“All-new, period-correct.”
British automotive firm Jaguar was on quite a high in the late 1950s. Their beautiful D-Type racing car had managed to win Le Mans three times (1955, 1956, and 1957), with the technical and engineering excellence of the the Coventry marque beyond question. The D-Type was entirely responsible for that reverence which, for the most part, remains intact today.
But it was in 1957 that a fire broke out at the Coventry factory, where many almost-finished D-Types (and road-going XKSS’) were awaiting completion. The original run of 100 D-Types were reduced to just 75, which arguably, went a long way to cementing its legendary status. The 75 were held in such high regard, and rightfully so, with each of them standing as guards to the motorsports dominance that Jaguar enjoyed in the years leading up to the fire.
After having built six Lightweight E-Types and nine XKSS’ (marginally-modified D-Types for the road, really) and respectively completing their original intended production runs, Jaguar’s ‘Classic’ skunkworks in Warwickshire will now embark on a journey to complete that original 100-unit production run, resurrecting the D-Type for a final run of 25 brand-new examples.
We could cry.
"The Jaguar D-Type is one of the most iconic and beautiful competition cars of all time, with an outstanding record in the world’s toughest motor races. And it’s just as spectacular today. The opportunity to continue the D-Type’s success story, by completing its planned production run in Coventry, is one of those once-in-a-lifetime projects that our world-class experts at Jaguar-Land Rover Classic are proud to fulfil.” — Tim Hanning, Director, Jaguar-Land Rover Classic
The original jigs and mouldings were lost in the 1957 fire, and so Jaguar Classic’s experts had to conduct painstaking research in order to ensure that the ‘final run’ of 25 D-Types are built exactly to spec, down to the number of rivets and screws and the measurements of the wing. Buyers, for their money, can at least specify if they’d like the Longnose (as shown in the photos and video) or the Shortnose D-Type, the latter shape being brought forwards as the road-legal XKSS.
The very first engineering-prototype ‘2018’ D-Type will make its world debut at the Salon Retromobile in Paris, where it will be unveiled by Jaguar-Land Rover Classic director Tim Hanning. We can’t wait.
For more information on Jaguar, check out our Showroom.
