Eagle’s New Lightweight GT Is How You Turn A Jaguar E-Type Into An Art Piece

Eagle has been turning Jaguar E-Types into art pieces for some years now and the same can be said for their latest creation, the new Lightweight GT.

The new Eagle Lightweight GT is a love letter to the 12 original Jaguar E-Type Lightweight race cars but unlike the stripped-out nature of the original racers, this moving piece of art offers a comfortable cabin and the refinement to make you want to drive it every day. With that said, even if the seats were made out of nails, we would still want to drive it every single day.

“The factory Lightweight was a stripped-out racer,” said Eagle founder Henry Pearman. “We wanted to retain that special feel of a 60s competition car from an incredible era in British motorsport, but with the comfort, refinement and reliability that would make it an exhilarating daily driver or long-distance GT.”

The process of creating an Eagle Lightweight GT starts with a complete strip-down of a Jaguar E-Type Series 1. Every body panel is replaced by a new one, made out of modern-grade lightweight aluminum created by specialists that spent more than 2,500 hours forming the sensational curves and then fitting them to a must stricter tolerance than that specified by Jaguar’s competition department.

Power comes from Eagle’s specially developed and naturally aspirated 4.7-liter straight-six engine; it produces 380 HP and 375 lb-ft (508 Nm) of torque and features an aluminum block, a wide-angle head with bigger valves and a higher-lift camshaft. Fuel is provided by three Weber carburetors. Paired to it is a re-engineered, five-speed manual transmission. Eagle says that it’ll do the classic 0-60 mph in under five seconds, with top speed north of 170 mph (273 km/h).

Eagle has taken the iconic shape of the E-Type and carefully updated it to make it even better and more aerodynamic. The changes include a deeper rear ramp angle, an increased windscreen rake, and deeper side sills that not only allow the driver to sit lower but also increase the chassis stiffness. The wheel arches are also bigger, to accommodate the bespoke 16-inch magnesium wheels.

The ultra-lightweight magnesium alloy has also been used in other areas, like the gearbox case, differential case, sump, and rear hub carriers. In addition, Eagle’s latest model features lightweight wishbones, Inconel exhaust manifolds, and a titanium exhaust system to keep the weight down. The result is a car that tips the scales at a dry 1017 kg (2,242 lbs), which becomes more impressive when you realize that this is a luxuriously appointed road car with air condition.

The suspension features bespoke Ohlins adjustable dampers along with a “carefully specified” geometry and spring rates to ensure that the Eagle Lightweight GT blends the line between race car and luxury GT.

Each Eagle E-Type takes more than 8,000 hours to be created by the company’s skilled specialists, with just two cars coming out of their UK facilities every year. The company didn’t release any pricing details on the new Lightweight GT but given that their other “special edition” E-Type models are million-dollar cars, it’s safe to assume that this isn’t going to be any cheaper.

Look at that, we made it through without mentioning Singer at all!