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Written by Tom Harrison
Jaguar is not known for its rallying heritage. Mainly, we thought, because it doesn"t really have any.Turns out this is not the case. Back in 1950 a man called Ian Appleyard and his wife Pat - daughter of company-founder Sir William Lyons - entered an XK120 in the Alpine Rally, then one of the world"s most prestigious motor races, and the event for which Alpine (the brand) was named. They finished without incurring a single penalty point, so naturally they entered twice more and did the same again. Meanwhile, in 1951 they won the 2,100-mile long Tulip Rally, and in 1953 were crowned the first official winners of Britain"s RAC Rally. All in the same Jaguar XK120, which by now we suspect was starting to look a bit second-hand.And it"s that XK120 that inspired the creation of this thing - a Jaguar F-Type rally car not intended to compete (getting it homologated would cost money JLR simply doesn"t have at the moment) but nonetheless effectively built to proper FIA specs. We"ve driven it, too. So, click through the gallery for a run-down of just how you go about turning a sports car into proper rally car, plus a quick look at what it actually feels like to drive.
Date written: 14 Feb 2019
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 14850
Jaguar is not known for its rallying heritage. Mainly, we thought, because it doesn"t really have any.Turns out this is not the case. Back in 1950 a man called Ian Appleyard and his wife Pat - daughter of company-founder Sir William Lyons - entered an XK120 in the Alpine Rally, then one of the world"s most prestigious motor races, and the event for which Alpine (the brand) was named. They finished without incurring a single penalty point, so naturally they entered twice more and did the same again. Meanwhile, in 1951 they won the 2,100-mile long Tulip Rally, and in 1953 were crowned the first official winners of Britain"s RAC Rally. All in the same Jaguar XK120, which by now we suspect was starting to look a bit second-hand.And it"s that XK120 that inspired the creation of this thing - a Jaguar F-Type rally car not intended to compete (getting it homologated would cost money JLR simply doesn"t have at the moment) but nonetheless effectively built to proper FIA specs. We"ve driven it, too. So, click through the gallery for a run-down of just how you go about turning a sports car into proper rally car, plus a quick look at what it actually feels like to drive.
Date written: 14 Feb 2019
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 14850
