Jaguar Lightweight E-type (LWE) - "Car Zero" (2014)

In 1963, British ‘big cat’ Jaguar started a special GT E-type project, to create a series of all-alloy, race-inspired lightweight E-types. For reasons unknown, just 12 of the 18 planned examples were built at that time and the remaining six allocated chassis numbers were left unused. In 2014, Jaguar Heritage, part of the Jaguar Land Rover’s newly formed Special Operations division, decided to build the remaining six cars to the original 1964 specification, to be sold as period competition vehicles suitable for historic motorsport.

The body shell, like the first 12 examples built in the sixties, saves a significant 114kg from the production steel bodied E-type as Jaguar engineers have decided to eschew modern construction methods in favour of the original techniques. The engine, built from scratch using the original plans, is the same 3.8 litre straight-six unit with aluminium block.

Inner and outer surfaces of the car were digitally scanned, with most body panels then being reproduced at Jaguar’s Whitley engineering centre. With the bodywork complete, the cars will be mated to the engine’s subframe before being transferred to the company’s Browns Lane site to be completed. Inside, aluminium bucket seats feature in a functional-looking cabin, which has a wood-trimmed steering wheel and push-button starter. Jaguar design boss Ian Callum said: “With the Lightweight E-type, our focus as a design team has been to ensure justice was done to the original work of Sir William Lyons and Malcolm Sayer. I believe the result is a new Lightweight E-type that is as stunning now as the originals would have been when they were new.” Each of the six re-makes were expected to sell in excess of £1 million. The prototype car for the ‘new’ six examples was named ‘Car Zero’ and was tested extensively at Jaguar Land Rover’s Gaydon test track in the UK.

This 1:8 perfect scale Amalgam model is of the prototype car “Car Zero” as unveiled at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in August 2014. It has been handcrafted and finished in our workshops with the co-operation and assistance of Jaguar regarding original finishes, materials, archive imagery and drawings. The use of supremely accurate digital scanning of the original car has allowed us to perfectly recreate every detail at scale. Furthermore, it has undergone detailed scrutiny by both engineering and design teams to ensure complete accuracy of representation. Every Amalgam 1:8 scale model is supplied in a luxury black presentation box and mounted on a carbon fibre or leather base protected by a clear acrylic dust cover. The model title, original branding and edition number are displayed on polished stainless steel plaques mounted at the front end of the base.

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