Friday 17th July 2009

Pic Of The Week: Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12C

Through the murky mists of time, the Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12C roars again

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Way back in the mid-1970s, before the advent of auto-focus cameras, motorsport photographers gamely attempted to capture images of fast-moving cars with steam-powered Box Brownies.

So don't blame us for the slightly blurry feel to this original shot taken from the 1975 Tourist Trophy - its subject is Derek Bell hustling the Broadspeed Jaguar XJ12C racer at Silverstone in the European Touring Car Championship. Could that red-glove on the steering wheel be one of the very same pair of mitts sported (intermittently) on the video here?

As this week's PistonHeads news has included both a video of Mr Bell roaring up the Goodwood Hillclimb in a Bentley, and an article on Jaguar's design team penning a (sort of) spiritual successor to the old XJ-C - we couldn't resist sharing this. Soft-focus, or soft- (car)-porn, you decide!

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[mightymouse]

Lovely

[Staffy1984]

Nice, that car is so dope,

How much would one of these cost BTW?

[Ritchie335is]

"Dope"?

[brams]

fking wonderful, just gotta love this shot if you where alive and kicking in the 70's.

[m9fdb]

why they didnt keep going with the coupes is beyond me as i think they look gorgeous and would have looked good on all the XJ saloons they have made

[Mr. Potato Head]

Been reading Retro Cars by any chance?

Lovely replica in there this month.

[barky]

That car was one of my favourites at the now closed down Doune Motor Museum -- think I saw it go up the hill climb a few times

[FM]

A gorgeous retro-racer...I didn`t know Bell was in the drivers team for Jaguar.










http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://fa...

Edited by FM on Saturday 18th July 19:04

[Ecurie Ecosse]

Spectacular!

I had one of these many years ago (the Scalextric version)

[Lockhouse]

Great photo. I owned an XJ5.3c many years ago and drove several others. A great car for it's day but some important things let it down;

1) It was a complex car assembled by a British Leyland workforce (no offence to anyone here)
2) Rust
3) Incredibly vague steering - especially at high speed
4) The ignition amplifier tended to become a heap of solder from sitting on top of the engine - I believe this was fixed for the XJS etc.

I'm sure you could do something about the steering these days though!

Cheers

Edited by Lockhouse on Sunday 19th July 06:27

[SkinnyBoy]

Ecurie Ecosse said:

Spectacular!

I had one of these many years ago (the Scalextric version)

haha i was going to post the same thing, i had it along with a JPS Lotus and and the old CSL Batmobile BMW.

[mitch01]

magnificent cars
if you would like to learn more about these cars
than have a look at my website
and the build of a replica of these great but almost forgotten race cars

[dazco]

Now THAT'S what you call a car.

Perfect.

[richw_82]

Wonderful. There's one of the original cars being rebuilt to race in the Historics in the UK. If I can find the site address I'll put it up.

Regards,

Ric

[Nurburgsingh]

I've got one of those in a Matchbox slotcar set from way back when...

with a red CSL i think... :goes to attic to get toys:

Edited by Nurburgsingh on Sunday 20th September 23:43

[fatboy69]

Fast but fragile. Sadly. Could, & should, have been one of the truly great race car of its generation. Unforunately, rather like the BRM V16, it never lived up to its promise or potential.
An original one cant be bought as the few that were built are either owned by Jagaur themselves or by a couple of very lucky owners.
Much as i am not a fan of his i cant wondering whether, had the project been given to Tom Walkinshaw to run, the car would have won races & the ETC.
Sadly we'll never know. I have a sneaking feeling that it would have done.

[Marquis_Rex]

Lockhouse said:

Great photo. I owned an XJ5.3c many years ago and drove several others. A great car for it's day but some important things let it down;

1) It was a complex car assembled by a British Leyland workforce (no offence to anyone here)
2) Rust
3) Incredibly vague steering - especially at high speed
4) The ignition amplifier tended to become a heap of solder from sitting on top of the engine - I believe this was fixed for the XJS etc.

I'm sure you could do something about the steering these days though!

Cheers

Edited by Lockhouse on Sunday 19th July 06:27

You forgot about the inadequate side window sealing!

[mitch01]

richw_82 said:

Wonderful. There's one of the original cars being rebuilt to race in the Historics in the UK. If I can find the site address I'll put it up.

Regards,

Ric

the car you refer to is chassis nr 1
the 76 car
and it has been restored to 77 spec
with the 19 " wheels and bodykit

it has been tested and hopefully will be raced this year
but if not than it will give a magnificent show away next year


the owner is chris scragg and this is his website

www.chrisscragg.com

but there is to this day only one picture on the website of the car
also known as beljc001


regards

mitch

[chevronb37]

The Scragg car was testing at Donington a month or two ago with Willie Green at the helm. Should make a fantastic sight in Masters 70s Touring/Proto events next year!

[dinkel]