the Lightweight into “a front-running race car” which, being a factory-built continuation, is entitled to compete in GT & Sports Car Cup and Peter Auto events without the usual penalties imposed on lesser recreations.

But if its next owner just wants to have some fun at the steering wheel on the road and/or drive it to the odd track day, adding to the meagre 700 miles it has covered, that’s OK too – it’s fully road legal and comes with a period-correct registration number.

1963 Jaguar E-type Lightweight Continuation ‘car 0’
On sale with DK Engineering, Chorleywood Hertfordshire, £1.35m+VAT. dkeng.co.uk

Dealer News

Catch the rays in Surtees’ BMW 503

● Jaguar’s E-type, top, may be the best-looking car of all time but this 1957 BMW 503 CABRIOLET, above, below, must run it close. One of just six right-hand-drive models, it found its way into the hands of BMW fan JOHN SURTEES in 1992. The former F1 and bike world champ restored the car in 2003. It’s on sale at DYLAN MILES in Royal Tunbridge Wells for £295,000.

● While on the subject of open-top cars, online marketplace CARGURUS has grim news. There are just 11 convertible models available from the UK’s top 30 makers, a fall of 70% from the peak in 2005. “Today, carmakers focus investment on SUVs and electrification,” says CarGurus UK editorial director Chris Knapman.

● Manchester-born racing driver TONY CROOK was a real one-off. He appeared in the 1952 and ’53 British GPs (21st/Ret) and later became owner of Bristol Cars. At a motor show, he once dressed as a sheikh making false orders with rival companies. This 1955 BRISTOL 404, above – on sale at SLJ HACKETT in Wiltshire – was owned by Crook, whose upgrades included electric windows and reclining seats; £145k.

● After a right-hand drive Z06? Purveyor of US performance cool CLIVE SUTTON is now London’s CORVETTE dealer, as GM attempts to make its presence felt in the UK. A dedicated GM showroom will open at London’s Staples Corner in summer.

● DACIA took the Dakar Rally crown earlier this year, and now it has another title. A £4000 price cut for its all-electric SPRING means this is now the cheapest new car in the UK ( £11,990) (and no… Citroen’s £7695 Ami is a quadricycle). LG