Take a look into the past with Angus MacKenzie and the Jag that never got its chance to roar... Until now.
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00:00 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:03 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:07 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:34 It's not every day we get to drive a truly one-of-a-kind
00:36 automobile, but today is one of those days.
00:40 This is the Jaguar XJ13, the only one
00:43 of its kind in the world.
00:46 It was designed and engineered in the mid-1960s by Jaguar
00:49 to go racing at Le Mans.
00:51 Though extensively tested, the XJ13
00:54 never actually turned a wheel in anger on the racetrack.
00:58 Changes to the Le Mans regulations
01:00 meant the project was shelved in the summer of 1967.
01:04 The XJ13 was wheeled into a corner of the Jaguar
01:07 Experimental Garage and left there until 1971,
01:11 when it was bought out to publicise
01:12 the launch of the V12-powered Series 3 Jaguar E-Type.
01:17 Jaguar test driver Norman Dewis famously
01:20 crashed the car when a rear wheel broke at 140 miles an hour
01:24 during filming.
01:26 Dewis escaped unhurt.
01:28 The XJ13 was not so fortunate, but it was repaired
01:32 and finally made its public debut in a demonstration run
01:36 at the British Grand Prix in 1973.
01:40 Now owned by the Jaguar Heritage Trust,
01:42 it's been a runner pretty much ever since.
01:44 And most of it is exactly the way
01:46 it was more than 40 years ago.
01:49 Climbing into the cockpit of this car
01:51 is like climbing into a time capsule, a hot, raucous,
01:56 but oh so gorgeous time capsule.
01:58 Well, this is what it's like to drive a piece of history.
02:19 This is loud, it's hot, but it's utterly fantastic.
02:25 (car engine roaring)
02:28 The amazing thing is, this car feels really docile.
02:40 We're driving it at a fraction of the speed
02:44 that it was designed for.
02:46 Yet it's so tractable, so easy.
02:53 The steering feels like you're hardwired to the road.
02:57 You feel every little muscle coming back
03:01 through this old woodwind steering wheel.
03:04 Just listen to the noise of that V12 engine behind me.
03:21 (car engine roaring)
03:23 It sounds astonishing.
03:26 It's like a small war going on back there.
03:29 I don't make up my mind anymore.
03:36 Back in the day, this engine had almost 500 horsepower.
03:51 The normal Jaguar test driver would run it to 7600 RPM.
03:55 We're only allowed to go to 5000 RPM
04:00 because this is the only one of the original engines
04:03 still in existence, so we gotta take care of it.
04:07 (car engine roaring)
04:10 It's a very tight fit in here.
04:33 My former juror was a short man, only 5' something.
04:37 I'm 6'2", so my head's out in the slipstream here.
04:41 Even so, there's not a lot of buffeting.
04:43 It's actually quite comfortable.
04:46 The old car rides really well too.
04:53 (car engine roaring)
04:56 The Dunlop Racing tires are quite compliant
05:07 and the suspension, parts of which
05:09 come from the E-Type Jaguar,
05:11 work really nicely over these roads.
05:14 It's a real shame this car never had a race.
05:20 It was designed to win at Le Mans
05:23 and I think with a bit of development and a bit of tuning,
05:26 it would have given Ferrari, Ford, and Porsche
05:29 a real run for their money.
05:31 (car engine roaring)
05:34 (car engine roaring)
05:37 (car engine roaring)
06:05 The idea of this beautiful British Racing Green Jaguar
06:08 running wheel to wheel with Scarlet Ferraris
06:11 and booming Ford GT40s down Moulin St.
06:14 is enough to set any enthusiast's pulse racing.
06:18 Sadly, it wasn't to be.
06:20 But our drive in the XJ13 has given us a tantalising glimpse
06:24 of what a glorious spectacle it might have been.
06:27 (upbeat music)
06:29 (car engine roaring)
06:32 (car engine roaring)
06:36 (upbeat music)
06:38 (upbeat music)
06:41 (whooshing)