The Pinnacle of the Evolutionary Chain.... [PIC]

From the C to the D to the E comes the XJ13. This is the last, most aerodynamic and artistic Triumph of designer Malcolm Sayer. THis was to be another Le Mans winner with development beginning in 1964 but had to be delayed in order to finish and debut the the saloon car XJ6 which didn't happen until 1968. By that time, the XJ13 was obsolete. As a prototype, its 502hp, 5.0 liter  V12 could not compete as a rule change limited that class to 3 liters. 50 cars would have been needed for homologation to run larger engines and it would not be able to compete with the new designs of Ford, Ferrari and the Porsche 917. So the XJ13 was mothballed having never raced. The 4 OHC V12 was adapted to the Series 3 E-Type for 1970. In 1971, the XJ13 was pulled from retirement to star in a promotional film for the E-Type V12. On the banks of the track,  a tire blew and the car rebounded froma retaining fence and flipped end over end twice. The frame was strong enough to make the car salvageable and in 1972 it was decided to restore the car and it went off to Abbey Panels who still had the original jigs. Fully restored, the car runs and has been shown at various event and 40 years after its target date, did a lap at Le Mans prior to the race. It now resides at the Jaguar Heritage Museum. If you really want one, recreations are available for a mere $195,000.