1963 Jaguar Mk.II 1992 Steve O’Rourke & David Gilmore Race Car

For sale by auction on Saturday 08 March 2014 with Historics at Brooklands. Brooklands Motor Racing Circuit. Weybridge. Surrey. Call 01753 639170
Steve O'Rourke was the manager of Pink Floyd but also built a
highly successful parallel career as an enthusiastic gentleman
racing driver - a lifelong passion which he shared with the Floyd's
drumme. Nick Mason and. to a lesser extent. with David Gilmour. He
adored Historic racing with cars of the 1950s. 1960s and 1970s. In
1981 he founded EMKA Racing and began competition in a BMW M1 with
Derek Bell. For Le Mans. he was joined by David Hobbs and Eddie
Jordan. O'Rourke left the circuit on the night of the race to
oversee a Pink Floyd concert in London then flew back the next
morning and jumped straight into the car for another two-hour
driving stint. His team later became supported by Aston Martin and
he assisted in the construction of a Group C sportscar for Le Mans
in 1983. The car saw success by 1985 when it briefly led the
24-Hours in the hands of co-driver Tiff Needell and finished ahead
of the works-backed Jaguars. to O'Rourke's great amusement. The
team briefly folded as Aston Martin left the project but in 1991. br/>O'Rourke resurrected EMKA Racing and began varied participation in
the British GT Championship. BPR Global GT Series and FIA GT
Championship. He earned the British GT GT2 class drivers
championship with co-driver Tim Sugden in 1997 then again in the
GT1 class in 1998. However. O'Rourke's greatest racing success came
while co-driving a second-hand McLaren F1 GTR at Le Mans with Tim
Sugden and Bill Auberlen to finish fourth overall. Having saved
money by refusing the costly update pack for the McLaren. O'Rourke
typically spent as much again on a huge party for all concerned in
the EMKA team's success. Also in that year. he and David Gilmour
co-drove a Proteus Jaguar C-Type replica in the Pan American retro
race. surviving a dramatic crash with only a broken leg. The events
were covered in 'La Carrera Panamericana' - a film about the race
which included a soundtrack of previously released and new tracks
from Pink Floyd.

This 1963 Jaguar Mk. II was originally supplied from the factory
as a 3. 4 litre with automatic gearbox on 1st March to Miss M.
Knowles. Kempsey. Worcestershire and finished in Sherwood Green.
The car was purchased by Steve O'Rourke in 1991 to be prepared by
his racing team and compete in the 1992 Pan American retro race. br/>again with band member David Gilmore. The car was fully prepared
with a rebuilt. dry-sumped 3. 8 litre engine fitted with a full
synchromesh gearbox. Bodywork was strengthened with the driver's
side rear door being welded in. heavy duty anti-roll bar. all the
side glass removed and fitted with clear Perspex. long distance
racing fuel tank. up rated Koni suspension. heavy duty roll bar. br/>lightweight pedals and torsion bar fitted to the rear axle and
large oil tank. Even with all this preparation. unfortunately
they did not complete the race due to a broken prop-shaft. The car
returned to the UK where the engine and gearbox were removed and
work was started to prepare it for track use. This Mk. II. with the
crashed remains of the Proteus C T-ype. was purchased from Steve
O'Rourke by David Beckett in the mid 1990's (missing the engine and
gearbox) with the intention of rebuilding the car back to the Pan
American specification. The car remained in his garage until 2012
when he sold it to Michael Ball. another historic racing
enthusiast. who purchased a 3. 8 litre engine and synchromesh
gearbox for it; both of which items appear to have had work carried
out on them and we are informed by the vendor that the engine is
free and turns easily. Michael sadly passed away last year leaving
this project for someone else to complete. enjoy and race again. It
is supplied with a V5C registration form. a Jaguar Heritage
Certificate and a copy of a letter from David Beckett to the vendor
confirming the known history of the car. 

Also published at eBay.co.uk

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