Reborn racer follows on from the E-type Lightweight program
Jaguar is to build a new fleet of D-type racers, evidently correct down to the last nut and bolt, with 25 ‘missing’ cars to be produced.
The logic is the company in 1955 planned a run of 100 of the Le Mans-winning machines, but only 75 were made.
In 2014-15 it produced six ‘missing’ Lightweight E-type, using the same reasoning. Pricing was well into the millions.
That project was followed by another to produce nine examples of the XKSS in 2017-18.
According to the company: Jaguar Classic experts’ painstaking research, with exclusive access to original Jaguar engineering drawings and records, ensures each new D-type will be built to the authentic specifications laid down by competitions manager Lofty England and his engineers in the 1950s. D-type clients can choose either 1955-specification Shortnose or 1956-spec Longnose bodywork.
The engineering prototype is the 1956 Longnose specification, identifiable by its extended bonnet, characteristic tail fin behind the driver’s head, wide-angle cylinder head and quick-change brake calipers.
Kev Riches, Jaguar Classic Engineering Manager, said: “Recreating the nine D-type-derived XKSSs was hugely satisfying, and an even bigger technical challenge than the six missing Lightweight E-types, but lessons learned from the XKSS project have given us a head start on the final 25 D-types. Each one will be absolutely correct, down to the very last detail, just as Jaguar’s Competitions Department intended.”