BIG CAT WAS FIRST TO HEAD THE PACK

As I roll gently down the Brands Hatch pitlane, ready to head out for my first run of the day, I feel like a villain in an early James Bond film. There are no machine guns lurking in the headlights of this particular Mk1 Jag, but even lacking rocket launchers this car was the weapon of choice in the early days of the BTCC in the late 1950s, and remains one of the top choices if you are a serious ’50s historic tin-top racer today.

Everything about this car screams elegance and sophistication on the surface, but underneath the skin lurks the stuff of a seriously potent racing car. I’ve been on the receiving end of one of these big-engined beasts mercilessly thundering past on the Lavant Straight at Goodwood – they are seriously quick and I’m looking forward to seeing what this one can do.

In fact, this particular Mk1’s former owner was driving one of three that blew me away at the 2014 Goodwood Revival. Stuart Graham and Richard Butterfield finished fourth in the St Mary’s Trophy in one of the Big Cats, while I was limping Guy Harman’s Fiat Abarth 1100 to the finish without the use of third gear.

This Mk1 was built as a historic racing car and was Butterfield’s machine in Masters Top Hat events. It is to period specification, but with a Mk2 axle and a synchro box, as allowed under the Historic Racing Drivers’ Club’s pre-1966 regulations. About four years ago Butterfield built another and eventually sold this one.

Harman has been its proud owner for the past couple of years and HRDC founder Julius Thurgood has driven it. “An original car wouldn’t be far different to this,” he says. “It’s the most user-friendly car you can drive, very predictable.”

Although this car was built as a ‘proper’ racing car, it retains period features such as wooden steering wheel. I wasn’t sure what to expect in all honesty, but I’m pleasantly surprised by just how much fun the Mk1 is to drive – even on a cold, damp and treacherous Brands Indy circuit.

It’s an absolute hoot, actually. The rear axle is so lively you feel the need to constantly steer left through the right-handers at Paddock Hill Bend, Druids and Clearways. Graham Hill Bend is a slightly different matter, owing to the downhill approach and the tendency of the car (and most cars, for that matter) to push into understeer in the wet through the left-hander.

Jaguar pioneered disc brakes in the 1950s, but there isn’t much stopping power today – partly a function of the conditions, no doubt. The steering also feels a bit vague, but it’s so easy to light up the rear tyres that traction, particularly on this day, becomes the ultimate limiting factor. I find myself teasing the car around

‘IT’S AN ABSOLUTE HOOT. THE REAR AXLE IS SO LIVELY YOU NEED TO STEER LEFT THROUGH THE RIGHT-HANDERS’

the circuit, driving it in straight lines like a boat – set a course, aim for it, arrive, then set another.

With the rear stepping out constantly (all the cars here are rear-wheel drive), the Jaguar really holds your attention and requires lots of small steering corrections, but everything is controlled, not vicious, so you can have quite a lot of fun playing with this particular Big Cat, once your confidence builds and you realise it isn’t going to try to kill you at every turn.

The XK engine was an absolute classic. The Mk1 dominated saloon car racing with the 3.4-litre version, which grew to 3.8 litres in the Mk2, as in the early E-types. The engine is really torquey, which means you can circulate comfortably in these conditions using only third and fourth gears. Second may be useful at Druids, or if you get held up in a race, but not in these conditions – you just get too much wheelspin. It has quite a racey gearchange for an old car, presumably a function of the fact that this one was built later for the pure purpose of historic racing, with greater attention paid to the linkage.

This car has raced regularly for the best part of two decades, so it feels well-sorted, despite the fact that it traces its roots to technology that is 60 years old! No wonder Tommy Sopwith, Jack Sears, Roy Salvadori and Graham Hill were among those who cleaned up in the early days of the British Saloon Car Championship in Mk1s. I bet they had a great time doing it too.