Jaguar’s latest continuation classic is the double Le Mans-winning C-type sports car, and now you can build your own with Jaguar’s online configurator just as you would a modern F-pace or F-type.
The original C-type was created by installing the running gear of Jaguar’s swoopy XK120 sports car in a modern spaceframe chassis, and the combination was a big hit. It won the Le Mans 24Hr race at its first attempt in 1951, and again in 1953, before making way for the even more successful D-type.
The most storied of the original cars can change hands for almost £10m, and while Jaguar hasn’t announced prices for the eight recreation cars it plans to build, we can assume based on the E-type lightweight, XKSS and D-type that have come before that they’ll still cost in excess of £1m.
But just because you’re short of funds doesn’t mean you can’t imagine what your perfect C-type might look like.
Hop over to the Jaguar Classic configurator and you can choose from eight solid colours and four metallic for the aluminium bodywork.
Moving to the next tab gives you a choice of eight different colours of leather trim, and allows you to move the high resolution image left and right to get a full first-person view of the decidedly bare-bones interior.
Other personalisation options include the roundels that would have contained the racing number in the 1950s: pick from white, old English white or leave them off altogether.
Jaguar sold 43 of the original 53 C-types to private owners back in the 1950s, but these were all based on the original 1951-spec cars and featured drum brakes and a 200bhp version of the legendary 3.4-litre XK engine.
But the continuation cars echo the spec of the 1953-season car, and are good for 220bhp thanks to their Weber carbs, so it’s good to know that Jaguar’s engineers opted to fit the new cars with four-wheel disc brakes.
The modern C-types were created by cross-referencing scanned date from an original C-type with the original engineering drawings in Jaguar’s archive to ensure accuracy.
But the big question isn't how authentic the C-types are, but where Jaguar’s continuation series goes to from here now the company has recreated the majority of its most famous cars.
Keyword: Build your dream 1950s Le Mans winner with Jaguar Classic’s C-type configurator