Jag launches Heritage Driving Experience

AUSTRALIAN airport car parks are set to be crammed with Jaguars as their loyal owners depart for Britain on a quest to take part in the new Jaguar Heritage Driving Experience, which opens up the company’s illustrious 100-year back catalogue for some track time.

Predictably the famous E-type sportscar is among the cars on offer, along with the swoopy XK150 and rogue’s favourite Mark 2 sedan, while motorsport enthusiasts will relish the opportunity to experience the hugely successful C-type and D-type Le Mans racers.

Various options are available, with packages ranging in price from £95 ($A175) for a quick spin to £2000 ($A3678) for a full-day extravaganza.

Activities offered at the 200-acre Fen End testing facility in Jaguar’s Warwickshire back yard include passenger rides and wheel-time beside professional drivers – including what Jaguar says are “recognisable faces from the world of motorsport”.

Participants also have the opportunity to compare different versions of the classics, such as the Series 1 and Series 3 E-type or pitting a heritage car against its modern equivalent, for example a 1960s E-type and a brand-new F-Type.

The top-end Grace and Pace Experience also provides an opportunity to drive products from the Jaguar Special Operations division and includes chauffeur-driven rides in classic Jaguar sedans.

For those who get in early enough, the Fen End facility will host guided viewings of Jaguar’s ‘Perfect Ten’ exhibition of classic cars, including the priceless XJ13 and ultra-rare SS100, fresh from last month’s XE compact sedan reveal at Earls Court in London.

Among the panel that selected the ‘Perfect Ten’ Jaguars were the company’s design director Ian Callum, Lord March of the Goodwood Estate and AC/DC front man Brian Johnson.

As Jaguar forges its path into the hi-tech, low-emissions future, it is keeping one foot firmly in the glorious past with projects like the Heritage Driving Experience and the resurrection of the Lightweight E-type sportscar project announced in August.

The first example of the aluminium-bodied coupe was unveiled at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in California, where Jaguar Special Operations confirmed it will finish the project originally started in 1963, using the same materials and methods available to the previous generation of car builders.