Best of the V12 series episode 4 – The tragic one (1966 Jaguar XJ13)

It was June 11, 1955. Mike Hawthorn pulled his Jaguar D-type right, in front of Lance Macklin, and started braking for pit. Macklin tried to circumvent, only for Pierre Levegh to rear end him with his Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR at high speed. This was the 1955 Le Mans disaster, and things weren’t the same after that. Not in the least for Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz.

The latter retired from motor racing until 1989. The former went on to win 2 more Le Mans races in the 50s (‘56 and ‘57) before the Ford and Ferrari-dominated 60s. Oh what could have been had the Jaguar XJ13 wound up on the track in 1966 to challenge the big guns for motor sport supremacy?

1966 XJ13: Destiny’s prodigal child

Alas, it was not meant to be. Ghosts of the ’55 Le Mans and other road car priorities (at least that’s what Jag says to sleep easy) meant that the Jaguar XJ13 was the most beautiful car to never hit the track. Tragic.

In the early 60s, the boys at Jag conceived an ambitious idea to create a mid-engine hot rod that could challenge Ford and Ferrari at Le Mans. But the spark fizzled, the blueprint was buried beneath other plans, and their 5L V12 prototype didn’t see the light of day until 1964.

Married to a five-speed manual transmission was an ingenious piece of machinery around which the XJ13 was built.

From Claude Baily’s innovative mind, the design basically mated two DOHC six cylinders to a common crankshaft and aluminium block and used Lucas mechanical injection to produce the power of 502 ponies.

The XJ13 had all the makings of a proper race car, and seemed destined for the track. With aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer’s sleek aquatic aluminium profile, this gorgeous Jag could glide through the air with minimum drag, which would have been perfect for the high speed Mulsanne Straight. The key to winning Le Mans.

Too little too late

The talented David Hobbs track tested the XJ13 in ‘66, reporting back that the car still couldn’t quite match up to the GT40. It was not ready for Le Mans ’66. To add salt to the wounds, a change in regulations restricted engines to 3.0L. This meant the XJ13 couldn’t compete in ’67 either.

The Jag boys gave up, and Le Mans enthusiasts would never know if the XJ13 would have changed the GT40’s winning outcome.

Some put this down to sheer laziness, and the lack of willingness to get the car ready in time. Others might say it really was a little bit too much.

Yes, it would have needed a mammoth effort from team Jaguar, but would it have been worth it? We’re talking about Le Mans ‘66! They even made a film on it!

Silver linings

Okay, maybe pushing on with the XJ13 wasn’t the worst idea in the world. Because a few years later, it was brought in to do some promo work for the V12 E-Type.

Jag’s chief test driver, Norman Dewis, saw the opportunity to set the record straight.

He went all out, disintegrating an old tire in the process, and the car flipped, flipped, flipped, coming to a rest in a heap of twisted metal. Dewis survived, but the car was written off. Done, and dusted, until…

…Edward Loades, the fairy godmother in this tale, saw it and offered to restore it using some of the surviving bits. He waved his magic wand, and saved the XJ13 from its sorry state, turning it into a $10 million car.

Just comes to show what a little TLC and belief can do. The message here? Never, ever give up on a Jag. The next time, it could be YOU that Christian Bale plays in a film, and not Ken Miles.

The tragic XJ13 takes its place in our hearts and at number 4 on our list of great V12s. Watch this space for the next, and final reveal!