This Jaguar is sure to be both a fan and expert favorite at the RM Auctions event in Amelia Island next month. One of 54 ever made, this privateer racecar is exquisite in its period style, achievements and performance.

A surviving race-winner, the twin-cowl cockpit and windshield are particularly delightful, as is the cabin with its myriad aviation-derived instruments.

1955 Jaguar D-Type Twin-Cowl

RM Auctions

Amelia Island

14 March 2015

Lot 135

1955 Jaguar D-Type

$3,750,000 – $4,250,000

• Chassis no. XKD 530

• Engine no. E 2044 9

• Body no. H 2030

Est. 300 bhp, 3,781 cc DOHC inline six-cylinder engine with three Weber 45DCO3 carburetors, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension, live rear axle trailing links and transverse torsion bar, and four-wheel disc brakes. Wheelbase: 90.5 in.

• Extensively documented; multiple in-period 1st place finishes

• Comprehensive restoration in 2003 by noted D-Type expert

• Subject of a five-part feature series in Jaguar World Monthly

• Vintage racing participation, including at the Mille Miglia and Goodwood Revival

• Accompanied by a FIVA Passport, FIA papers, and a JDHT Certificate

When the Jaguar D-Type debuted at the 1954 24 Hours of Le Mans, it finished a narrow 2nd to a 4.9-liter Ferrari V-12. A year later, a D-Type with a long-nosed factory body and a revised motor won the race outright. Although Jaguar retired from racing after the 1956 season, the D-Type continued to flourish in private hands, winning Le Mans in 1956 and 1957 for the Ecurie Ecosse. Although not necessarily well-suited to every type of course, the D-Type proved to be extremely effective on properly surfaced endurance circuits, and it remains one of the most important Le Mans race cars ever built, holding a special place in Coventry lore.

Chassis XKD 530 offers a tale that is surely as intricate and fascinating as any surviving D-Type. This car, one of the fifty-four examples produced for privateer customers, was dispatched from the factory on February 13, 1956, and it was finished in British Racing Green, as confirmed by its Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust Certificate. The car was retailed through Finnish Jaguar dealer S.M.K. and delivered in April 1956 to Curt Lincoln, of Helsinki, a tennis player on Finland’s Davis Cup team who was known to the racing world for his exploits in F3 midget cars, and a Jaguar C-Type.

Photo Credit: Patrick Ernzen

©2015 Courtesy of RM Auctions