EAGLE SPECIAL EDITION LIGHTWEIGHT GT PRESS
Andrew Frankel reviews the Eagle Lightweight GT for DriveNation
JUNE 2020
As a rule I’m not a fan of modifying old cars, because whatever you might gain in additional performance, you tend to more than lose in the charm of the original. But just occasionally when it is done with such exceptional care, craftsmanship and engineering integrity, an entire other kind of car can emerge, absolutely true to the spirit of the original, but reborn on a level unimaginable when it was new.
This is such a car.
One reason I can’t list all the things that have been done to change a 1963 Mk1 Jaguar E-Type roadster into this Eagle Lightweight GT is that I’d run out of space in this post. Literally. Just be advised that it took 8,000 hours to make and you’ll get the idea. Think of it as an imagining of what a road-orientated Lightweight E-Type might have been, had Jaguar made one with the engineering knowledge that is available today.
Which is why it looks like a Lightweight (although every panel is different), and uses aluminium for its bodywork and engine block, just like a Lightweight. It weights 1017kg, which is almost identical to a Lightweight, except this example comes with big seats and air conditioning. Fit buckets and sweat and you’d be under a tonne without further ado. Under the bonnet is is Eagle’s 380bhp, 4.7 litre version of the Jaguar twin cam motor.
Other components include a magnesium sump, gearbox casing, bell housing, hubs, wheels and diff case, an Inconel manifold and titanium exhaust. It has a stiffer structure, AP Racing brakes, new springs, roll bars, and adjustable Ohlins shocks. The price is not fixed but will be around the £800,000 mark, each car taking about two years to complete, one of just four such cars Eagle will produce in any given year.
To drive? Simply magnificent. GT3 Porsche fast, exquisitely damped, slim enough to slot through the lanes, a feast for ears and eyes alike and agile as only a car of such little mass - less even than an Alpine A110 despite its enormous engine - can be. Yet off the throttle, it is quiet and comfortable too. Yes it’s hideously expensive but Eagle’s customers don’t care.