Classified of the week: the Lynx Eventer

If you hadn’t already noticed, we’re rather fond of the whole estate thing on TopGear.com. Call them what you like – wagons, shooting brakes, estates – anything with a big boot and preferably a big engine at its heart usually gets our attention. 

Speaking of which, check out the images above. Holy moly. That’s no normal Jaguar XJS, it’s one of only 67 that were converted into beautifully boxy shooting brakes by a little-known company called Lynx back in the 1980s. Lynx then named its creation the Eventer. Oh yes – presumably because you can attend all of the events with all of the equipment in the back of your newly long XJS. 

But wait, this isn’t even a ‘standard’ Lynx Eventer, because the car’s history shows that in 1986 (just a couple of weeks after it was first registered and a year before it became an Eventer) it was taken to Jag specialists Tom Walkinshaw Racing for a couple of upgrades. Those upgrades included the boring out of the V12 engine to a massive 6.1 litres and the adding of forged pistons, machined combustion chambers, high-lift camshafts, larger air intakes, high-flow air filters and special spark plugs. Crikey. The result? A lovely 380bhp. 

That wasn’t all though. TWR also fitted a 'Quickshift' gearbox kit, uprated suspension and those brilliant 16-inch Speedline wheels. Then it became an estate. Be still our beating hearts.

This particular car is number 35 of the 67 Eventers ever produced and underwent a restoration in 2011 before an engine rebuild in 2012. Why are we telling you all of this? Well, get the cheque books out - if anyone still actually has a cheque book - because it’s going up for auction at the Bonhams Goodwood Members’ Meeting Sale in late March. The estimate is between £55,000 and £65,000 thanks to the near-72,000 miles on the clock too. A veritable bargain for something so rare. 

And you thought Ferrari was being innovative when it launched the FF…

Images: Bonhams