Revived UK-based racing team Ecurie Ecosse has unveiled the LM69 as a road-legal reimagination of Jaguar’s 1966 XJ13 prototype racer.
The company said the new model has been built as if revered British racing team Ecurie Ecosse had recovered the abandoned XJ13 prototype from storage and prepared it to race at Le Mans in 1969.
In reality, changes to homologation rules meant the original never competed, and it was only following a heavy crash in 1971 with engineer Norman Dewis at the wheel, that the model was salvaged and restored to its former glory.
Unlike the original, of which only one was ever made, 25 examples of the LM69 will be hand-built at Ecurie’s Redditch facility, with an emphasis on sourcing parts and labour locally. The model is available to order now, at an estimated price of £750,000.
As with the XJ13, the LM69 is powered by a mid-mounted quad-cam V12 engine, which sits beneath a 1960s-style transparent curved decklid. Performance details for the 5.3-litre unit are unconfirmed, but the XJ13’s 5.0-litre unit produced 502bhp and was good for a 161mph top speed. The LM69 can be specced with an upgraded variant of the same engine, with capacity increased to 7.3 litres.
Styling has evolved to incorporate a fixed roof, prominent rear wing and aerodynamic-enhancing winglets, but remains largely faithful to Jaguar designer Malcolm Sayer’s original shape. Engineers have added no technology or design features that entered motorsport after 1969.
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1966 XJ13
www.BuildingTheLegend.co.uk
Dreadful
As replicas go, that is absolute rubbish.
To pretend it is what Ecurie Ecosse would have done with XJ13 is laughable rubbish.
And Felix, next time do some research before copying and pasting a press release; far, far better replicas are available elsewhere.
It's not a replica!
Yes, there are replicas of the XJ13 about - most pretty grim. The best of the bunch by far and the only ones that can lay claim to being "toolroom copies" are those built in the UK by Building The Legend
www.buildingthelegend.co.uk
Felix Page wrote: