GRRROWLR

The Car Jaguar Never Built

Thanks to Collector Chassis for sharing the story of this 1971 Jaguar Series III v12 Touring Coupe and Motorcars Incorporated 

Each of us has our own idea of what a collector car should be. Some preserve the past by restoring a classic car to its original state.

Others preserve some of the past but add subtle exterior enhancements and modern-day engine, mechanicals and upgraded interior. Similar to the example of the custom Jaguar E-Type, Chip Foose unveiled at SEMA 2019.

Enter Dean Cusano, of the family owned Motorcars Incorporated and Steve Kalmin, a collector. They believe future collectors will want big displacement front engine touring examples like the 1964 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso (below), or the 1978 Aston Martin Vantage (below), or modern day Vanquish.

Some may ask, "if you love Jaguars, why not buy a 1990’s front engine 12-cylinder XJS coupe?" Not Dean and Steve who determined that year and model was too new. They preferred to emulate a later model Jaguar E-Type Series 1 from 1961 to 1968 because it is the most collectable series. The design Enzo Ferrari once called “The most beautiful car ever made”.

The mission? Build their own version of a modern Series 1 touring using a 1971 Jaguar 12-cylinder E-Type (Series 3) to look as if it rolled off the Jaguar assembly line in Coventry, England. Changes had to be completed in a manner that to the unsuspecting eye would appear factory.

Dean and Steve's primary rule was that the engine, mechanicals and custom touches had to be 1970's period correct. A modern-day Chevrolet LS engine swap (Chip Foose stuffed into his E-Type) was forbidden.  
 
Steve also had a requirement that the exterior color be red. Not just any red, but Rosso Bordeaux. The same color Steve McQueen commissioned Enzo Ferrari for his 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB. Dean had a connection (one of many) with a contact in Italy who tracked down the exact Ferrari color code Steve desired.  

Now all they needed was a donor car. Dean discovered a virtually rust free 1971 Jaguar E-Type 2+2 abandoned, sitting in a garage and gathering dust in Massachusetts. Even better, it was already red (Signal Red) with desirable bolt on wheels and a high compression 12-cylinder engine. The Jaguar was brought to the Motorcars shop in Plainville, Connecticut, and disassembled.

It was the beginning of many Saturday's where Steve and Dean would find themselves just sitting and staring at the car for hours. They would experiment with design iterations such as moving fender arches up and down as they thoughtfully brought their vision to life.

The build began with Dean and his restoration crew lowering the top 3.5”. Imagine the complexity of chopping and realigning the rake of the rear hatch, quarter windows, window frames, windshield, and cantrail which is the channel around the door frame outlining the top. There is an art to perfectly aligning doors that shut with the unmistakable sound of quality befitting of a high end coupe.

The roof was cut into four sections and refitted. Dean Modified a windshield from a Jaguar roadster to give it a lower profile to complete the factory look of a Coupe. A change Dean's crew made so subtle that most people won’t notice the new roofline unless another factory-made E-Type 2+2 is parked next to it.  

Dean estimates that lowering the top consumed almost 400 hours of labor alone. When all the body work was completed, the only panels not modified were the driver and passenger doors.

Dean and Steve's vision for a proper touring is a coupe with no back seat. To convert the 2+2, they redid the inside to remove the rear seat. Dean's crew moved the rear bulkhead and the differential forward and added a racing fuel cell in the rear.

They slightly widened the rear fenders and completely re-built the back end of the car to resemble a Series 1 coupe. Both were careful to maintain the flowing fender lines and retain the signature Jaguar flairs on the outside of the wheel wells (see above). This was another attention to detail that some would ignore as too much work but a critical detail Dean and Steve would not overlook.

For the interior, Dean knew a retiring and very skilled upholstery craftsman. Dean convinced him to take on this unique project and handed him a seat design Dean sketched on a Subway wrapper.

Three months later, the front seats were delivered. The tubular seat frames were custom made with plenty of support to firmly hold driver and passenger in comfort during vintage racing events. Six of the finest full cow hides were imported from England, perforated and beautifully stitched with an embroidered Jaguar logo and four point restraint.

If you look closely on the console (below left) ahead of the shifter, you will notice two removable time clocks for vintage racing events. Another example of Dean and Steve's critical eye for detail.

The high compression engine was disassembled and rebuilt to increase output 440 to 460 horsepower. It is connected to a Tremec 5-speed manual transmission with racing clutch.

Six Weber dual downdraft (IDF) carburetors feeding 12 thirsty cylinders are rare, and it took Dean a year to find them. They were carefully rebuilt but sat too high for the classic Jaguar bonnet to close. To avoid cutting a hole in the sacred bonnet, Dean's crew redesigned the engine frame by lowering it and moving the engine back toward the cabin. A change that would also improve weight distribution.

Under speed, the air intake below the bonnet’s redesigned front grill ingests colder air. A unique seal (with bonnet closed) around the dead air box forces this air into the six Weber carbs. It allows cool air to enter, and hot air to escape out the stock louvres for better performance.

Dean designed and his crew fabricated a slanted radiator out of aluminum and installed cooling fans from a Shelby Cobra of the 70’s. Brake ducts were added in the front to cool the big brakes under spirited driving.

Jaguar Racing was known for using silver paint beneath the bonnet. The light color made it easier to identify leaks or problems at a fast glance during a pit stop. Dean continued this color theme in the engine bay. The front grill in the bonnet was set back 4” and redesigned with a cleaner look. Dean's signature design touch was extending the left and right chrome accent moldings (below) that ran from the headlights past the end of the bonnet.  

Period correct, super light, custom tooled one piece 17” wheels were commissioned. During a Saturday session, Dean and Steve realized the wheels were still too narrow. Dean sent them out to be widened to accommodate wider tires and fill out the wider fenders. They also staggered the wheel sizes with narrow in the front and wider in the rear to compliment the coupes lower stance and handling.

The one-off exhaust headers were custom made in England. The remaining exhaust was custom built in polished stainless. Each pipe playing the glorious sound of three high compression cylinders.

As you approach from the rear you are drawn into the deep Rosso Bordeaux paint displaying four menacing exhaust pipes and extra meaty tires. A clear indication as you get closer, that this is no ordinary 1971 Series III E-Type. This could be the car that Jaguar never built.

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