From an era when drivers were fat, and tires were skinny, the XJ13 sported a 5.0 V12 and all the aircraft engineering that designer Malcolm Sayer had learned at Bristol Aircraft. Sadly, it never went toe to tire against Ford’s GT40 or any other LeMans car as resources and budgets doomed it to being but a footnote in the annals of Jag history.
Image source: [OmniAuto.com]
Last Call – Cat Out of the Bag Edition
5 responses to “Last Call – Cat Out of the Bag Edition”
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There are few things in life that come closer to visual perfection than a NACA duct.
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It all started here folks (not that I really know…). Just one little NACA duct on the hood, looking sadly out of place among all those glorious punched-out vent slots. Soon EVERY fast car would have to have one, two, TWELVE of the things. Maserati made millions in the 70s and 80s because the salesmen could point at the ducts and say "Just like on the fighter planes, my friend! Women go nuts for fighter pilots!" Ferrari saw the Countach and had to produce the F40 because their customers were complaining that all the women were flocking to the Countach owners, and none of their three other Ferraris had NACA ducts.
It all came crashing down in the Great Duct Bubble of 1999, triggered by Y2K fears and the introduction of those bizarre bulbous nostrils in the hood of the '99 Pontiac Trans Am. -
Stig's dad preferred not to live a life of anonymity… or maybe he just couldn't see those pretty lines through a mirrored face shield.
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From Wikipedia;
"It never raced, and only one was ever produced. The car has not been officially valued, but a £7 million ($11 million) bid for it was declined by the owners in 1996" -
Because. I. Am. British.
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