Why I'm In Love With The Spectacular Jaguar XJ12C Broadspeed

Coventry’s not a city I’d usually recommend visiting (it was bombed heavily during the Second World War and was reconstructed poorly), but the prospect of a drive in a 1950s Jaguar XK140 and a weekend at the Coventry MotoFest was more than enough temptation for me to fire up the MX-5 and head up to England’s 10th largest city.

On arrival, I was lead to a closed-off tunnel which is where Jaguar had assembled its £40m+ collection of heritage race and sports cars to celebrate its 80th anniversary. And very soon, this group of cats would be driving in convoy around the world’s most hateful ring road (luckily also closed to the public).

In the tunnel was a line of approximately nine Jaguar race cars, including the aforementioned XK140 that I’d be driving, plus the the 1988 Le Mans 24 Hour-winning Jaguar XJR-9LM, a 1938 SS100, 1984 TWR XJ-S, 1974 Group 44 E-type, 1966 XJ13, 1956 D-type, and a 1953 C-type. And then there was the 1976 Jaguar Broadspeed XJC Coupe, which I lost my mind over when I saw it.

The V12 coupe was prepared by Ralph Broad in 1975 to compete in the European Touring Car Championship, and although it was too heavy to compete against the likes of the BMW 3.0L CSL, it is a car that’s now in my top three dream race car garage (I’d also have the Volvo 850 TWR and a BMW M1).

The main reason I’m so enamoured with the XJ is because of the way it looks and sounds. The design of the car is unapologetically brutal. The arches are bullishly flared, the car sits wide and low, and the rear-end features a ducktail-style spoiler that looks brilliantly ghetto. The XJC Coupe is a 1.5-tonne steroidal afterthought of blunt-nosed power, and I like that.

Under the bonnet sits a 5.3-litre V12 with no fewer than 600 horses. The noise from such a machine is deafening, and although I wasn’t in the car during the parade, I could still hear and smell the thing like I was right next to it from a few vehicles back in my comparatively modest, six-cylinder XK140.

As for my time behind the wheel of the stunning XK140, I’m very glad to have been given the opportunity to drive it. Not only is it the oldest car I’ve driven, it’s also one of the most precious, with a leg-press-like heavy clutch, spongy brakes, a tricky gear shift, steering you need to manhandle and an oil temperature gauge you need to monitor closely. This is real driving, the way God intended.

Anyone thinking about heading to Coventry next year for the third installment of the MotoFest should have absuloutely no doubts. The day is free, there’s loads to see and you’ll smell burning rubber wherever you’re standing.