The XJ13 was, for its time, quite an advanced piece of design. In 1964 Jaguar began to lay down the foundations of their prototype - at this stage, their sights were set on the 1965 24 hours of Le Mans and initial progress was rapid.
The following picture shows the view from the front of the car with an original 1965 photo superimposed. In 2013 there was still a lot of detail to complete on the bulkheads but progress on our car was progressing just as rapidly!
2013 vs 1965
The (steel) rear engine mount and front suspension mount made use of original-spec UK-made Avdel rivets. After a lot of deliberation, and having taking advice from an aeronautical specialist, we decided to complete the rivetting of the engine mounts using modern high-strength rivets. Most of these will be hidden anyway and I wanted the additional security they will provide. The intention is to drive the finished car in the way it was intended to be driven so I wanted to make sure this part of the car is as firmly fastened down as possible! The rivets we use for this engine mount section are the same as supplied to Richard Noble for use in his latest Land Speed Record Car so I'm sure they will be up to the job!
The chassis engine mounts were fabricated from steel as original and provide the main attachment of the engine to the chassis - via my CNC-machined solid-stainless engine mounts. The chassis engine mounts also provide location for the roll-bar. The strain on the engine mounting arrangement was subject to a lot of detailed analysis by Jaguar and I was able to make use of the data contained therein. I'm confident this major structural part of the car is pretty well "nailed"!
Some extracts of the many original reports focussing on this very critical area are shown below (copyright images reproduced with permission):
