For a car that spent its period racing life in the hands of privateers, the cast of XKD 518 is a stellar one.
Yet even before it left the Browns Lane factory in the final days of December 1955 it was destined for a life that would be remembered.
Forget British Racing Green of the works cars or the brilliant blue of Ecurie Ecosse, XKD 518 is one of only a believed two that came out of Coventry wearing bright red paintwork over a deep red interior. The colours not of Great Britain, or indeed Scotland, but of Italy and Ferrari.
A young London dealer by the name of Bernard Ecclestone achieved what big-name distributor Henlys of Manchester couldn’t and brokered the deal to its first owner, Peter Blond. He parted with £3500 for the privilege.
The car was to replace his old C-type, which was no ordinary C – if such a thing exists. His outgoing C-type just happened to be the car that finished fourth at Le Mans in 1953, when Jaguar claimed a 1-2-4.
The bright-red 3.4-litre D-type would be the making of the racer, with Blond winning at Snetterton and appearing strongly at Goodwood, Aintree, Oulton Park and Silverstone. Blond’s pace attracted the attention of John Wyer, of Aston Martin, but he secured works drives with HWM instead.
XKD 518, meanwhile, shuffled through various hands until Jean Bloxham took a podium in the car at Silverstone in 1961, purchasing the car on the advice of Jaguar’s Frank ‘Lofty’ England. It later went through the legendary hands of John Coombs and even on to Led Zeppelin’s manager Peter Grant.
Today, and as it will be seen at The Great British Jaguar Day on Saturday 23 May thanks to Fiskens, it survives with an unbroken history and is as it was raced by second owner Jonathan Sieff in the 1958 Tourist Trophy to ninth position. That means no tailfin and a full-width windscreen instead of an individual shroud.
See the remarkably original car at The Great British Jaguar Day, with Chris Harris & Friends and Car & Classic at Bicester Motion on Saturday 23 May. Adult tickets cost £32.50 (excluding fees). Book now
