Automotive

Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience puts you inside classic D- and E-Types

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1961 Jaguar E-Type
The new Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience gives the public the rare chance to drive cars like the C-Type
The Jaguar D-Type race car (1955 model shown) was a Le Mans winner and predecessor to the E-Type road car
1966 Jaguar Heritage XJ13
Several heritage driving packages put you behind the wheel of Jaguar F-type models
1961 Jaguar E-Type
The Jaguar F-Type R Coupédebuts at the 2013 LA Auto Show
Jaguar introduced the F-Type Coupé, including the powerful R spec, at last fall's LA and Tokyo auto shows
Jaguar introduced the F-Type R Coupé in 2013
A look inside the F-Type R Coupé
In the "Le Mans Experience" package, the F-Type R Coupé serves as the modern day counterpart to the D-Type and XKSS
Heritage Experience drivers should enjoy the F-Type R's 542-bhp 5.0-liter supercharged V8
The Jaguar C-Type at the Monaco Historique in May 2014
After the Monaco event, the two C-Types headed straight to this year's Mille Miglia 2014
The Jaguar C-Type race car
The Jaguar D-Type won Le Mans 24 Hour events in 1955, 1956 and 1957
1959 Jaguar MKII
Jaguar will offer a special edition MKII tuned by John Coombs in the Heritage experience (pictured 1959 MKII)
The 1959 Jaguar MKII
The Jaguar XFR combines with its predecessor, the MKII, in a then-and-now driving experience
2012 Jaguar XFR
The Jaguar XFR
Jaguar F-Type at the 2013 New York Auto Show (Photo: Gizmag/C.C. Weiss)
Jaguar F-Type at the 2013 New York Auto Show (Photo: Gizmag/C.C. Weiss)
Jaguar F-Type Coupé at the 2014 New York Auto Show (Photo: Gizmag/Angus MacKenzie)
Jaguar F-Type Coupé at the 2014 New York Auto Show (Photo: Gizmag/Angus MacKenzie)
1968 Jaguar E-Type Convertible
Inside the 1961 E-Type
1951 Jaguar C-Type
The aerodynamic fin is a hallmark of the D-Type race car design
The D-Type used monocoque construction and aerodynamics penned by Malcolm Sayer, 1954 D-Type pictured,
1961 Jaguar E-Type
Jaguar celebrated 50 years of the E-Type in 2011
Jaguar E-Type at Donington Park
As the legend goes, Enzo Ferrari once called the E-Type the most beautiful car ever
A convoy of E-Types celebrates the 50th anniversary in 2011
View gallery - 35 images

Jaguar plans to extend a unique opportunity to car lovers. Next month, it will open the Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience in the UK, giving driving enthusiasts the opportunity to grab the steering wheels of rare and powerful cars from its past and present. Highlights include the classic Le Mans-winning D-Type race car, the E-Type and the all-new 542-bhp F-Type R.

Back in July, Jaguar purchased a 543-car collection from private collector James Hull, calling it the largest-known private collection of British sports cars in the world. The collection isn't strictly Jaguars, but it contains decades' worth of Jaguar heritage, including the XKSS, C-, D- and E-Types.

Instead of just keeping its impressive collection behind velvet rope and glass panels, Jaguar is doing something much cooler: letting the paying public take the cars out for test drives under the soon-to-launch Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience. The automaker says that many of the cars will make their very first public drives under the program. The program will be hosted by the same Land Rover Jaguar Special Operations that brought us brand-new E-Types and F-Type Project 7s, at the 200-acre Fen End testing facility in Warwickshire, not far from Jaguar's headquarters.

"This is the first experiential offering from our new division and is the first time in Jaguar’s history that we have made a collection of vehicles of this caliber available for ‘arrive and drive’ experiences," says Special Operations managing director John Edwards. "It’s an extremely exciting new project that underscores the very essence of what Special Operations is all about – celebrating heritage with our eyes firmly on the future."

The Jaguar C-Type at the Monaco Historique in May 2014

The program will have an emphasis on historical pairings, letting participants drive a classic Jaguar and its modern-day successor. For instance, the £275.00 (US$445) D-Type and F-Type R experience gives you 15 minutes in Jaguar's classic race car and 15 minutes in one of its latest, most powerful sports cars, each alongside a Jaguar professional who talks in detail about the cars. The £195 MKII & XFR pack puts the driver inside a classic 1960s MKII Coombs special edition and a modern 503-bhp XFR (15 minutes in each).

Beyond those packages, there are E-Types, C-Types and XK150s, right on up to the £2,000 full-day, nine-car Grace & Pace experience. In addition to driving, you can also jump in the passenger seat and let a Jaguar employee chauffeur you around.

If your only mission is to drive one of the very D-Types that sped to victory at Le Mans in the mid-50s, you may want to save your money. When looking over the Heritage Drive website, we came across this disclaimer:

"Due to the high value of some of the heritage cars involved in this program some models used will be recreations of the original cars. All recreations are faithful to the originals they are based on and are made with care by the Jaguar Heritage engineering team. Specific recreations include: the C-type, the D-type and the XKSS. The C-type, the D-type and the XKSS cars used at this event are recreations to the original specification and come complete with FIA homologation papers."

The 1959 Jaguar MKII

While it may not have that vintage worn-leather and engine-oil smell, a classic recreation built by Jaguar to original specifications is still pretty special. The package prices aren't exactly cheap, but they're within reach of a lot of Jaguar fans looking to do something different with their vacation/entertainment funds – something like taking the wheel of a car they would never get to drive otherwise. We love the idea of testing timeless icons side by side with the successors they helped inspire decades later, and we're already checking prices on flights to the UK.

The new Heritage Driving Experience opens up next month. You can find more details about the packages, dates and bookings at jaguarheritagedriving.com. Get a closer look at some of the models included in the experience in the gallery we put together with help from Jaguar's heritage photo archives. Just note that the cars pictured aren't the exact cars that will be used in the experience, merely the same model types.

Source: Jaguar

View gallery - 35 images
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1 comment
ei3io
WAIT,, without xk120s? But with charming yet bloated sedans by not including THE CLASSIC Beauty which started it all, the 120,, then that whole grouping lacks some real validity.