Jaguar C-Type and D-Type tributes

By: Unique Cars magazine

Date: 09.01.2018

The market for tribute cars continues gaining acceptance and popularity

(As we detailed in issue 404.)

Recently two Jaguar tributes, a C-type and a D-type from the Ian Cummins Collection were auctioned by Shannons.

A winning bid of $222,000 secured the C-type for a new owner while the D-type remains under negotiation (as we went to press) after bidding went as high as $500,000 on the night.

While it could easily be seen as excessive, over $10 million was paid for a genuine unrestored C-type in May 2016 and at RM Southeby’s Monterey auction in 2016 the 1956 Le Mans winning D-type sold for $28.6 million, a record price for a British car at the time.

Closer to home at the recent Mossgreen auction held at Motorclassica a bid of $5.5 million failed to secure a genuine D-type with expectations between $7-$8 million.

Cummins, a Jaguar enthusiast and purveyor, painstakingly recreated both a 1953 Jaguar C-Type and a 1955 Jaguar D-Type which only the most fastidious Jaguar aficionado could pick from the real thing and even then, not very easily.

In creating the D-type tribute Cummins had a genuine model sitting next to it allowing him to reproduce a millimetre perfect replica, including an identical chassis and body, drivetrain, wheels, brakes, right down to the same leather trim used in the cockpit.

Gaining intimate hands-on knowledge of the Jaguar C-type after restoring a genuine version in the 1970s, raced successfully by Australians Frank Gardner and Frank Matich, Cummins set about recreating a perfect replica of a 1953 model.

It was finished in Ecosse Blue, the colour of the winning LeMans C-type in 1953 and like the D-type, it had the same wire-spoke wheels, disc brakes, two-seater body, 3.8-litre engine, suspension, four-speed gearbox and interior as the successful race car.

Identical in detail, specification and appearance to the genuine articles, both the C and D-type tributes that Cummins has created might appear to be good value. And at the price, can be enjoyed on the road and the track, without having a financial meltdown if things go pear-shaped.

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