A couple of fantastic Browns Lane, Allesley, Coventry, Jaguar factory shots.
The one above is of Briggs Cunningham’s D-Types after Le Mans in 1955 before shipment to New York, and the one below is a production run of XKDs, surrounded by XK140s in 1956; the factory fire was on February 12, 1957.
Cunningham’s cars were painted white with a blue stripe: they are XKD507 and XKD508.
XKD507 was driven by Phil Walters/Bill Spear at Le Mans on June 12, DNF with valve or ignition problems in the seventh hour with 43 laps to their credit.
Cunningham’s D-Types were ‘works blessed’, meaning Jaguar New York – Briggs Cunningham and Alfred Momo – had factory support to represent Jaguar on U.S. tracks.
The machine was first in the GP of Watkins Glen, at the SCCA National at Hagerstown, Maryland and the Nassau Production Sports Car race driven by Sherwood Johnson that year. John Fitch drove it to a win at Nassau the following year.
Walt Hansgen raced it to the Sports Car Club of America’s (SCCA) D-Modified championship in 1956 and 1957. On Bonneville’s Salt Flats it hit 185 mph.
These days, XKD507’s custodian is the Revs Institute.
XKD508 was a works entry at Le Mans in ’55 for Don Beauman and Norman Dewis, accident and sandtrapped after 106 laps in the 11th hour.
Then shipped to Jaguar New York, fitted with Engine no. E3006-9 and painted in Cunningham colours.
It contested the 1956 Sebring 12 Hours, Duncan Hamilton/Ivor Bueb DNF. Hansgen won at Eagle Mountain and Thompson Raceway that year, and Walt was the Watkins Glen GP winner in it in September 1957. It remained with Cunningham and was modified by Momo. It was crashed, was returned to Browns Lane and scrapped.
For the sake of completeness, in March 1957, after the factory had withdrawn from racing, Jaguar sold XKD605, a used car, to the Cunningham team.
See this piece on Cunningham Cars:https://primotipo.com/2019/05/10/cunningham-cars/
Walt Hansgen and Ed Crawford start the September 21, 1957, Watkins Glen Grand Prix as Tex Hopkins does his thing. Walt won the 44-lap, 163 km race, and Ed was fourth. Cunningham was eighth in one of his D-Types.
Etcetera…
Ivor Bueb aboard XKD605 shared with Mike Hawthorn at Sebring in 1957 and the engine bay of one of the team Ds at the same event.
Mike Hawthorn at Sebring ahead of the Cunningham/Bill Lloyd D, DNF valve. Perilous nature of the 44’s marking the course readily apparent…and the cause/contributor to the death of Bob Goldich, Arnolt Bristol in this race.
Credits…
Jaguar Cars, coventryracers.com, Watkins Glen Historic, Revs Institute, Doug Morton via the Automobile Racing Club of Florida, Karl Ludvigsen
Finito…
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