Last year, to mark the 50th anniversary of the Jaguar E-type, the Swiss firm Classic Factory unveiled its Growler concept car. Intended as a modern version of the classic sports car, the concept was so well received that a new car-making company, Lyonheart Cars Ltd. has been opened in Coventry, U.K., for the purpose of turning out a limited run of the production version of the Growler - the Lyonheart K.
Creating an E-type for the 21st century (especially without the participation of Jaguar) is setting the bar high ... as in, you'd need a ladder to get over it. The Jaguar E-type is such a classic, such a mind-numbingly beautiful car, some might argue that it was responsible for the decline of the British motor car industry. When it was unveiled in 1961, it's easy to imagine car-makers going back to their own car production lines, laying their heads on the workbench and saying "what's the point?".
The E-type was one of the all-time classic cars. Brought into the world at a time when European car makers were putting out futuristic designs and the Americans were making their cars look like spaceships, the E-type hit exactly the right mix of the old and the new with its monocoque body, engine bonnet that seemed to go on forever and passenger cabin that looked as if it was hanging on for dear life. There was such an air of pure art to it that even the engine was beautiful, and it was no slouch when you pressed the starter. It's independent suspension is legendary and it could do 0 to 60 mph (100 km/h) in 7.1 seconds with a top speed of 150 mph (242 km/h). Unlike many high-performance cars, you could drive it at 10 mph without feeling like it was trying to rattle your fillings out of your teeth. In 14 years of production 70,000 cars were produced, which is remarkable when you consider how notoriously unreliable it was.
Doing credit to that isn't easy, but the Lyonheart K can't be faulted for trying. It is a gorgeous car that echoes the E-type's lines without slavishly following them. It has the same landing-deck bonnet, though the K has slits in it, so you can catch a tantalizing glimpse of the manifold. It even has the same bulge down the middle that now continues across the roof. The K is a bit more angular than the E-type and the cab is longer and roomier, but the design heritage is definitely noticeable.
The Lyonheart K has wire wheels for that E-type touch, but they're bolted to an all-aluminum chassis with carbon-fiber body panels, bonnet and doors with aluminum side-impact beams. There's also double wishbone front-suspension with electronic dampers, multi-link rear suspension with electronic dampers, an active differential and speed-sensitive power steering along with Adaptive Dynamics, which analyses speed, steering and body movements up to 500 times a second. Then there's the Dynamic Stability Control (DSC) that cuts in as soon as it detects wheel slippage and a deployable rear spoiler.
There's even dual petrol fillers, so you don't have to remember which side of the pump to park at.
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