A BTCC star tests the cars that transformed tin-top racing

Six decades since Ford ended Jaguar’s domination of British saloon car racing – with two very different racers – it was time to put together a track test. With the help of Silverstone and Historic Racing Drivers Club founder Julius Thurgood, Autosport brought three special cars together. Historic ace Grant Williams brought his family’s Jaguar Mk2 ‘JAG 400’, Matt Moore provided his recently restored Ford Galaxie, and Mike Jordan was on hand to run the Jordan Racing Team-prepared Ford Lotus Cortina campaigned by Pete Chambers.

And to give the three rear-wheel-drive tin-tops a workout around the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit, we brought in British Touring Car ace Jake Hill. Not only is the 29-year-old one of the best tin-top racers in the country – now plying his trade with a West Surrey Racing-run BMW 330e M Sport – but he also has extensive experience of (and enthusiasm for) a range of historic machinery.

It made sense to start with the car that came into the 1963 season as the benchmark, so let’s get on with it…

Introduced in 1960, the racing version of the famous Jaguar Mk2 was unbeatable in the British Saloon Car Championship for three years. It was undefeated in 1961 and 1962, and racked up four wins early in 1963 before Ford’s Galaxie arrived.

Insight: How the Galaxie changed British touring car racing forever

Our test car has been in the Williams family since the 1970s, though a roll had made the roof collapse and the Mk2 needed some serious work. That was finally completed in time for it to appear at the 2020 Goodwood SpeedWeek and it now races regularly – it had an outing lined up for the weekend after our test.

JAG 400 is one of the original factory-built race cars, complete with triple carbs – “It’s basically a D-type engine dropped into a Mk2,” says Williams – and lightened. Equipe Endeavour successfully ran the car and its impressive list of drivers includes Jack Sears, the very man who would bring the Big Cat’s reign to an end.

“They were quite special cars in the day,” adds Williams. “It was built to race.”

It now competes with a 3.8-litre XK engine prepared by Rob Beere Racing that can be taken to 6500rpm, and tyres that are (legally) a little wider than the 600 Ls run in period.

The racing version of the famous Jaguar Mk2 was unbeatable in the British Saloon Car Championship for three years

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Hill goes out and is quickly up to speed, but the 350bhp Jaguar is not what he expects.

“I’m surprised how stable it is,” says Hill as he returns to the paddock. “I thought it would be heavy and lardy, but it’s not. It’s a nice car to add to the bucket list and it’s the smoothest engine I’ve ever driven.”

Given that Jaguar pioneered the use of disc brakes in the 1950s, it is perhaps surprising that Hill is unimpressed with them. But then, he is used to more modern stopping power – even in historic competition.

“The brakes are probably the worst bit,” he says. “When you hit the pedal you’re not sure which way it’s going to dart, but it makes for an interesting experience! The Jaguar is really enjoyable and I’m surprised how easy it is to drive.”

"The running gear is nice and easy to use, but you really feel how big it is compared to the other two. She’s a big old girl!" Jake Hill

There’s not much time for a further download before Hill jumps into the Galaxie. No matter how many times you’ve seen one, its sheer size is remarkable.

“The first thing from sitting in the car is how big a machine you’re sat in, probably the biggest car I’ve driven around a circuit, but what a cool thing,” agrees Hill. “It looks awesome and when you’re tickling the throttle, sat still, it screams power.”

While Hill is getting to grips with the 500bhp monster, Autosport talks to Moore about the Galaxie. Moore saved the car from a scrapyard 13 years ago and restored it himself. It was finished last year, resplendent in the same livery as the Galaxie that Fireball Roberts used during the 1963 NASCAR season. The original Galaxies that appeared in the UK were prepped by famed NASCAR operation Holman & Moody, so that seems appropriate.

Moore had to ship parts in from the US, including the paint. He has raced such machinery as an Austin-Healey and AC Cobra and “just fancied a Galaxie. You can’t find one for sale so I built one.”

The Galaxie attracts a great deal of attention from professional outfits testing at Silverstone

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Like the original lightweight cars, it has fibreglass parts – bonnet, boot (or should that be trunk?!), wings and doors – and aluminium bumpers. Moore also had to have extensive work done on the engine, including having a steel crank made.

The Galaxie has only done a Goodwood trackday prior to the test, with its debut set for Donington Park five days after the Silverstone running, so it’s fair to say that it isn’t yet race-proven in the same way as our other two cars are. Nevertheless, it’s clear that it’s made an impression on Hill when he returns – and the Galaxie attracts a lot of attention from the Porsche and British GT teams that are testing.

“It’s extremely heavy and there’s a lot of body roll but an awful lot of torque,” says Hill, who reckons he’s only using a maximum of 5000rpm. “The whole running gear is very smooth, though not quite as smooth as the Jag, but a great engine and gearbox. The running gear is nice and easy to use, but you really feel how big it is compared to the other two. She’s a big old girl!

“The worst part is the lack of brakes. You have to brake so far in advance for any corner.”

That’s noticeable trackside, with Hill braking earlier for Copse than he did in the Jag, before rolling the car in. It’s a little surprising that Sears reported being able to match the Mk2s under braking in 1963.

“Getting it to the apex is extremely hard work,” continues the six-time BTCC race winner. “It’s a life lesson – it teaches you an awful lot about patience.

“The strong point is its power. The acceleration it has is unrivalled, so you have to compromise on the way in to play to its strengths on the exit. You’re always going to win in a straight line and it’s a daunting thing to see in the mirrors I should think!

“It’s extremely soft and, like most historic cars, you get understeer on the way in, then you pick up the throttle and immediately get this life of rotation at the apex. Then it’s a balancing act with the throttle pedal, more so with the Galaxie simply because of the amount of torque it’s got. It makes for a thrilling exit out of every corner, but it’s definitely not a handler, it’s a straight-line beast.”

Hill enjoyed getting to grips with the Galaxie, though found its brakes a challenge

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Hill found the Mk2 easier to get to grips with but can see how the Galaxie proved such a formidable opponent.

“If you can be brave with it in the braking phase then you’re always going to win in a straight line,” he says. “I can see why, when you’re on top of it and used to it, you’ll succeed against the smaller cars.

“The Jaguar is a more-rounded car to drive, it just doesn’t have the power. The Jaguar is incredibly smooth, a great power band– the way it delivers the power is similar to the Galaxie, it’s just smoother and there’s a bit less.”

Hill feels that the wider tyre on the Mk2 compared to back in the 1960s also helps: “The brakes are better, the handling is better. It’s very well-balanced, delivers a fast lap time and is easier to drive.”

"That’s where the Cortinas win – braking and handling. If you can keep it buzzing then it’s good enough to keep up with the big stuff" Jake Hill

Amazingly, given the Mini Cooper S also arrived at the same time as the Galaxie, there was another major tin-top milestone before 1963 was done. Sears – already champion thanks to his efforts in the Cortina GT and the Galaxie – and Trevor Taylor gave the Lotus Cortina its debut at the Oulton Park BSCC round in September. To underline the changing of the guard, the Galaxies of Dan Gurney and Graham Hill finished 1-2 and Sears led a 3-4 for the new super saloon. The best Jaguar was fifth.

It seems right, therefore, that Hill also gives the Cortina a try, even though he has raced several examples before. As Hill sets off, Jordan tackles the issue of why the cars are quicker now than they were in the 1960s, when they had no rollcages, used standard seating and the suspension was much softer.

“Now we know three-wheeling isn’t the best way to go,” says former BTCC and GT racer Jordan, who points to better diff preload settings and suspension as key areas of improvement since the 1960s. “You can’t unlearn what you know.”

Interestingly, this touches on something Sears noted at the time.

“The GT did not lift its front wheels but the A-bracket Lotus Cortina did,” said Sears in Gentleman Jack by Graham Gauld. “Much later on, in 1964, Colin Chapman eventually had to agree his A-bracket suspension was not really a good idea, so the Lotus Cortina went back to the Cortina GT rear suspension.”

Hill compares the feel of the Cortina to an old go-kart

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Hill is immediately at home in the 190bhp 1600cc screamer.

“It’s really nice,” he enthuses. “The thing that hits you first is how buzzy and nimble it is to drive. It makes you feel like you’re in an old go-kart. It’s very light and nimble, especially though Village – the change of direction is so fast. I loved it.

“All the power is in the last 2000rpm – 6000-8000rpm – and there’s nothing before that, no torque. It’s always singing and feels alive in your hands, it’s screaming and ready to go. The chassis is fantastic, incredibly nimble, and so are the brakes. That’s where the Cortinas win – braking and handling. If you can keep it buzzing then it’s good enough to keep up with the big stuff.”

The Cortina is also the easiest in terms of ergonomics and being able to keep an eye on crucial dials.

“Everything is where you want it to be,” says Hill. “It’s a nicely laid out car. It’s also the best for visibility, I could see all three mirrors, which in a race environment is going to give you an edge. In the Jaguar one of them you can’t even see because it’s so low, and the bullet mirror moves too much!

“In the Jaguar none of the dials are where you want them except the rev gauge. The steering wheel is not quite in the right place, all the pedals are very stiff, but it does make for an exciting experience to keep on top of.

“The Galaxie is the hardest one. When you push the brake pedal you feel like you’re pushing all the way to Mars, it just keeps going for an eternity, but the throttle pedal is nice. You’ve got a really good feel for where you are in the rev range and exactly how much throttle you’ve got. The gear lever is a massive Yank stick but makes you feel like a proper racing driver going through the gearbox. You can see what’s going on in terms of the dials and temperatures.”

Hill concedes that a driver has to be on top of their game in the Cortina to challenge the more powerful machines, and it’s perhaps worth noting that only the great Jim Clark won British Saloon Car Championship races outright in one.

Hill concedes that a driver has to be on top of their game in the Cortina to challenge the more powerful machines, but found its dials the easiest to read

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

“You’ve got to be driving it well to get the potential out of it, whereas you could be a decent driver in the Jaguar or a big V8 and still produce a pretty good lap time,” reckons Hill. “You have to hustle the Cortina harder but it’s more rewarding.”

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Cortina is also the car that feels most like a modern BTCC machine.

“You have to drive them incredibly hard and to the best of your ability in all the cars – that will never change,” says Hill. “The Cortina is most like a modern touring car because it’s all about carrying the speed on the way in and keeping the minimum speed, whereas the Jaguar and Galaxie remind you of why you wanted to become a racing driver.

“You’re not driving them, they are an extension of yourself, you’re at one with them – with the modern cars there’s a disconnect. Old cars talk to you through your hands, seat and pedals.

"If I had to race one tomorrow I’d pick the Cortina" Jake Hill

“The Jaguar and Galaxie are comparable but also show how much development went into the Jag. It’s basically an American powertrain with European handling, everything is just more refined. The Cortina is the biggest step away. It’s the complete role reversal to the Galaxie – all the power is at the top, it’s extremely light and nimble.”

So, which would he race given the chance?

“I’d like to spend some time with the Jaguar and make it better with Grant, I would enjoy the challenge. You can see how it could beat a Cortina –it’s not as twitchy and has more power. But if I had to race one tomorrow I’d pick the Cortina.”

All three of the cars have shown why they are special. The Mk2 has a level of refinement that came from Jaguar’s success in endurance and touring car racing in the 1950s. In 1963 the Cortina was a glimpse of the future, of the changing priorities that would eventually arrive in touring car racing. And the Galaxie took one of the Jaguar’s key strengths over its previous rivals – power – and turned it up to 11. It was a strength, in one form or another across Ford and Chevrolet monsters, that would dominate British tin-top racing for more than a decade.

Autosport would like to thank Silverstone, Pete Chambers, Mike Jordan, Matt Moore, Julius Thurgood and Grant Williams

All three of the cars have shown why they are special

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey

Want to see the cars in action?

All three models race regularly but one 2023 highlight should be the Transatlantic Trophy race for pre-1966 touring cars at the Silverstone Festival. Ford Galaxies and Cortinas will mix it with Mustangs and Falcons at the 25-27 August event. The original Jack Sears Galaxie that won at Silverstone in 1963 will also be on display.

For more information click here. 

The original Jack Sears Ford Galaxie will be on show at the Festival in August

Photo by: Jakob Ebrey