Last year, Robert Palm from the Swiss firm Classic Factory in collaboration with Swedish designer Bo Zolland, has created Growler concept car, for the purpose of honoring the Jaguar E-Type. Growler was created under the commission of an anonymous Swiss businessman, but it was so well received that they decided to open a new car-making company, Lyonheart Cars Ltd. in Coventry, U.K. (the same city where the original E-Types were manufactured), specially to built this modern version of Jaguar’s iconic E-type, but with some changes and a new name: Lyonheart K. Only 250 examples of these E-type for the 21st century will be built in either coupe or convertible form, and without the participation of Jaguar.
Robert Palm, CEO of Classic Factory, said: “We want to make the ‘Made In England’ label into a truthful concept, not just a statement. Every part of the Lyonheart K is developed, engineered and hand-built in England. The design clues of the Lyonheart K reflect Britishness at its best: cool, elegant, refined, understated yet powerful and dynamic.”
The body of the Lyonheart K is comprised of lightweight carbon fiber while the chassis is made of aluminum. This retro E has been redesigned slightly to look more aggressive with one-piece more catlike headlamps and retro touches that are somehow even more pronounced.
The interior of the car reveals lots of leather, wool carpets, electric seats with so many settings that you may never get away from the curb, a 7-inch high-resolution touch screen, the usual audio-video and sat nav goodies and you get a choice of wood veneers and of course matching leather trim in the boot.
Under the hood, you’ll find 5.0-liter supercharged V8 making 550 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque. The car will sprint from 0 to 60 mph (100km/h) in just 3.7 seconds and is electronically limited to 186 mph (300km/h). Fuel efficiency is rated at 24 mpg (9.8 liters/100 km) and it weighs in at 3500 lb (1575 kg).
Currently in the concept phase, Lyonheart is taking orders at €400,000 euros ($510,000) for delivery to begin in early 2014.
