1971 Jaguar E Type V12

Safe to say, if Enzo had seen this Jaguar E-type first, he may not have been quite so effusive with his praise for its looks. That said, he was a racer at heart and its performance and track record would surely have impressed the great man.

This 1971 Series 3 car was rebuilt by Fred Cliffe for the Modsports racing category in 1977. He acquired a V12 race engine and gearbox from the Broadspeed XJC programme and campaigned the car successfully for nearly a decade, continuing its development until he listed the car for sale in 1986.

Accomplished E-type racer Malcolm Hamilton - sponsored by his own engineering business and supported by Rob Beere Racing - was looking for something faster and Cliffe’s V12E “Beast” caught his eye.

He raced the car mostly within the Aston Martin Owners Club Intermarque series and in his opening season of 1988 posted seven outright wins, four runners-up spots and one third place. In one of those races - at his home circuit of Oulton Park - such was his average speed that he finished over half a minute ahead of the next E-type.

That season earned the car a feature in Jaguar Driver magazine in May 1989, declaring that it “is now considered the world’s fastest V12 E-type.”

But that was BEFORE the 1990 season, where the car was fitted with a larger and even more powerful 7.3-litre V12.

After five years of hard racing - much of it against the likes of Gerry Marshall in his Aston Martin V8 - the Beast took a break for a rebuild during the 1993 and ‘94 seasons. It reappeared in 1995 sporting a large carbon-fibre rear wing taken from a TWR Jaguar XJR-9 “Silk Cut” Le Mans race car. Needless to say, its success continued over the next handful of years, taking more wins and setting lap records at several circuits.

In 2001, the Beast was taken to the Woodbridge Speed Trials - essentially a straight-line blast up the runway of the former RAF and USAF base - where it was clocked at a staggering 184 mph, having reached 150 mph in around 8 seconds.

Sadly, being side-swiped by a Porsche in an accident at Oulton Park later that year ended the car’s competitive career - but what a record; 52 race victories and 87 podium finishes.

Our vendor has a lifelong passion for Jaguars - and especially the E-type - and has owned several, including other racing models. He was previously active in the Jaguar Drivers Club and has written for the Jaguar Enthusiast Magazine and has published a book on Jaguar competition E-types.

He also collected memorabilia - like damaged body panels from racing E-types. When he approached Rob Beere and asked if he had anything suitable, he really wasn’t expecting to be offered a whole car in pieces, let alone The Beast, which had lain dormant for most of the noughties.

With the deal done in 2009, he eventually started to put the car back together four years later, preserving and restoring it as closely as possible to its last competitive specification. The project took him 2-3 years, having to send the car away for some of the specialist jobs.

Since completion, the car has been looked after by a race transportation and storage company not far from Silverstone. The Beast was requested by the Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust to be displayed at Gaydon for the 60th Anniversary of the E-type, and was also invited to Brooklands for the Jaguar 100 year celebrations.

The car has also been the subject of numerous magazine articles and publications - not to mention the owner’s recent book, “Jaguar E-type Factory and Private Competition Cars”.

In Hamilton and Beere’s hands, the Beast always managed to secure a race number the same as the last two digits of the year, so you can see today that it is presented in the race livery and markings of its final campaign of 2001. The white bodywork with twin blue racing stripes is reminiscent of Briggs Cunningham’s period racing livery.

Long having departed from the factory look of a Series 3 E-Type, this racing car has received numerous modifications to its aerodynamics. Carbon fibre covers over the headlamp apertures, a front air dam with chin spoiler and end plates, low sills, a fixed hardtop, rear diffuser and a huge rear wing.

In addition, a large bonnet snout helps feed the V12 with air, and other ventilation ducts, holes and louvres have been added where necessary.

The body and its appendages are a veritable smorgasbord of lightweight materials including plywood, titanium, aluminium, fibreglass and carbon fibre - and the car weighs in at 1275kg, which is about a quarter of a tonne lighter than a road-going V12 E-type.

It sits on wheels from an XJ220 Le Mans race car, currently fitted with Dunlop racing slick tyres. The large AP Racing brakes are visible through the spokes.

On a normal E-type listing, this is where we’d be describing the period sporting comfort of the cabin’s interior.

In the case of a race specification car like this, the only nod to (relative) comfort is the thinly upholstered Corbeau Sprint bucket seat with its LUKE five-point racing harness and a padded leather grip Sparco steering wheel.

For equipment, instead of a period radio and Jaeger dials, this E-type is kitted out with various gauges - RPM being the most important and prominent - as well as all manner of kill switches, toggles and a plumbed-in dual fire-extinguisher system.

For ease of adjustment and maintenance, the Fireball ignition pack and engine control units are mounted either side of the transmission tunnel.

Remove the lightweight front clamshell and rather than seeing much of the engine, you see a large air filter sat astride the V.

In terms of drivetrain specification, this is a dry sump, 7.3-litre Jaguar V12 fitted with Cosworth pistons and fed by six twin-choke Weber carburettors. It is mated via a triple-plate clutch to a Hewland Engineering dog-leg gearbox.

It is to all intents and purposes a TWR Group C specification drivetrain that will develop 750 bhp and 922 Nm of torque, capable of propelling the car to 150 mph in 8 seconds and on to a top speed of 184 mph - impressive stuff.

The suspension comprises wishbones and anti-roll bars custom-designed by Rob Beere Racing, combined with Penske springs and dampers.

The brakes are AP Racing systems comprising 15-inch discs with 6-piston callipers at the front and 13-inch discs and 4-pot callipers at the rear.

Although this is a restoration - it is also as much a preservation, so don’t expect it to look freshly built or finely engineered. The undersides still show the scuffs, scrapes and knocks earned in battle on some of the best known race tracks of UK and Europe - as well as the engineer’s repair and build markings.

During the restoration - which was perhaps more of a reconstruction - there were a few parts missing and others that needed repairing. The bonnet and door was repaired and a replacement for the damaged box-section sill was fabricated.

The other item missing was the intricate exhaust system, which the owner had rebuilt at great expense. There are 12 individual pipes that have to thread their way through the car before exiting at twin ports in either side sill.

The car comes with three thick lever arch files full of historical documentation and photographs dating back to Cliffe’s ownership. There are also details of all its race wins, developments and so on from the early eighties to the present day.

Also with the car - and important to note when the winning bidder sends a transporter to collect it - is a large collection of spares. That’s large in physical size as well as quantity and would easily fill a large Transit van on its own.

These parts include the moulds for the fibreglass front and rear sections, around 6 spare wheels and tyres, two quick-lift jacks (large A-frames) and a half-dozen boxes of sundry spares like gear ratios, springs, brackets and the like. There are also some damaged parts like the old sill, just for completeness.

If a cat has nine lives, we reckon that this one is on its fifth - having been rebuilt around four times. Although whilst it was an active competition car it would have been subject to almost continuous improvement and tweaking to extract an extra tenth here and there.

This “world’s fastest” E-type is truly one of a kind and an important part of Jaguar racing history. Whilst it isn’t currently race-ready - indeed it hasn’t actually moved under its own power for about 6 years - it wouldn’t take much recommissioning to get the car going again, at least to be able to carry out demonstration runs.

We think “The Beast” will sell for between £130,000 and £160,000 and would make a superb addition to any collection of Jaguars or historic racing cars, whether running or static.

And who knows, in the right hands and with a bit of updating to pass scrutineering, it could still be competitive. As they say, there’s life in the old dog - or cat - yet!

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located not far from Silverstone; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.