Jaguar F-TYPE rally car celebrates 70 years of XK 120
Stripped and caged convertible Jaguar F-TYPE uses 221kW 2.0-litre turbo and stays rear-wheel driveJaguar has celebrated 70 years of the XK 120 by creating a rally version of its Jaguar F-TYPE.
Developed in-house by Jaguar's design and engineering department the two Jaguar F-TYPE rally cars have been created to meet strict FIA specification despite there being no plans to race it competitively.
That means the Jaguar F-TYPE convertibles come with uprated brakes, gravel-spec rally-ready suspension, a full roll-cage and stripped interior with ultra-lightweight race seats with six-point harnesses.
Sitting 40mm higher than standard, the rally car comes equipped with tough underbody armour while the Jag roadster gets a set of rally-spec alloy wheels and tyres.
Finally, the specially prepared F-TYPE rally cars come with a plumbed-in fire extinguisher system and a powerful bonnet-mounted LED light bar.
Under the bonnet, the powerful supercharged V8 and V6 engines were overlooked for the turbocharged 2.0-litre four-cylinder that, in the standard car, produce 221kW and 400Nm.
It's not known if the pair of rally cars get any more power or not, but it was judged the smaller engine F-TYPE provided for "better balanced" handling compared to the nose-heavier V6 and V8s.
The connection with the XK 120, meanwhile, is that the 70-year-old roadster was both successful in racing and rallying from the moment the aluminium-bodied Jag first went on sale.
Not only did the small Jag roadster do battle at Le Mans, Mille Miglia and Targa Florio, it won the Alpine Rally in both 1950 and 1952.
Perhaps more impressive, the XK 120 was the world's fastest car, recording a top speed of 120mph (193km/h) when it was launched back in 1948.
Later versions were even quicker with prototypes timed at almost 214km/h.
Jaguar hasn't announced what it plans to do with its two rally cars but it's thought both will be used for promotional purposes to help sell the special-edition Jaguar F-TYPE Chequered Flag that also commemorated 70 years of the XK 120.
Back in March at the Geneva motor show, the British car-maker's design boss, Ian Callum, revealed that a four-door version of the F-TYPE was on the cards.
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