The British company Ecurie Cars has announced the release of a road sports car with the appearance of the racing prototype Jaguar XJ13 from the 60s. The new model is called LM69 and is based on the idea of reproducing the car's appearance as if it had participated in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1969.
The LM69 coupe with smooth body contours almost exactly replicates the appearance of the original XJ13, when viewed from the perspective of evolution. The new car has a fixed roof, the shape of the air intakes has changed, winglets have been added at the front, and a rear wing at the back. At the same time, the creators of the car deliberately did not use any technological or stylistic solutions that came to motorsport after 1969.
Under the rounded transparent cover of the engine compartment is a five-liter V12 with four camshafts — the same engine that was on the original car. The specification is still kept secret, but on the XJ13 the naturally aspirated engine produced 509 horsepower and 523 Nm of torque and accelerated the car to 100 kilometers per hour in 3.4 seconds. In accordance with the spirit of racing prototypes, the sports car has no electronic assistants.
The original Jaguar XJ13 is exhibited at the British Motor Museum. The sports car was built in a single copy for Le Mans, but due to changes in the regulations, it never took part in the races. In 1971, the car was seriously damaged in an accident, but was restored to its original condition. It is claimed that the XJ13 was never put up for sale, and its current owner in 1996 refused to sell the car for seven million pounds sterling, although this was three times the price of the Ferrari 250 GTO — one of the most expensive classic cars.
The public debut of the LM69 will take place at the Concours d'Elegance at Hampton Court Palace in London in early September. The planned production run is 25 units. The price will be announced later.
