To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION WITHOUT RESERVE at RM Sothebys' Amelia
Island event, 6 - 7 March 2020.
Estimate:
$125,000 - $175,000
- Highly detailed re-creation of Jaguar's iconic D-Type
- Beautiful aluminum body over 1965 S-Type architecture
- Powered by a 3.8-liter straight-six
Please note that this lot is titled as a 1965.
Purpose-built race cars are one thing, but the D-Type that Jaguar
developed in the early 1950s was as focused as any car had ever
been. Taking jet-age technology to the road, Jaguar's top engineer,
William Heynes, created a monocoque composed of lightweight
aluminum alloy wrapped into a streamlined shape with a low hood
line thanks to its dry-sump engine.
Over the course of the D-Type's run, Jaguar made numerous
modifications annually as it sought to perfect the design. Perhaps
the most iconic is the long-nose body, in part because it
represented the automaker's final year officially campaigning a
racing team and because it paved the way for the model's dominance
in the 1957 season when campaigned privately. After 1956, Jaguar
reworked its remaining D-Type inventory into road-going XKSS cars
that could race in sports-car competition.
Nostalgia for the D-Type began early on, fueled in part by the
Browns Lane fire in February 1957 that took with it the tooling
necessary to build more D-Types. The example offered here is
believed to have been built in the 1980s and is constructed of the
requisite aluminum body. The underpinnings are based on a 1965
S-Type, which was powered by a 3.8-liter evolution of the
straight-six used in Jaguars since the groundbreaking 1948 XK 120.
Its reproduction ASH222 number plate recalls a highly documented
production D-Type that competed to considerable acclaim in
Australia in the 1950s and 1960s.
The car was enjoyed early in its life in competition in Australia
and New Zealand and was used by noted Southern California expert
Ashton Marshall in the early 1990s. For the last 25 years, it has
been largely preserved in a private collection with limited use
aside from being started periodically. With a fresh mechanical
evaluation, this 3.8-liter, exquisitely detailed example will be
ready for enjoyment and would be at home in any collection of fine
competition cars.To view this car and others currently consigned to
this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/am20.