1963 Jaguar E-type Lightweight ‘49 FXN’ - FISKENS

1963 Jaguar E-type Lightweight ‘49 FXN’

• One of 12 Lightweight Jaguar E-types & one of only two 'low-drag' examples

• Modified by aerodynamicist Dr Samir Klat for the 1964 Le Mans 24 Hours

• Heroically campaigned by UK privateers Peter Lumsden & Peter Sargent

• Exhaustive period competition history including the Goodwood Tourist Trophy & Nurburgring 1000km
 

Chassis Number: S850663

Jaguar built only 12 Lightweight E-types in period. Of those, only two were modified with distinctive low-drag bodywork. And, of those, only one can boast a continuous history. From low-profile club meetings to the Le Mans 24 Hours, 49 FXN has been campaigned for well over 50 years. But what makes it unique is the work that was carried out by a small, highly motivated, scientifically focused team over the winter of 1963-’64. This was a car that was equally at home around the twists and turns of Brands Hatch as it was on the Mulsanne Straight, a sure sign that its development went beyond its headline-grabbing bodywork.

The key players were 49 FXN’s joint owners – Peters Lumsden and Sargent – and Sami Klat, who’d been studying mechanical engineering at Imperial College London. The final piece of the jigsaw was the garage run by Jack Playford and his sons, Brian and John. “It was a group effort,” explained Lumsden. “Without any one of us, we wouldn’t have achieved what we did. It was a co-op; no one was ‘primus’. We all had the same objective – how can we beat the other buggers?!”

On 7 May 1963, an internal Jaguar memo was sent to Bill Heynes, copying in Lofty England, among others. It was entitled ‘Specification of Lumsden GT E-type – 1963’. Chassis S850663 was given body number R5864 and engine number RA1348-9S, the 3871cc unit having a 35/40 cylinder head, fuel injection, aluminium block and a dry-sump system. This was to be the fabled 49 FXN. The remainder of the season saw Lumsden and Sargent rage battle in the Lightweight at Nurburgring, Goodwood, Silverstone and Brands Hatch with varying degrees of success. Season completed, Lumsden, Sargent, the Playfords and Sami Klat started their programme of modifications. By the time that 49 FXN next raced – at Goodwood in March 1964 – it would be a very different machine.