A Jaguar For When The Best Is Not Quite Good Enough

Photography by: Simon Clay

If you could make your own car, what would you build?

Perhaps more important, actually, is who you’ll ask to build it. Choosing to have a ’50s-inspired sports racing car built to your specifications is special, but even more so is who did the work on this stunning, one-of-a-kind CMC Jaguar that is now being offered for sale.

As we’ve shown on Petrolicious many times, our modern world is still filled with the sort of craftspeople who could have worked alongside the masters at Italian carrozzeria. Many are in restoration, some do private work, but most importantly, the methods, measurements, materials, and tools used have often been updated to the latest technologies.

For starters, with a chassis engineered to contemporary standards by Adrian Reynard, a man that spends his working hours constructing championship-winning race cars, it should give you an indication that this CMC Jaguar isn’t your typical one-off sports car.

Built to last

Designed and constructed to be a faithful companion during long-distance touring and road rally events, at its heart is a built 320 horsepower (!) Jaguar XK straight-6! That’s surely enough power, when all one is lugging around is a race-bred tubular steel chassis and hand-made aluminum bodywork…

The creator was obsessive in his quest to create a car to fit his vision of the ideal sports racing Jaguar, and so this car even includes both a folding convertible top and stowable tonneau cover.

It’s usually difficult to find an independent opinion of a bespoke car, but this vehicle was reviewed by a few members of the motoring press, who were very enthusiastic. Writing in Telegraph Motoring, Malcolm McKay said, “As I trickle the car through town, I’m struck by the engine’s tremendous flexibility. Later, I try putting it into fifth, at 1,000 rpm, uphill, and floor the throttle. Away it goes, without sputtering or complaining: amazing.”

The Car

• Bodywork: Handmade aluminum body by Classic Motor Cars Limited (CMC); approximately 1,906 lbs (865 kg)
• Engine: 320 bhp 4.7-litre Jaguar XK straight-6 with three Weber carburetors and a host of other improvements, built by Rob Beere Racing to fast road specifications
• Transmission: All-syncromesh 5-speed Temec manual with limited-slip differential
• Weather protection: Folding convertible top and tonneau cover
• Front suspension: Modified Jaguar independent with adjustable anti-roll bar
• Rear suspension: Modified Jaguar independent
• Brakes: Non-assisted; ventilated front discs and solid rear discs
• Wheels: Borrani-styled 16-inch aluminum with stainless steel spokes
• Interior: Adjustable steering wheel and pedal box; original Jaguar XK gauges with 180 mph speedometer; period ’50s Breitling 8-day military aircraft clock with “time of trip” function; custom rebuilt XK steering wheel
• Featured in Classic & Sportscar, Jaguar Driver, Telegraph Motoring, and Jaguar Enthusiast

Ownership

The car is coming from a small private collection of ’40s–’70’s exotica and been kept in a heated garage. It has been maintained in perfect working order, having done about five hundred miles in the last year. It is being regretfully offered for sale purely to make room for something else.

It comes with special parts to modify the driver’s seat for a shorter driver, the steering wheel that was fitted from new, the tonneau cover, hood and sticks, and original body bucks. The history file includes copies of its magazine mentions and a host of other pertinent information about the car.

Our take

Owning another person’s vision for the perfect sports racing car is perhaps the only hurdle in considering this car. Looks are subjective, but by any measure, the CMC Jaguar is more than able to run with the Jaguar factory racing cars of the ’50s…albeit much more reliably and at far less expense.

1. It is for the enthusiast who loves to drive, and is excited about acquiring a vehicle that’s been thoroughly designed, engineered, built, and finished to the highest standard.

The price is GBP £175,000; you can contact Mark Shannon at:

Mobile: +44 (0) 7785 937756
Office: +44 (0) 1483 300882
Email: fazzaz[at]markshannon.net 
Website: www.markshannon.net