Jaguar XKR-Based Lyonheart K Pays Homage to E-Type, Updates Vizualtech Growler E

Last year, Robert Palm at Classic Factory celebrated the 50th anniversary of arguably the most beautiful car ever made, the Jaguar E-type, by designing the retro-grade Vizualtech Growler E concept. The Growler reportedly was created under the commission of an anonymous Swiss businessman, but now an announcement sees the car perhaps headed for production, albeit with some tweaks and a new name: Lyonheart K. The name isn't all that's new, as the Lyonheart K has been redesigned slightly to look more aggressive and less overtly retro. The quad oval headlights (which tipped a hat to the original E's pair of oval lamps) are gone, replaced by sleek, one-piece units, and the vents behind the front wheels have thicker, more dramatic strakes. The car still will be based on the Jaguar XKR and powered by a tuned version of that car's 5.0-liter supercharged V-8 making 550 hp and 502 lb-ft of torque. (The horsepower figure is down from the Growler's original claim of 600.) Those output figures are identical to those of the XKR-S; if Lyonheart doesn't buy pre-prepped engines, it appears it will at least adopt the XKR-S's ECU programming. The Lyonheart also is said to weigh substantially less than the non-S XKR, so the real-world K should be quick, too; Lyonheart claims it will sprint to 60 in just 3.7 seconds and top out at 186 mph. The latter figure matches the XKR-S's terminal velocity. The interior will be unique to the Lyonheart, with only a few hidden parts said to be plucked from the Jaguar parts bin. Robert Palm justifies the K's $660,000 price tag by promising hyper-exclusivity—just 50 hand-built units are planned—and build quality that meets or exceeds that seen from Bentley and Rolls-Royce. All development, engineering, and production will be executed in Coventry to give truth to the K's "Made in England" label.  Each example will be built to order, with an estimated 18 months between commission and delivery (to which, we are compelled to report, does not currently include the U.S.) . from Car and Driver Blog http://blog.caranddriver.com

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