MOTOR CARS | 181‘This 190mph technical masterpiece, designed, built and prepared
totally within Jaguar, was to achieve a hat-trick of spectacular Le Mans
victories in the 1950s.’ - Paul Skilleter, Jaguar: The Sporting Heritage.
The Jaguar C-Type had won the coveted Le Mans 24 Hour race
twice (in 1951 and 1953) and was still competitive when Chief
Engineer Bill Heynes and his team set about designing its successor.
Moving the game on, Heynes abandoned the C-Type’s tubular
spaceframe chassis, adopting instead an aluminium monocoque
body tub to which the aluminium front sub-frame carrying the engine
and suspension was welded. It was an immensely far-sighted design,
though later versions switched to a bolted-on steel framework.
As ever, victory at Le Mans was Jaguar’s first priority and so a
great deal of attention was paid to getting the aerodynamics right.
Aerodynamicist Malcolm Sayer duly came up with an efficient, wind-
cheating shape that enabled the D-Type to outrun the opposition
despite having a deficit of over 100 horsepower on occasions. In so
doing he also created one of the most beautiful racing sports cars
ever made. As well as building cars for the works team, Jaguar also
undertook a limited production run for sale to privateers and between
1954 and 1957 some 87 in total of all variants were produced at
Jaguar’s Coventry factory.
Jaguar’s multiple Le Mans wins in the 1950s - twice with the C-Type
and three times with its D-Type successor - as well as numerous
victories in the other great classic endurance events, have ensured
a continuing healthy demand for replicas of these rare and exotic
works sports-racers.
Acknowledged master in this highly specialised field is Brian
Wingfield, an engineer famous for his Ford GT40 restorations and
highly accurate C-Type and D-Type replicas. Constructed in the
early 1980s, the car takes its identity and chassis plate from a 1956
Jaguar Mark VII saloon. This ‘long nose’ D-Type was originally
commissioned by an American collector who subsequently loaned
it to a prominent motor museum where it resided in an ideal
environment for 30 years. It was driven approximately 100 miles
annually, with service items regularly dispatched from Wingfield. The
current odometer reading is only 3,021 miles.Following the owner’s death, the car was repatriated to the UK
by JD Classics on his widow’s behalf. Commencing in 2013, JD
Classics undertook a thorough re-commissioning, which was only
completed in February of this year (bills on file). The current (second)
owner confirms that the D-Type provides a faultless and exhilarating
drive, and advises us that it is identical to the real thing apart from
not having the wide-angle cylinder head or Plessey servo-assisted
brakes. Offered with current MoT and V5C registration document,
this beautiful D-Type is presented in generally excellent and
exceptionally original condition, having enjoyed an unusually easy
and cosseted life.
£140,000 - 180,000
€180,000 - 230,000