Jaguar F-Type CONVERTIBLE Rally cars – 70 years on from the XK120

Jaguar has built a pair of F-Type Convertible Rally cars as celebrations continue to mark 70 years since Jaguar’s first sports car – the Jaguar XK120.

Building a convertible rally car is perhaps not the most obvious thing to do to mark 70 years since the first Jaguar sports car – the 1948 Jaguar XK120 – arrived, but that’s what Jaguar has done.

As it continues its celebrations of 70 years of sports cars, Jaguar has built a pair of convertible F-Type rally cars to mark the outings of the original XK120 in the Alpine Rally in 1950, 1951 and 1952.

Besides being a celebration of the XK120 and its rally outings, the F-Type rally cars are also a promo for the recent F-Type Chequered Flag celebration model, used as the basis for the rally specials.

The two rally cars get Jaguar’s 2.0 litre four-pot with 296bhp, upgraded brakes and competition spec suspension, including hand-built dampers, softer springs, rally-spec wheels’ LSD, rally lights on the bonnet, FIA-spec roll cage, competition seats and a proper handbrake for bringing the back end round.

There’s no chance the F-Type rally cars will ever go out to play in anger, but expect them to turn up to strut their stuff at various events in the coming year as Jaguar celebrates, with an outing on the rough stuff at next year’s Goodwood Festival of Speed almost guaranteed.

And before you ask, Jaguar has no plans to make the F-Type rally cars available to buy.