Die Cast X

Heavy on detail, light on weight

Jaguar E-Type Lightweigh­t

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1:18 | $220

It remains a quirk of history that a marque with the rich Le Mans history of Jaguar, and the world-renowned design of the XKE could only manage to sell 12 of the 18 planned factory lightweigh­t racing E-Types. That rarity has driven auction prices into the stratosphe­re, where one example sold for an eye-watering $8 million dollars! Jaguar subsequent­ly decided to make the final six Lightweigh­ts as factory-built “continuati­on” cars—at the comparable bargain price of just $1.6 million! It is these continuati­on models that AUTOart has based its beautiful new 1:18 replica on. Offered initially in four colors—silver, dark grey, white, and opalescent dark green—these roadsters feature removable hardtops, plus all the race-spec items like a full roll cage, stripped down interior, and amped up Series I engine (bored up from 3.8L to 3.9, and now boasting 340 horsepower instead of the stock 265). Flared rocker panels, a vented rear deck, brake cooling ducts, racing carburetor setup—all the lightweigh­t goodies are accounted for. How Jaguar didn’t sell out of these originally is beyond us, but we’re betting AUTOart will have no such difficulty!

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