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  Jaguar D-Type Works Long Nose      

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Country of origin:Great Britain
Produced from:1955 - 1956
Numbers built:11 (5 in 1955 and 6 in 1956)
Internal name:XKD
Designed by:Malcolm Sayer
Predecessor:Jaguar D-Type Works
Author:Wouter Melissen
Last updated:June 03, 2013
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Click here to download printer friendly versionAs mentioned earlier, a small frontal area was high at the Jaguar priority list. This was to allow for high top speeds at the long Le Mans straights. To ensure stability at speeds of over 150 mph, the D-Type was equipped with a big fin behind the pilot's headrest. Works cars built in 1955 were equipped with a longer nose for even higher top speeds. This was very indicative of Jaguar's strategy, which had Le Mans as the only priority and D-Type drivers often suffered on slower tracks, where the slippery bodies offered no downforce what so ever.

Three cars were entered in the 1954 Le Mans 24 Hours. Although the Jaguars were on the pace, it was not enough to match the 4.9 litre Ferrari of Gonzales / Trintignant. In 1955 Jaguar returned with the large valve engined long nose D-Types to take the marque's third victory. They faced strong competition from the high-tech Mercedes-Benz SLRs, but the German team withdrew after one of their cars was launched into the crowd, killing dozens of spectators. The organizers nevertheless decided to continue the race.

At the time of Mercedes-Benz' retirement, the top op placed Jaguar of Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb chased the leading SLR of Moss and Fangio by two laps. Now that they were out, there was little competition for Jaguar, especially as all of the powerful Ferraris retired due to accidents or mechanical failures and the Brits claimed their third Le Mans win. In the following two years, Jaguar's colours were successfully defended by the Ecurie Ecosse team. In 1956 the Works cars crashed out early in the race and Jaguar had given up on racing altogether in 1957.

Rule changes, limiting the displacement to 3 litres, left the D-Types pretty much obsolete for 1958. Jaguar did supply a three litre version of the XK-engine, but it was no match for the competition. Dozens of short-nose production D-Types were sold to privateers, which successfully campaigned them on both sides of the Atlantic. To get rid of the remaining chassis, Jaguar equipped them for road use and sold them as the XKss model. After only sixteen examples were produced a fire in the factory abruptly ended the run. With three Le Mans wins, the Jaguar D-Type remains as one of the most successful racing cars ever. In both road going XKss and racing D-Type guise, it is also one of the most desirable Jaguar models.

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  Article Image gallery (120) Chassis (6) Specifications