A 1959, Tojeiro Jaguar participates in qualifying for the Stirling Moss Trophy for Pre 61' Cars, at the Silverstone Classic.
This particular 1959 variant was and remains unique. The environment within which it was built had seen the long dominance of the reliable, rapid but heavy D-Type Jaguar long since overturned by the lighter, simpler Lister-Jaguars, the little Lotus 15s and the rear-engined new Cooper Monacos. In 1958 the FIA governing body had introduced a 3-litre capacity limit upon their Sports Car World Championship competition, leaving the five-times Le Mans-winning Jaguar XK series of and 6-cylinder twin-cam engines high and dry. Diminished engine capacity limited available horsepower, and placed even greater emphasis upon reduced weight. The live rear-axled D-Type Jaguars had been superseded by faster, more nimble De Dion-axled designs from Ferrari, Maserati, Tojeiro. During 1958 David Murray of Ecurie Ecosse had run beside his team's remaining Jaguar D-Type and new Lister-Jaguar an early Tojeiro-Jaguar UK-registered '7 GNO'. It had demonstrated sufficient promise for him to commission Tojeiro Automotive Developments of Barkway, Royston, Hertfordshire to build his team a more advanced new car for 1959. 'Wilkie' Wilkinson was developing a new 3-litre version of the Jaguar XK engine based upon the short-block production unit, while senior Ecosse mechanic Stan Sproat was seconded to TAD to help build and prepare the new car. It was completed at Barkway and fitted with a handsome new body crafted by Williams & Pritchard of Edmonton, London. It had a neat nose line, D-Type like headrest and a vestigial tail fin, and in search of maximum speed along the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans John Tojeiro fared-in the wheels as much as seemed sensible. The new car its brand-new unpainted aluminium bodywork sparkling - was taken to Ecurie Ecosse's famous headquarters in Merchiston Mews, Edinburgh for finishing in time for its public racing debut in that June's Le Mans 24-Hour race.
Size: 5026px × 3226px
Location: Silverstone Circuit, Towcester, Northamptonshire, NN12 8TN
Photo credit: © John Gaffen 2 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: -jim, 1959, 3781cc, car, circuit, clark, classic, flockhart, gregory, historic, jaguar, jock, lawrence, masten, prototype, race, racing, rare, ron, silverstone, sports, tojeiro
