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Jaguar C-Type Continuation Might Think It's Time for 1953 Le Mans All Over Again

Jaguar Classic is gearing up to celebrate seven decades since the C-Type's arrival with a new installment in the successful Continuation program. Classic car enthusiasts and collectors now have a chance at snatching one of just eight newly hand-built sports racers that hark all the way back to 1951.
Jaguar C-Type Continuation official announcement 8 photos
Photo: Jaguar Land Rover
Jaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcementJaguar C-Type Continuation official announcement
Naturally, the Jaguar Land Rover Classic Works in Coventry, the United Kingdom, was the facility tasked with bringing the coveted sports car and popular racer back to life. Better yet, the company isn’t restarting production of the original C-type specification, which back in the day was restricted to drum brake use and had to contend with the twin SU carburetors and a total of 200 hp.

Instead, each of the eight examples of C-Type Continuation is going to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the series by rewinding the clock back to Jaguar’s glorious racing moments. At the time, the C-Type race car was developing a successful Le Mans career (having won the race at its debut in 1951), but from 1952 onwards, Jaguar wanted to pioneer the use of disc brake technology in motorsport.

As such, the 1953 edition of Le Mans saw the C-Type as the overall victor once more, also scoring an inaugural win for disc-braked cars at the legendary endurance race. By the way, the series also holds the overall honor of being the first car with disc brakes to win a race. It was a C-Type driven by the legend himself, the late Sir Stirling Moss, at the Reims Grand Prix in France.

Jaguar Classic will use the 1953 Le Mans works team car template as the basics for the new continuation series, allowing historic motor racing fans to secure a factory-specification example. Thus, the C-Type Continuation will feature the same disc brakes and the 3.4-liter straight-six engine with triple Weber 40DCO3 carburetors that could push out 220 horsepower.

Based on experience gained with the Lightweight E-type, XKSS, and D-type Continuation programs, Jaguar has also decided to create a dedicated online configurator tool for the first time, allowing customers to play with the options. For example, the C-Type will have twelve exterior shades, eight interior colors, and a raft of other readily available details.
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About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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