1954 Jaguar Type D Roadster

This was the 2nd 1954 works team car and was the designated lead car for Le Mans. It was fitted with a tail fin for this race. It was a factory team car in 1954 and 1955 and began its career at the 1954 Le Mans 24 Hour Race at the hands of Stirling Moss. Before retiring in that race it set a new record of 172.97 miles per hour on the Mulsanne straight. They led the race before retiring with brake problems after midnight. On July 4th at the Reims twelve-hour sports car race, Moss and Walker did not finish.

For the September 11 Dundrod Tourist Trophy, Peter Whitehead and Ken Wharton finished 5th. The car was fitted with a 2 1/2-liter engine #E 2005-9.

After the race and by November 30, 1954, it had been fitted with a 3.4-liter engine #E 2004-9 for tests and was used as a test car by Norman Dewis over the winter.

In private hands, the car raced through 1957 in the U.K. and into 1963 in Canada. Since 1999, it has been vintage raced in the United States.

OKV 2 has had a very illustrious racing career, including being driven by ten factory drivers at events such as LeMans, Goodwood, Aintree, Reims, Dundrad, Oulton Park, Silverstone and Snetterton. Bob Berry (who was to become head of public relations for Jaguar) raced the car extensively and did very well. Bob was considered one of Britain's best 'up and coming drivers.' In 1955, Bob received an invitation to the Portuguese Grand Prix. OKV 2 was loaded on a transporter and headed to Portugal. Unfortunately, the transporter broke down in France. The D-Type was, therefore, unloaded, filled with all the spares they had brought and headed south. Twenty hours and 980 miles later, a very travel stained 'D' roared into the main square of Oporto, having traveled virtually non-stop across Portugal, Spain and most of France. The 'D' ran flawlessly, with the exception of a front sump seal leak. This forced a pit stop 10 laps from the end to top up the oil and dropped him from a 3rd place finish to a respectable 5th. Nevertheless, it was a great race and the prize money paid for all expenses. The D-Type was once again loaded with spares and driven back.