1956 Jaguar XK-D D-Type Roadster

This D Type Jaguar is powered by a 3.4 liter double overhead-cam in line 6-cylinder engine developing 250 horsepower coupled to a 4-speed manual gearbox making the vehicle capable of 190 mph. It was equipped with 16-inch wheels and 4-wheel disc brakes and weighed 1,936 pounds and sold for $10,000 in 1955.

The D Type sped - and slowed - its way to stardom with three Le Mans victories starting in 1955, a year after its introduction. Slowing was provided by new disc brakes that had been developed with Dunlop the British tire manufacturer. The disc brakes cooled more quickly and shed water on wet days. D Types were able to dive into curves and exit them using impressive acceleration.

The Type D production is thought to have included 18 factory team cars, 53 customer cars and 16 XKSS versions.

This particular example is XKD-528. It was dispatched from the Coventry factory on November 9th of 1955 and shipped to the California distributor, Hornburg Jaguar. It left the factory finished in a cream exterior color with a blue interior. The car's first owner was Continental Motors of Whittier, California. After some basic preparation, the car was entrusted to the company's sales manager, Pearce 'Pete' Woods, who raced it at the Torrey Pines Six-Hour event in January, 1956. In February, Harold Erb raced it at Palm Springs where it placed 3rd and earned its first podium finish. Woods raced it at the Santa Barbara preliminary race to a second place finish. It raced through the Del Monte Forest during the Pebble Beach races in April, followed by an event at Bakersfield where it took the overall victory.

Around this time, Whittier Motors supplied Road & Track magazine with XKD-528 for a road test after its sister car, XKD-527, was unavailable. XKD-527, however, is pictured in the featured article 'D-Jaguar: First Road Test of Britain's Top Sports Car.' During the road test, the D-Type managed a zero-to-sixty mph time of 4.7 seconds, 0–100 in 12 seconds and a timed top speed of 162 mph. Road & Track's review concluded that XKD-528 was, 'the best performing automobile we have ever tested, and we've tested some very potent machinery.'

For the 1956 summer season, Woods drove the car to two third-place finishes at Bonelli Stadium and Palm Springs and a fifth-place finish at Paramount Ranch. The Jaguar was then sold to Ronnie Milosevich of Arcadia, California.

For the 1957 season, Woods and Bobby Unser drove the Jaguar alongside the Works-entered D-Types. In April, the car raced in Hawaii where Woods won the Gold Cup at Honolulu. It found continued success at Paramount Ranch, Pomona, Santa Barbara and Riverside.

After the 1957 racing season, Mr. Milosevich sold the Jaguar to Carlyle Blackwell Jr., who was a devoted British sports car enthusiast and considered one of the best automotive photographers in the United States. The list of cars he owned included a Jaguar XK120, SS100, and an MG TD. In order to purchase XKD-528, he sold his Jaguar C-Type (XKC-007) - one of the first C-Types that had been delivered to North America.

While in Mr. Blackwell's care, the car was mechanically rebuilt and refinished it in bright yellow with black accents along the noseband and wings - earning it the moniker 'Bumble Bee.' The car received Halibrand knock-off racing wheels and a 'D-Jaguar' mascot painted near the cockpit.

Mr. Blackwell and Ken Miles drove the car to an overall victory at the Pomona Six-Hour Enduro in November of 1958. It then raced at Del Mar, Santa Barbara, the Hourglass Races and Riverside. In September of 1960, it placed 6th at Santa Barbara. After the race, it was retired from competition and prepared for street use. It received turn indicators, a rear-exit exhaust system, a full-width windscreen, a limited-slip differential, and was painted bright red. The engine received modifications that included larger carburetor jets, Winfield cams, higher compression, and a larger bore. The result of this work increased engine output to 300 hp.

In September of 1964, the D-Type was featured in the Salon section of Road & Track, its second appearance in the magazine.

Years later, the color scheme was changed again, this time to green. Modifications were made that included a single driver's wraparound windscreen and a LeMans-style tail fin. In 1974, the XKD-528 entered the care of James Levitt and was often seen traversing the roads around Beverly Hills and Hollywood. Around 1976, it was sold to Steve Griswold of Northern California. A short time later, it was sold to Joel Finn of Connecticut.

Mr. Finn raced the D-Type at the 3rd Annual Monterey Historic Races in 1976. In 1979, it was sold to Howard Cohen who continued to add to its historic racing resume. At the 1980 Monterey Historics, while traversing the tricky 'corkscrew' section of the track, the D-Type was involved in an accident. The car was sent to Steve Griswold of Berkeley, California, who rebuilt the front subframe using new longitudinal tubing. The damaged bonnet was replaced with a Jaguar-factory spare. After the full restoration, the car wore a light blue livery. It continued to be used both on the road and the track. It was featured in many magazine articles and has been the recipient of numerous awards.

In 2005, the car was shown at 'The Quail' in Carmel, CA. Later, it participated on the Colorado Grand Rally in 2005 and 2006. In 2007 it was entered on Terry Larson's C & D-Type Rally.

More recently, the car has been given a comprehensive restoration and has returned to its original color scheme of cream over blue. Two blue racing stripes and numbered roundels have been added and the LeMans tail, added in period by Carlyle Blackwell, has been retrained. Since the restoration was completed, it was shown at the La Jolla Motor Car Classic, the Art Center School of Design Car Classic and at the Desert Classic, where it was awarded Best in Class. In April of 2009, the car competed in the Copperstate Rally in Arizona.

In 2010, this Jaguar D-Type Sports Racer was brought to the Gooding & Company auction held in Scottsdale, Arizona. As bidding came to a close, the car had found new ownership for the sum of $3.74 million, which included the buyer's premium.