Three-quarters front view of an original, Green, 1955, Jaguar D-Type, on display at the Classic Motor Hub Stand, of the 2020 London Classic Car Show
Designed specifically to win the Le Mans 24-hour race, the slippery D-Type was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. Sharing the straight-6 XK engine and many mechanical components with its C-Type predecessor, its structure however was radically different. Innovative monocoque construction and aerodynamic efficiency integrated aviation technology in a sports racing car, some examples including a renowned vertical stabilizer. Engine displacement began at litres, was enlarged to L in 1957, and reduced to L in 1958 when Le Mans rules limited engines for sports racing cars to that maximum. D-Types won Le Mans in 1955, 1956 and 1957. After Jaguar temporarily retired from racing as a factory team, the company offered the remaining unfinished D-Types as XKSS versions whose extra road-going equipment made them eligible for production sports car races in America. In 1957 25 of these cars were in various stages of completion when a factory fire destroyed nine of them. Total production is thought to have included 18 factory team D-Types, 53 customer cars and 16 XKSS versions. One of three cars originally delivered new to Australia and the only D-type to be fitted with a hard-top roof. This car was used by some of the most notable figures in Australian Motosport, including Frank Matich and Scott, Doris "Geordie" Anderson. aguar announced the production of 25 D-Type at the Warwickshire, UK workshop to complete Jaguar's original goal of producing 100 cars. Available options include 1955 short-nose bodywork or 1956 long-nose bodywork. The vehicle was unveiled in Salon Rétromobile 2018 in Paris. The first factory production D-Type (XKD-509) was sold at Bonhams auction for £2,201,500 in July 2008. The previous highest confirmed price was £1,706,000, set in 1955 model was sold at a Sotheby's auction in 2016 for $19,800, contrast, these cars were seen as merely obsolete race cars in the 1960s, and commonly changed hands .
Size: 5276px × 3462px
Location: Olympia Exhibition Centre, West Kensington, London, W14 United Kingdom
Photo credit: © John Gaffen / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -quarters, -type, 1955, 2020, 3781cc, car, classic, construction, engine, front, green, hub, jaguar, limited, london, monocoque, motor, production, racing, rare, roadster, show, sports, stand, straight-6, valuable, view, xk, xkd-526
