Le Mans Winning Jaguar C-Type Joins 1950s Motorsport Legends at 2024 Concours of Elegance
The United Kingdom’s Concours of Elegance is celebrating the golden age of sports car racing with a display of highly significant vintage race cars from the 1950s. Around 60 of the world’s rarest cars will join the Main Concours display, with over 500 cars in total set to be on display across the weekend.
Storied marques such including Ferrari, Jaguar and Lagonda will line up in the beautiful grounds of Hampton Court Palace August 30th to September 1st for the 13th edition of Europe’s premier concours d’elegance event. Two meticulously restored Lagonda V12 racing prototypes will be among the legendary vintage race cars, plus a pair of ultra-rare Ferraris, as well as a Jaguar D-type once sold by former Formula One supremo Bernie Ecclestone. Get a sneak preview below:
1953 Le Mans Winning Jaguar C-type
The 1953 Le Mans winning Jaguar C-type (“C” for competition) is arguably the most significant sports racing car of the 1950s. Designed to be competitive on race tracks around the world, the C-type combines running gear derived from the XK120 road car with a lightweight tubular spaceframe chassis and an aerodynamic aluminum body designed by Jaguar Chief Engineer William Heynes.
The 1953 Le Mans winning Jaguar Works car, chassis XKC 051, was one of three lightweight C-types built by Jaguar for the 1953 Le Mans 24 hours. It was driven to victory by Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton and averaged 105.87 miles-per-hour while covering over 2,500 miles, making it the first car to breach the 100mph barrier.
1956 Jaguar D-type – once sold by Bernie Ecclestone
An example of Jaguar’s similarly iconic D-type racer, chassis XKD518, will come to the Concours with a colorful backstory. Aside from the fact that, at the time, red was an unusual color for a Jaguar race car, it competed at several events the UK in ’56 and ’57, racing at Goodwood, Silverstone and Oulton Park. It was later purchased by Led Zeppelin manager Peter Grant, who kept the car until the early 1980s, which is when it was exported to the United States. More recently, the car underwent a restoration and now presents in wonderful condition.
Lagonda V12 DP115 race cars reunited
A pair of particularly special pioneering competition Lagondas will appear together in the UK for the first time following a full restoration. The Lagonda DP115 model, based on the Aston Martin DB3S, was created by Aston Martin and Lagonda boss David Brown to rival the likes of Ferrari and Bentley and re-establish the Lagonda name in the upper echelons of the motorsports world. Instead of the DB3S’s six-cylinder engine, the four-speed Lagonda was powered by a newly developed aluminum 4.5-liter V12 that achieved over 280 horsepower.
With the added power, however, the vintage race cars’ lengthened DB3S chassis caused somewhat unbalanced, unpredictable handling and its success on the track was limited. At the 1954 Le Mans, the first of the two cars was sitting in 3rd place after two hours before it left the road in bad weather. It did not finish the race. The second car was sparingly used. Both cars will be displayed side-by-side in public for what is believed to be the first time during the 2024 Concours of Elegance.
1954 Ferrari Monza 250 Sport Barchetta by Scaglietti
An ultra-rare Monza 250 Sport from 1954, chassis 0442M, will also appear on the concours field at Hampton Court. The special Ferrari combines the legendary 3.0-liter Colombo V12 in a tubular steel chassis derived from the four-cylinder 500 Mondial. Equipped with a small capacity V12, the Monza could reach around 240-horsepower at 7,200 rpm, with shifting accomplished through a four-speed manual gearbox. The example on display is one of just four produced and the only example with a body by Scaglietti.
1959 Ferrari Dino 196 S Spider
This Ferrari race car, chassis 0776, was the first to receive the Dino V6 engine, named in memory of Enzo Ferrari’s late son, Alfredino, known affectionately as Dino. Built to compete in the 2-liter class in the World Sports Car Championship, it was powered by a 2-liter, twin-cam 60-degree version of the Dino V6. It is just one of two remaining Carrozzeria Fantuzzi-bodied 196 S Dinos and was delivered new to US East Coast Distributor Luigi Chinetti in New York, who sold it to his customer Don Pedro Rodriguez of Mexico City. It was then raced by Rodriguez’s sons, Pedro and Ricardo, under the NART banner.
The brothers competed first at Bahamas Speed Week in December 1959. After a full rebuild, they raced it at the Targa Florio the following year, rolling the car twice after a significant off, but still managing to finish the race in 7th place overall. Today, it presents just as it did when delivered new to Mexico City in 1959.
Visit the Concours of Elegance website for more information or to book tickets to this year’s event.
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