Vehicle Description
Chassis No. S818207
Engine No. G6473-8S
Briggs Swift Cunningham II and Denise McCluggage-two names etched
in American motorsport history-are central to the remarkable story
of this Jaguar XK 140 MC Drophead Coupe, chassis number S818207. Le
Mans racer, constructor, and team owner Briggs Cunningham needs
little introduction as one of the most celebrated post-war figures
in American motorsport, who fielded elite racing efforts on both
sides of the Atlantic. McCluggage, nicknamed "Lady Leadfoot," was a
pioneering motorsport journalist-turned-racer who broke gender
barriers in the 1950s-racing her MG TC Midget in club events as a
means of circumventing the rule barring female reporters from the
pit lane-inventing participatory sports journalism and becoming one
of the era's most respected motoring writers.
Their fates converged in the 1950s when they met during yacht
racing coverage in San Francisco. Cunningham reportedly "saw
something special in her," and later became her primary patron.
Around the same time, Cunningham's own ambitions as a constructor
were coming to an end, closing the B.S. Cunningham Company in 1955
despite his remarkable efforts with the Cunningham C-series cars at
Le Mans. In need of new machinery, Cunningham and Jaguar co-founder
Sir William Lyons initiated talks that led to Lyons supplying
Cunningham's team with three D-Type Jaguars and appointing him as
the director of Jaguar Cars New York. The team began campaigning
the D-Types immediately, with Sherwood Johnston scoring a string of
victories and capturing the 1955 SCCA C/Sports Racing
title-cementing Cunningham's new role as Jaguar's racing and
commercial force in America.
The remarkable XK 140 MC Drophead Coupe offered here, chassis
S818207, was among the first batch of five Jaguars dispatched to
Cunningham's East 57th Street dealership, each supplied with a
"Touring Kit of Spares" and a "Tin of Paint" according to Jaguar
records. This Jaguar would be a potent addition to Cunningham's
team; the model improved upon the already groundbreaking
performance of the marque's XK 120 with enhanced brakes,
rack-and-pinion steering, and telescoping shock absorbers. The MC
was a particularly powerful specification as it also came equipped
with the Type C cylinder head on the 3.4-liter XK straight-six
engine, which breathed through double SU H6 carburetors and
generated 210 horsepower at 5,750 rpm.
Period Cunningham team records confirm that chassis S818207 made
its competitive debut in Race 7 of the SCCA Beverly National Sports
Car Races at Beverly Airport on 7 June 1956 in the hands of Briggs
Cunningham himself. Cunningham placed 21st overall and 9th in class
competing against fellow legends of the sport including Jack
McAfee, Masten Gregory, and Carroll Shelby who won overall in a
Ferrari 121 LM Spyder. Following its maiden race, Cunningham loaned
chassis S818207 to Denise McCluggage, who wasted no time in making
the most of his sponsorship.
McCluggage's professional racing debut would take place later that
summer at the SCCA Montgomery National Sports Car Races at
Montgomery Airport on 19 August. After claiming 8th overall in Race
5, McCluggage achieved a first-in-class victory in Race 7 behind
the wheel of S818207-her first racing win, secured in this very
car, against fierce competition. She continued to race the Jaguar
at the SCCA Thompson National Championship Races in September,
securing 7th and 10th overall finishes, and returned to Thompson
Raceway in October for the SCCA New England Regional Thompson
Races, finishing 10th in the Thompson 1 Hour and 13th overall in
the main event later that month.
These early triumphs in chassis S818207 were just the opening
chapter of McCluggage's remarkable racing resume. In 1959 she
campaigned a Porsche 550 RS Spyder to victory at Thompson Raceway,
then the following year delivered a fine 5th place finish overall
in the United States Grand Prix at Watkins Glen. In 1961 she
returned to Sebring, this time behind the wheel of a
factory-entered Ferrari 250 GT SWB, to capture the GT category in
the 12 Hours of Sebring. Before the decade's end, McCluggage's
ambitions carried her around the globe: she drove a factory Ford
Falcon to class victory in the 1964 Monte Carlo Rally and raced at
the world's most prestigious circuits-from Daytona to the
N�rburgring and Road America at Elkhart Lake-cementing her status
as one of the era's most versatile and accomplished
competitors.
Although retained by Cunningham's team, McCluggage's first winning
car disappeared from the racing scene and was long believed to be
lost to time. Decades passed, and it was only a few years after
McCluggage's passing in 2015 at age 88 that her beloved XK 140
resurfaced. In 2020, the car was discovered in long-term storage,
resting in a barn where it remained untouched and unaltered for
nearly thirty years. Still wearing its original red livery and
wearing the accumulated patina of its racing days, S818207 emerged
miraculously intact. The then-owner, a neighbor of the Cunningham
family, had acquired the important Jaguar in the 1990s from an
estate sale likely unaware of its significance.
Cunningham Motorsports historian Lawrence Berman was invited to
inspect the car and seized upon a telling detail: the brake pedal
had been deliberately bent outward, a modification famously
employed by Cunningham's mechanic, Alfred Momo, to facilitate
heel-and-toe driving in the team's cars. Combined with the
vehicle's matching-numbers components, this distinct modification
provided definitive proof that the barn-find XK 140 was indeed the
very car Cunningham and McCluggage had raced in 1956. A Cunningham
team certificate dated 27 February 2020 and signed by Lawrence
Berman confirms the Jaguar's original chassis and engine numbers,
race results, and lists the original owner as Briggs Cunningham.
The discovery was embraced by the vintage motorsport community,
with the fully authenticated "Lady Leadfoot" Jaguar even being
showcased at Daytona International Speedway in early 2022 as a
centerpiece of McCluggage's posthumous induction into the
Motorsports Hall of Fame of America.
Today, chassis S818207 remains in highly original condition. This
includes its original 3.4-liter straight-six engine-still bearing
the G6473-8S engine stamp that denotes its factory MC tuning-with
its matching-numbers Type C cylinder head. Other correct
MC-specification equipment remains intact, including its dual SU H6
carburetors, dual exhaust system, and red-painted wire wheels. The
body wears a gentle patina and its correct red livery with
McCluggage's race number 23 adorning the hood, front fenders, and
trunk. The interior remains as-discovered, trimmed with the
original black leather hides, walnut-veneered dashboard, and the
signature bent brake pedal which led to its discovery.
Few sports cars of the 1950s can claim such a compelling and
verified history. Chassis S818207 is steeped in the legacies of
both Briggs Cunningham and Denise McCluggage, kickstarting the
latter's racing career which has left an indelible impact on
generations of racing enthusiasts in sports journalism and racing
competition. For collectors, the offering of the
ex-Cunningham/McCluggage XK 140 is a singular opportunity to
acquire an unrepeatable piece of history from a golden era of
sports car competition and a monument to the courage and skill of
the woman who drove it. With its provenance fully authenticated and
having been mechanically recommissioned only so far as to ensure
proper running, it would be equally welcomed at preservation
concours or vintage tours.
