Building the Legend

As stated earlier in this blog, my intention is to create a facsimile of Jaguar's unique XJ13 - as it was in 1966/67 and before it was rebuilt in 1972/73. It had to be rebuilt after it was badly damaged on the eve of its first public appearance in 1971. My aim is to recreate the car as faithfully as... [More]

It never ceases to amaze me just how many original parts and original unpublished accounts/documents still turn up for the XJ13/quad-cam engines after so many years. Recent discoveries have included a complete set of UNUSED inlet valves for the quad-cam heads as well as previously undiscovered photo... [More]

  Click HERE to download this post for your Amazon Kindle and read at your leisure. As the build of the "trial" all-steel monocoque/chassis progresses, I wanted to consider the materials that should be used for construction of the component parts of my final version. Jaguar th... [More]

  Click HERE to download this post for your Amazon Kindle and read at your leisure. Background Work has finally commenced on building up the chassis/monocoque of my recreation of the 1966 Jaguar XJ13 - a "snapshot" of the car as it was in 1966 before it was crashed and modified. Al... [More]

On the 3rd June 1965 an internal "Instruction to Proceed (XJ13 Car)" was issued by Jaguar’s Bob Knight – it started, “Build one prototype competiton car …”. Responsibilities for all aspects of the car’s design were allocated – the responsibility for the bod... [More]

  noun. Zeit·geist … is a German word. Zeit meaning “time” and Geist meaning “ghost,” Zeitgeist means the spirit of the age or times.   Original 1966 XJ13 - MIRA 1971 The 1966 Jaguar XJ13 is no more. Its spirit and identity live on in a Jaguar-built r... [More]

The following notes and pictures detail a selection of original documents relating to development of the original XJ13: Preliminary drawing by George Buck - November 1963 XJ13 body - note the original, pre-1973, wheelarch profile (altered during the 1973 rebuild by Abbey Panels) Extract from XJ13... [More]

At this stage in the project I thought it would be worthwhile exploring whether or not there is even a remote possibility a XJ13 copy could qualify for FIA HTP papers - the possibility of continuing on where Jaguar left off and competing against the GT40s in events such as The Le Mans Classic is ver... [More]