Several months ago I met Peter Sargent who wished to have models of the three Jaguars he drove with Peter Lumsden at Le Mans in the Early 60’s. This was still very much a time when a Gentleman could enter and be competitive at Le Mans. In 1962 they entered one of the first production E Types at Le Mans and despite gearbox problems caused by an error at Jaguar in the 22nd hour they finished 5th. Peter laughed as he recounted that the two Peters really thought they could come back and win with a private entry.
This second year was really a disappointing flop as the Lister Costin Coupe never handled properly and when the clutch bolt failed ( another Jaguar supplied part) it was rather a relief to withdraw. The real potential of the car has recently been apparent in the hands of Justin Law particularly back at Le Sarthe when in 2002 it was the fastest qualifier in
the Historic race supporting the 24hrs quicker than many much later cars.
The Classic Jaguar Kit
|
The subject of this kit is the 1964 Low Drag Jaguar perhaps the prettiest E Type racer of all. The car was originally produced in France by Vroom and the masters were sold to Classic Jaguar Models who have substantially updated the kit. The shape which looks quite superb seems unchanged from the Vroom original the main change being that the moulded on handles, bonnet straps etc are now separately cast in white metal. |
|
In the Vroom kit all the parts were cast in resin Vroom resin castings being superb but at times very fragile and the pictures show where changes have been made. Particularly nice on the new kit are the cast metal wheels with separate knock off hubs.
|
|
|
Classic Jaguar
kit |
Vroom kit |
The kit will also produce a later version of the car; as it appeared in the hands of John Carden at Silverstone in 1973 nearly ten years later. I suspect that most will produce the Le Mans kit and we are fortunate to still see this great car now back in its original livery racing in historic events. The instructions for both kits are clear with separate instructions provided for both models. Having built the Vroom kit I have no doubt that this will build into a superb model
|
