Jaguar XK-140

My interest in racing began in the early 1950s with the Indy 500, local midget racing and hot rods. That was before I discovered Jaguars and Le Mans. Magazines like Road & Track, Motor Trend and Speed Age opened up my eyes to sports cars and my brain developed a new third lobe just for European style racing which had begun to be introduced in America. Jaguar / Le Mans was my focal point since they were the big winners. Let me set the stage.

The XK120 was unveiled at the London International Motor Show in 1948. The sports car fraternity was swept off its feet with the $4000 "race car". Would this production car really be out there on the track and be competitive? The answer came when a stock XK120, running on standard gasoline, attained an all-time speed record for production cars by covering an observed and officially timed run at 132.6 mph. Private enthusiasts rushed to their dealers with cash in hand. Trophies were their rewards. Along with the joys of racing was the fun you could have as you passed big American sedans with ease. And when it came to the corners, the hot rodders eased off the accelerator and you watched their cars dwindle abruptly in the rear view mirror.

In 1950, a Jaguar XK120 ran for 24 hours at Montlhery at an average speed of 107.46 mph, and another in 1952 ran continuously for 168 hours (one solid week) to cover 16,851 miles at an average speed of 100.3 mph. Now, Jaguar was ready to race officially. A competition model, the XK120C, appeared as a surprise entry at the Le Mans 24 Hour Race of 1951. Driven by Stirling Moss and Jack Fairman, the car set such a blistering pace that Moss successfully broke the lap records three times — 105.85 mph on the 31st lap. Moss retired on the 92nd lap with a rod through the side of the crankcase. Moss was not easy on any car and was known as the "rabbit" — faster than anyone else but seldom winning. However, another XK120C, driven by Walker and Whitehead, was in second place and took over the lead. By the time 23 hours had elapsed, it was announced that Jaguar had broken the previous distance record, and when it crossed the finish line as the winner, it had covered 2244 miles at an average speed of 93.50 mph.

In 1953, the XK120C models again repeated their surprise upset on the Le Mans course. In addition to improved speed, suspension and cooling, the cars were equipped with new disc brakes that gave them a tremendous advantage. Jaguar set a terrific pace from the start and finished first, second and fourth, with the lead car being able to boast an average speed of 106 mph. That was the first time any car had averaged over 100 mph through the entire 24 hours of the race. To top off this win, the XK120C models went on to finish a close second in the 1953 world's sports car championship.

A new Jaguar competition car, the D-Type arrived for the 1954 running of Le Mans. Three were entered but they were defeated by the new 4.9 Ferrari which managed to squeak out a 89 second lead at the finished line — less than a minute-and-a-half in a 24-hour race! During the race the new Jaguar clocked 172.76 mph for the highest straightaway speed of the day. At the end of the race when the index of performance was computed, Jaguar can be said to have actually beaten the Ferrari because of the 40 percent greater displacement of the Italian car. But that is not a substitute for crossing the finish line in second position.

In 1955 at Le Mans, Jaguar was the car to beat. Mike Hawthorn set a new lap record of 122.39 mph as he raced to victory. But the winning was marred by a tragic accident that killed more than 83 spectators and injured another 120, when Pierre Levegh, behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, hit an Austin-Healey from behind. His car became airborne, soaring towards the left side of the track into the spectator's stands. In addition, Sir William Lyons, Jaguar's founder, lost his son in a road accident on the way to the track. 1956 was the last year that Jaguar officially entered Le Mans as a works team. At the start, two of the three works D-Type cars crashed at the Esses, while the third car later developed fuel injection problems, limping to a sixth place finish. On October 13, 1956, Jaguar announced that it was withdrawing from motor racing due to new Le Mans rules limiting cars to three litres in the future. Racing continued with private teams. Jaguar had established a reputation for performance.