When we moved to Hampshire in the late 70's, the previous owners left 2 E-types in the garage which remained there for around 2 months. When they finally collected them they left a ton of parts. I offered the lot to Jaguar who weren't interested - so they all got binned. Can you believe it
I placed a £2000 deposit for a Challenger just before they went bust. Lost the lot! Went on to buy a 1965 white e Type roadster a year later, because the prices in mid 90s fell dramatically. Still have the car 28 years later. Never regretted a second of it. I know which I prefer.
sorry to hear you lost your deposit, Both Derek and John lost everything after being stitched up by an unscrupulous businessman up in the Borders of Scotland he took everything. I too had returned to work for them. Was out of pocket wages wise but soon found work with another replica company Haldane making the Healy 3000 copy.
@@trevorjlewis Thank you for your reply. I never knew what happened and it has filled in the gaps in my knowledge. All credit to you and the Challenger company, because of the quality of the car kits, they have been rising in value for years and are as cherished by owners as any original e type.
I would absolutely love to own one!!! I just want the feeling of my old E-Type without having the care and upkeep of an original. As much as I love an original S1 for me and my budget this makes much more sense. Unfortunately there are none here in the USA to my knowledge.
Being able to trip an E-Type without worry is worth a lot and having the sound of the XK engine is icing on a beautiful cake. I remember when the E-Type came out and thought it was the most beautiful post-war car then and still with the exception of the XK-120 which to this day is my favorite Jag. It is unfortunate the car is no longer available new.
In 1993, I bought a 4.2 manual Series 1 XJ6 to build a Challenger E-type. When I took it apart it was so good that I couldn’t bear to scrap it! I rebuilt it (at ridiculous expense) and never did get my Challenger!
I made the moulds for these, I joined Triple C in Cornwall early in 1986, the flared arch mould was very poor and out of shape, so as soon as I arrived as a 21 year old fiberglass expert I set to making a new body and getting the shape perfected over a period of months ready for the new mould sans flared rear arches. I was the only employee to move North to Corby with John Wilkinson and Derek Robinson and proceeded to make many if not the majority of the Challenger bodies in my time with them. Sadly John passed away a few years ago now. Derek is still out there somewhere but I lost touch with him.
Can anyone really complain that we're getting 95% of a new E-Type in the world? Here in Australia we have bundles of Cobra kit cars at every classic car thing and honestly hooray that we have more Cobras!
I had a friend with A 1967 E, it was purchased new. All he did with it was repair it, or waiting on parts to repair it. Kept it about year and a half ago. Traded for Firebird ,was much happier.
The XK6 lump is a thing of beauty still.If the carbs are set up and a decent cam the overun takes some beating for snap , crackle and pops.Its actually very ford pinto with two cams.....A cosworth.Nothing new under the sun.
Being fibreglass you can easily create panel gaps as thin and perfect as you like with epoxy filler. This is another bonus with kit/replica cars. Try that with steel panels! Sir William Lyons originally considered building the E Type in fibreglass, having just bought Daimler with its fibreglass SP250, but you can imagine what the 1960's traditional metalworking workforce would have thought of that.
bearing in mind this car was probably manufactured over 30 years ago I think a little misalignment can be forgiven. Probably just a wee tweak of the hinges and it will be sorted. When I made the moulds I wanted to tighten up the gaps but Derek insisted we should keep them sensible and in keeping with the character of the original cars.
Never hear of this but I would drive the heck out of it! My neighbor had a black one with a Chevy engine in it. I never saw it ran. But, it was beautiful. He was a used car salesman. Had his own business. I did not know too much about cars and started my journey buy my first car from him. I would have liked it to be the Jag if it were a bit more practical and affordable for a 15 year old kid.
Same, they were amazing replicas. They need to change the law so if a company hasn't produced a car for long enough people can sell replicas. It's not like Jaguar are interested in making them anymore.
The problem with old cars is that though they look beautiful, they are by and large crap to drive and woefully unreliable. A restomod is the way to go, assuming one can afford one.
@@jwatson9732 If that's all it takes for you to laugh your ass off you should be careful because you won't have any left. You must have forgotten Jaguar D types won Les Mans three years in a row, and you must not know the first two years of Jaguar XKEs were converted D types, before the factory was built. After I sold what was left of the Jaguar I bought a van and toured Ontario playing bars in a hard rock band.
I love it. I drove an original and it had a lot of body panel quirks .this car being fiberglass u literally with a piece of sand paper could fix any fitment issues and then have car wrapped any color u like.
There used to be some folks putting small block chevy V8s in old Jags. They called them "Jagulets." Much more reliable than the V12s and even the V6 engines, and more horsepower too.
I do agree with you it is a tribute to the E type Jaguar it's so nice and the engine in this tribute how good looking is it and much cheaper slightly better than the original l never knew about them until now and how do tell a great car if it is replicated
I had a 66 + 2 back in 1968....The 4.2 was smooth as heck and it was a real touring car. No mechanical probles. I picked out a 67 roadster with a factory removable hardtop beautiful car but it required extensive restoration which took a year to complete. The replica looks great but my I would never spring for one. It's better to have the memories of the E-Type experience than trying to recreate it. The Triple C looks to be a good copy...but again its fiberglass.
@@coldlakealta4043 honestly once you started to drive on you forgot all about it being a replica, that view down the bonnet and the sound of the XK engine nothing comes close
Obviously true that Jaguar didn't produce a V8 E-Type but they could have done so easily with the two Daimler engines created by Edward Turner and they would have arguably suited the car better too. Heynes & co were a bit sniffy about them however, in part due to a V8 being inherently less smooth than the XK unit, but there was a bit of NIH syndrome. Still , the smaller unit did find its way into the Mk2 bodyshell, and it is a really nice thing to drive for it too.
@@mrdainase Daimler's dynamometer only read to 240bhp, so that is what they claimed. It gave a lot more, but no-one actually got a figure. It was in a soft state of tune, and a lot more could easily be got out of it
Great vid. Would have liked to have heard the story of how they went bust. Maybe time to resurrect the Challenger.? Wonder who has the moulds and jigs?
@@dunmail7744 yep sadly I saw photos of them some 15 years ago when Derek was trying to get me interested in making the bodies again. The moulds were trashed and the jigs rusted and damaged beyond use
There's only one part of this video I don't agree with. You said the E Type is lovely to drive and you showed a still of an S1. I've driven a few S1's and they are awful to drive, very tractor like. However they are truly gorgeous, especially the coupe. (Personal preference.)
My dad owned a JPR Wildcat, he bought it as a project from South Wales in 2010. It was originally fitted with a 2 litre Pinto engine but the engine a few months later started leaking and he had to find a replacement engine, but managed to fit his scrapped Reliant Scimitar 3 litre Ford Essex engine in it. The car was never brilliant as it had alot of gearbox and engine issues and local garages who didn't know what they were doing or couldn't be bothered sorting the problem out. Nice looking and nice colour in old english white, albeit the front and back were bulged out because of the running gear. I sold it after my dad died a few years ago for about 5 and half grand as a project, my dad bought it for 5 grand lol. He spent abit of money making it like a real e type; stainless wire wheels, the stainless steel bumpers were from Harrington Group in Taiwan costing a grand in total.
fitting the Jaguar Badges is up to the owner, when I worked for Triple C none of our show or demo cars had (at Jaguars request) Jaguar or E-Type badging. No customer cars left the factory with Jaguar and or E-Type badging. Purely down to the customer. A lot of original E-Types have probably sagged as opposed to this one being Jacked up. Ride height was adjustable maybe the owner preferred it this way
I had a 62 E Type, flat floor, outside hood latch. Pretty much everything failed except the engine and transmission. Lots of internal rust and only 5 years old. Rear Inboard brakes were really expensive to fix. Fuel pump several times. Steering rack binding. Had to install a Corvette radiator which solved the cooling problems and was much cheaper. Replaced two wire wheels. Too high maintenance for a Navy Lt.
I can see the benefit in these cars but.....did they make a tube chassis for these? With a genuine E-Type, the body is part of the structure. The front frame and rear end assembly are bolted to it. You cannot do that with fiberglass! I've worked on a Lynx C-type clone that is made out of aluminum. It has a tube chassis. Also installed aluminum bonnets on E-types......FUN modification.! Takes off a huge chunk of weight but not easy to do correctly. The best mod for a standard E-type, hands down, is a 5-speed conversion. Except for the cost, ithere's no down side to it, it changes the car for the better in every way. The kits will come with an aluminum flywheel too. A huge caveat guys! On a "real" E-type, make sure you can FIT in the car BEFORE you buy one!!! I've had too many customers complain they can't even get in them and have to sell them. Seriously, they are small cars that you climb down into. Get a Series three with the later seats and the large doors to help that issue.
Costin designed tube frame front to rear. Stiffer than E Type. Any gearbox you like. Lower floor easier fit - head doesn't stick out above windscreen! Ever noticed how the lines of an OTS E Type are ruined by someone sitting in it?
as Dunmail7744 says below Frank Costin did indeed design the first Jag based chassis which was mostly 1 inch square tube and flat sheet steel, it was super stiff, maybe even stiffer than the original Jag chassis which had a bolt on tubular front end. Unfortunately Franks first attempt was also terribly harsh on the road using all rose jointed wishbones and links. Only one of those chassis was produced and then it was altered to use the XJ6 wishbones and rear end. Was a great honour working with Frank Costin he and Jem Marsh of Marcos were friends of mine until their passing.
Well, be fair, it IS "trying to be an E-type". If you stare at the centre of the steering wheel you see the "Growler" logo of Jaguar. Nevertheless, I do see the logic of your presentation. Of COURSE I would like one 🙂.
The Challenger was made in the 80's precisely because the value of E Types, along with all 'classic' cars, was going through the roof with a crazy "investor boom". The market crashed in 1991 and production cost of the Challenger became uneconomical and CCC went bust. Beware, it could always happen again!!
Fiberglass replicas can always be spotted by looking at the fiberglass panel edges. I have never understood why they do not thin and properly shape all the visible edges.
This car is unlikely to change the minds of the purists and, if we're all honest, we'd probably still choose the original, given the choice. But if it was your own money then I think this brings the car to the everyman - or, at least, closer towards. I sometimes get a bit fed up with all the accolades thrown at the car but when you see it like this, there is no denying that its looks are beguiling. Bottom line: if Jaguar themselves are happy for CCC to faithfully reproduce this car, then who am I (or we) to say it shouldn't be...
If the replica has the look, feel and and sound of the original, I am all for it. Purists are entitled to feel otherwise, and I'm all for that sentiment, too, except when accompanied by a nose pointed firmly upward, and a sniff of disapproval. No one need approve of your choice.
I owned a first-year Jaguar XKE. Looking at it from behind was awkward, thinking it looked like a polliwog. This was a style of race car that had other versions manufactured in England, and some of those are as nice with nicer rear ends.
What surprises me with the E is why no-one actually makes it. Jaguar must still own copyright and knocking something together this shape with modern tech would be wonderful. Instead, a plethora of "me too" bodyshops try to ape the real thing, a bit of a shame. And this, from the guy who didn't buy an XK120, 'cos it was a probable bucket of rust...
No "bodyshops" have made E type replicas since the Challenger ending in the early 90's and JPR Wildcat ending about the same time I think. I doubt JLR would permit any replicas now.
They have spoiled the car for a hapeth of tar. The aluminium turned dash and console would would have added £30 and looked so much better. Plus the side video shots showed the door wobbling and a real poor fit
the gauge panel was lifted directly from the XJ6 and yes the wood effect does look naff, many owners have changed this for a more period correct aluminium one
The E type is still the best looking . But for me I would need at least 400 HP MOPAR 340 with a 6 spd trans . For insanity put a Hellcat in there , now you got a cat that rips .
The exterior is lovely, its a replica so it retains the originals' charm. The interior falls short, lacking the allure of toggle switches and finesse found in the original's thin-rimmed wheel. Nonetheless, cruising in it is sure to bring smiles to onlookers, quite unlike the experience of driving a Ferrari replica.
much of the XJ6 Dash and wiring was used to keep costs down and ease of build. You have to remember these are not factory finished cars, they were sold as a KitCar even though we mounted the body on the chassis for them. Some owners have however over the years made more true to original aluminium dash with the correct switches.
Any high quality replica or recreation will be better than the original. For instance, better quality materials will usually be used, more up to date and cutting technology The Argentinian car company PER SANG is a supreme example. Their Alfa Monza and Bugatti Type 35 models are exact in every detail to the originals, you simply cannot tell the difference, their that good.
There were a lot of Jaguar xj6's in the us in the 70's and 80's. They were like american cars, just lower to the ground. Same handling, same (lack of) power, same mushy suspension.... Like a loose bucket of bolts rolling down the road...
The dashboard looks XJ-6 and not like that of a Series I...or II or III. The much wider console with its different dimensions also spoils the illusion. The rear sticks up too high and the hood/soft top uses give-away clamps that the original does not have. Apart from all this it looks the part. Can anyone estimate the work and cost involved in reversing the discrepancies listed? I would also like to put in a non-XJ-6 4.2 with the triple carbs and ALL of the original's horsepower...as well as a proper E Type 160 mph speedo and NOT the XJ-6's 140 one! Given that the Triple C is lighter, I would guess that the performance would become quite exhilarating.
Many original E-Types had fiberglass fronts fitted by owners, after horror stories of the long steel bonnets decapitating occupants in front end collisions. No original car today would wear a fiberglass front, so this at least for frontal impacts, is likely a safer car. All the looks, lower weight, safer and not too precious to enjoy properly.
Yes this replica is cheap for good reason; it is a rough copy of the E-Type with all the same E-Type maintenance costs. The joy of the original is its unified, lemans race winning design with amazing aftermarket support. Triple C went out of business because driver-condition E-Types came down in price and were a better option.
Challenger is not a rough copy at all, in many respects it is better and lower maintenance although the E Type was not costly to maintain when looked after correctly.
if it looks the same wityh better more reliable drive line suspension breaks and tyres? of course sixty years of progress. the style was always the thing for it.
mmmm. not convinced I'm afraid. I can't think that I'd pay going on for £50K for that car. You can see that the panels don't really fit, the bonnet is wavy at the top where it meets the wing. and there is an obvious large chip out of the sill where the bonnet corner has clouted it. It is just a nice looking kit car (from a distance).
People seem to think that this is a new car with non of the old jag problems, we'll it's basically an 1980s or 90s kit car using s1 xj6 mechanicals that are now 50 years old anyway, only vague advantage is non rust grp body, unless it's been engineered with de rated springs and shocks to suit the much lighter body than an xj6 I'd not trust the handling. I couldn't stand explaining to everyone it wasn't an e type either.
Beautiful car. Jags always have something going on. Lucas was the prince of darkness. If you’re going to own a jag, you have to own two so you have one to drive one of the other ones in the shop lol I have the privilege of restoring series 1 number 161 I still have the headlight covers and the ashtray
Yeah, it looks nice and it's worth 1 3rd the price. You will find that out when you or your heirs go to sell it. I'll take an original, thank you (I had two). You get what you pay for.
The Challenger uses an original E Type windscreen and frame. Why would a different shape be used? E Type hardtops and hoods are also used so have to fit.
I am not a purist , and this is not a E Type , it is a replica, a lookalike , and I would love to own one ,but let's not carried away , it's a mongrel , the original was a pedigree,
Sadly a fake is always just a fake however good (and this does not look good). What is the long term prospect for the value of a fake Rolex, or repro Tiffany lamp? I think this is in the same position.
Thank God I’m not a purist. Some of the comments below would not be out of place in a primary school playground. You stick with your money-pit fossils, boys; I’m sure you’ll be happy (or probably not……)
At 2.03 mins that side view lol reminds me of the 355 mr2 .. the dimensions are laughable. It doesn’t look 1:1 … and no etype on the planet has interchangeable bumpers .. they all need shaving to fit .. trust me. And at 50k I can get a series 1 condition. Iv had them . To me this car is silly and the xj6 engine is in no way comparable ..
@grobah he and h classic auction Nov, s2 e type roadster, nice, 55k Inc fees, a v12 s3 roadster long term ownership did 46 Inc fees, this kit car actually sold at auction for 29k a while ago so 49k is shall we say a little rich?
