Works-horse

In a week celebrating the ‘Life of Luxury’, RM Sotheby’s is debuting its star car from its Arizona sale in New York. And while not necessarily luxurious, the Jaguar D-type is most definitely eye-catching, to say the least. This Works example is all the more intriguing, as it’s had an impressive race career in both period and modern historic racing. After racing at Le Mans in 1954 with Sir Stirling Moss and Peter Walker behind the wheel, setting a speed record of 172.97mph on the Mulsanne Straight, it was raced in Reims by the same pair and then, throughout the 1950s, at Goodwood, Oulton Park, Aintree, Silverstone, and more while under the ownership of Ecurie Broadhead. Although fitted with a 3.4-litre engine in 1954, rebuilt by the factory in 1956, and restored in the 1980s, this is believed to be one of the most original D-types in existence, warranting its 12,000,000 to 15,000,000 US dollar estimate. To be able to see this machine in the metal would be a truly memorable experience, but don’t worry too much if you can’t make it to New York this week to do so, we hear Arizona in January is lovely…

Photos: RM Sotheby’s