 The
Jaguar D-Type, like its predecessor the C-Type, was a factory-built race car.
Although it shared the basic straight-6 XK engine design (initially 3.4L and eventually
uprated to 3.8 litres in the late fifties) with the C-Type, the majority of the
car was radically different. Perhaps its most ground-breaking innovation was the
introduction of a monocoque chassis, which not only introduced aircraft-style
engineering to competition car design, but also an aeronautical understanding
of aerodynamic efficiency.
The D-Type was introduced purely for competition, but after Jaguar withdrew from
racing, the company offered the remaining, unfinished chassis as the roadgoing
Jaguar XKSS, by making changes to the racers: adding an extra seat, another door,
a full-width windshield and primitive folding top, as concessions to practicality.
However, on the evening of 12 February 1957, a fire broke out at the Browns Lane
plant destroying nine of the twenty five cars that had already been completed
or in semi-completion. Production is thought to have included 53 customer D-Types,
18 factory team cars, and 16 XKSS versions.
The D-Type was produced by a team, led by Jaguar's race manager Lofty England,
who always had at least one eye on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the most prestigious
endurance race of the time. As soon as it was introduced to the racing world in
1954, the D-Type was making its presence felt. For the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans
the new car was expected to perform well, and perhaps even win. However, the cars
were hampered by sand in their fuel. After the fault had been diagnosed and the
sand removed, the car driven by Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt quickly got back
on the pace, finishing less than one lap down on the winning Ferrari.
The 1955 car incorporated the new long-nose bodywork, and the engine had been
uprated with larger valves. The team again proved strong at Le Mans, and with
no sand to worry about they were a good match for the Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR cars
who were hotly tipped to win. Sadly the contest was curtailed by one of the worst
accidents ever to occur in motorsport: after only three hours of the twenty-four
had elapsed, Pierre Levegh's SLR clipped the tail of an Austin-Healey, sending
the German machine into the hay-bale barrier. The Mercedes erupted into a flaming
ball and sent burning wreckage and debris into the crowd. More than 80 people,
including Levegh, were killed, and many more injured. Mercedes withdrew from the
race almost immediately, although at the time Juan Manuel Fangio was leading in
his SLR, but Jaguar opted to continue. Some blamed Mike Hawthorn for causing the
crash as he swerved his D-Type in front of the Healey, setting off the tragic
chain of events. Hawthorn and his co-driver Ivor Bueb went on to win the race.
Jaguar D-Type XKD606, winner of the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hours race, in Ecurie Ecosse
metallic Flag Blue livery.With Mercedes deciding to withdraw from motorsport at
the end of the 1955 season, the field was clear for Jaguar to clean up at the
1956 24 Hours of Le Mans race. However, it proved to be a bad year for the works
team; only one of their three cars made it to the finish, and then only in 6th
place. Luckily for the D-Type's reputation, the small Edinburgh-based team Ecurie
Ecosse were also running a D-Type, driven by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson,
and this car came through to win ahead of works teams from both Aston Martin and
Scuderia Ferrari. Away from Le Mans, the Cunningham Team raced several Jaguar
D-Types after being offered the automobiles by Jaguar's head, Sir William Lyons,
if Briggs Cunningham would stop building his own automobiles. In May 1956, the
Cunningham team's entries in the Cumberland circuit in Maryland included three
of those D-Type Jaguars — characteristically painted in the pristine white-and-blue
Cunningham Team colors — for drivers John Fitch, John Gordon Benett, and Sherwood
Johnston.
Ironically, after Jaguar had withdrawn from motorsport at the end of the 1956
season, 1957 proved to be the D-Type's most successful year. In the 1957 Le Mans
race D-Types took five of the top six placings; Ecurie Ecosse (with a large degree
of support from Jaguar, and a 3.8L engine) again took the win, and second place.
This was the high-water mark in the car's career however.
For 1958, the Le Mans rules were changed, limiting engine size to 3 liters for
sports racing cars, thus ending the domination of Jaguar's D-Type with 3.8 liter
XK engine. Jaguar developed a 3-liter version of the XK engine, which powered
D-Types in the 1958, 1959 and 1960 Le Mans races. However, the 3-liter version
of the XK engine was never reliable and by 1960 was not producing enough horsepower
to be competitive.
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