This Is The Most Expensive Jaguar Ever Sold At Auction
The resale market for rare and exotic sports cars and those with racing pedigrees has exploded in recent years. Nearly two dozen cars have sold for more than $18 million in the past decade, including a 1955 Mercedes 300 SLR coupe that commanded a staggering $142 million at auction in 2022. The list of cars with the highest auction prices is top-heavy with Ferraris, but a couple of prestigious British automakers share the uppermost steps on the auction block.
One of only four Aston Martin DBR1s ever built sold in 2017 for just over $22.5 million, and a couple of Jaguar models have cracked the $10 million barrier recently. A 1957 XKSS went for just over $13.2 million last year, and the most expensive Jaguar ever was a 1955 D-Type that sold for $21.78 million in 2016.
That very special Jag had a successful racing history befitting of the dramatic vertical fin that sat just behind the driver's seat. Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson drove the No. 4 D-Type to victory in the 1956 24 Hours of LeMans, one year after the horrific crash that killed more than six dozen spectators and French driver Pierre Levegh.
The LeMans-winning Jaguar had only two private owners
Flockhart and Sanderson's win at LeMans was the second of three straight for Jaguar, and two other D-Types finished in the top 10 in 1956. The 1956 and 1957 wins for the D-Type came for the Scottish racing team Ecurie Ecosse, which retained ownership of the car pictured above after its win at LeMans. The car then passed on to two private owners before going up for sale via RM Sotheby's in Monterey, California.
The D-Type used the same 3.4-liter engine as the preceding C-Type, but in the new model it was topped with three Weber carburetors that bumped output to 245 horsepower. It was one of the first race cars to use a monocoque structure, where the body and frame are built as one piece. In the 1956 LeMans victory, the D-Type with chassis number XKD 501 ran more than 2,500 miles at an average speed of 104.47 miles per hour, and the car followed its LeMans performance with podium finishes at Britain's Aintree and Goodwood courses.