The D-type is one of the most coveted and valuable of all Jaguars, but add a Le Mans?winning racing history and the hothouse atmosphere of the Pebble Beach weekend, and this 1955 D-type could bring a world record price when it goes under the gavel at RM’s Monterey auction next month.
The 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans came on the heels of the horrific 1955 race, in which a grisly crash saw a Mercedes-Benz 300SLR race car fly off the track into the stands, killing more than 80 spectators. A D-type won that race?after the two remaining Mercedes cars, then running first and third, voluntarily withdrew. For the 1956 outing, the circuit was redesigned to make it safer for both drivers and spectators. Jaguar’s factory team entered three D-types, but only one of those finished (in sixth place); instead, it was this car, fielded by the Ecurie Ecosse team, that took the checkered flag, driven by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson. Their D-type averaged 104 mph (a D-type averaged more than 100 mph and finished second at Le Mans in its first outing in 1954) and topped 156 mph on the Mulsanne straight.

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Since 1957, this historic D-type has been in the hands of only three private collectors and has been maintained in as-raced condition.
The most expensive Jaguar ever to sell at auction was a...