2008-12-06 23:12:40 | pauls writes:

A discussion about this car by Paul Skilleter is at:
www.xkevocation.com/evocation.html

It purports that the car (VIN bearing frame) was never sold by Jaguar but is a legitimate car. The car, or frame, was actually built by Jaguar but in some way left the factory without sales documentation. The car is alive and well, the hole in provenance is well documented.

2009-04-14 19:04:23 | pauls writes:

According to "Jaguar D Type & XKSS" by Graham Robson states the car was dismantled for parts.

2009-05-12 08:32:11 | tmcgrath writes:

see auction details at Worldwide Auctioneers www.wwgauctions.com/details.cfm

1957 - Jaguar still had a number of new unsold D-types and among them was XKD 544. Like its sisters this car was constructed in 1955, was painted in the traditional British racing green and by the autumn was undergoing tests at the M.I.R.A. test track at Nuneaton. Virtually all the production D-types were tested by Les Bottril of the experimental department and XKD 544 was no exception as the Jaguar test records show in detail

Andrew Whyte, the highly regard factory historian noted in his book ﾑJaguar Sports Racing and Works Competition Cars from 1954ﾒ that during 1956 XKD 544 was lent for display at the Jaguar main dealership of Brooklands of Bond Street in central London and did not return to the factory until January 1957 when it was updated with all current modifications from the race program. Alas XKD544 still failed to find a buyer and on 23 January 1957 Jaguar records state that the car was ﾓTo be reduced to Sparesﾔ as was typical procedure for prototypical automobiles. This action was confirmed as being complete on 12 August 1957.

Jaguarﾒs constant search for innovative and effective ideas led them to the development of an experimental fiberglass department to explore the possibilities of the material for lightness and strength. In late1957 Harold Thompson the head of the department was handed one of Jaguarﾒs most challenging experiments, nothing less than the construction of a prototype D-Type with fiberglass composite replacing fabricated aluminum alloy sheet, The monocoque center section and body panels were molded directly from the alloy original and steel panels were incorporated into the firewall and rear bulkhead to strengthen the pick-up points for the steel chassis frame and rear axle

Norman Dewis the factory development engineer, who remembers the car vividly even today, tested the car at M.I.R.A. on several occasions and ultimately demonstrated that in practice the fiberglass materials, resins and construction techniques of the day were not up to racing stresses and the steel reinforcing plates were not strong enough to cope with the power of the car. A definate experiment maybe but more importantly, XKD 544 was almost certainly the first car built with a composite monocoque structure and it remained in the factory as a test mule and for display and demonstration for several years after the D-Type was replaced by the E2A prototype which eventually became the E-Type. The only time the car was shown in public was when Mike Hawthorn, the reigning world champion driver came to make a Preimium Bond (National Lottery) selection and drove the car at a demonstration at the city center of Coventry

Eventually it was relegated to the fate of most outdated racing cars and consigned to a place in the weeds. Nothing was heard of the car until 8 May 1959 when Autosport Magazine carried an intriguing advertisement: amongst various other sports cars and specials Phlip Newby Cars Ltd of Allesley Road, Coventry offered a ﾓ1959 Jaguar XK SS bodied special, D-Type frame and suspension. Fitted 2199 Austin engine with modifications. Austin gearbox. Jaguar rear axle. The body is of fiberglass taken of a D type Jaguar. Offers invitedﾔ It is not known who bought the car from Newby Cars or when but it certainly went into circulation and again turned up for sale in Dyserth, North Wales advertised again in Autosport 14 August 1964 as a ﾓJaguar XK SS sripped for complete overhauls and respray but unable to complete. Offers pleaseﾔ

Shortly afterwards Peter Butt, a London dealer specializing in XK Jaguars and other interesting machinery bought the car for the ﾓasking price of 450 Poundsﾔ on the basis that it ﾓmight be worth a few quid one dayﾔ Examining the car more closely Butt realized that the body was beautifully made and of top quality and that indeed it incorporated an original D-type chassis frame and suspension amongst other original Jaguar parts. Peter Butt decided that the car was well worth restoring as an XK SS and started acquiring original D-type parts for the project. Meantime the professional finish of the body continued to intrigue him and he finally learned that the builder of the car was Harold Thompson and set off to Coventry to find him.

The resulting conversation has never been disclosed by Peter Butt until now. Harold Thompson not only confirmed that the ﾑspecialﾒ had been his but also revealed that its basis was the officially-sanctioned fiberglass D-Type whose body shell he had built in the factory experimental fiberglass shop, using a D-type chassis frame and other D-type parts. When Jaguar had no further use for the car it was stripped of its more valuable parts like engine, gearbox, brakes and wheels and the bodyshell with its semi-integral D-type frame was regarded as scrap. This was subsequently retrieved by Thompson for making his Austin powered special ﾖ evidently with the tacit approval of Jaguar as it appears he use this car openly. And of course the 1959 advertisement appeared in a high profile magazine at a Jaguar used-car dealer that was directly under the eye of factory.

The fiberglass body retains the original 1959 registration mark WKV 340 which Jaguar Heritage chief archivist Anders Clausager confirms was issued on 3 January 1959. Two years later the Worcestershire County Council confirmed in a letter that the vehicle was fitted with a Jaguar engine and that the vehicle had been inspected.

By 1975 Peter Butt realized he was not going to complete the restoration of the car and sold it to John Pearson, who sold it in turn to David Cottingham of DK engineering, from where it subsequently passed to Ronald Stern in 1978. He gave the car and the assorted original D-type parts to Jaguar race specialist Lynx Engineering and commissioned them to make a workable car with an aluminum monocoque. Not long after this Guy Black of Lynx brokered a deal to sell the car to David Duffy who wished the car to be prepared for historic racing.

The re-construction by Lynx was comprehensive, taking advantage of XKD 544ﾒs original steel tubing frame, the structural member to which Jaguar applied the chassis number. The steel chassis frame was extracted from the rather fragile and fatigued, fiberglass body and on being sand blasted to remove light surface rust revealed the Chassis identity of XKD 544. A new D-type aluminum alloy monocoque was constructed to exacting original specifications. New exterior panels were fabricated by RS Panels to original specifications. An appropriate later D-type specification engine was built-up displacing 3.8 liters and fitted along with myriad other original D-type parts to create the car that still retains XKD 544ﾒs frame and identity. The restoration was completed in 1981 and F.I.A. papers , the historic passport for competition cars, were obtained Duffy raced the car for three years including a Mille Miglia retrospective before selling it onin 1984 to David Vine and consequently other owners Since then it has been extensively vintage raced and is, if not the best, certainly among the most highly developed, sorted and proven D-types currently in historic racing. Its performance is attested in the accompanying comment by Norman Dewis, the Jaguar factoryﾒs D-type test driver. Having begun its life in support of Jaguarﾒs effort to explore new, and potentially faster, methods and materials, XKD 544ﾒs recent development into an historic racing paragon is an appropriate continuation of its birthright.

In 1995 the car was sold to Andrew Pisker by way of Landhurst Leasing. Mr Pisker then had UK Oakfields, International specialists of sports racing and historic cars test the car and make several simple improvements. While in the care of Oakfields the car was driven by co-founder and well-known rally specialist Ian Donaldson XKD 544 was consistently competitive and highly reliable over a 5 year international historic racing career. The car won several races during those five years. Perhaps the most notable race for XKD544 was Goodwod in the year 2000. Donaldson finished a close second in the prestigious Goodwood Revival Meeting and was featured prominently in the eventﾒs television coverage in the US. The 2000 race is known as one of the greatest races ever at Goodwood.

In 2001 the car again changed hands to Christian Trierenberg of Austria before passing to its current owner in 2006. When in America the car has been serviced and maintained by Jaguar C and D- type specialist Terry Larson and by the time of this auction the car will have participated in three of the 1500 mile tours run by this organization

This D type has an extraordinary history. It began its life as a unique experiment by Jaguar when it was test driven in fiberglass form by Norman Dewis at M.I.R.A. The physical entity has a continuous history and the chassis number it carries is undisputed as original. As to its present condition XKD 544 has the lovely patina of a well-used but well maintained competition car. The alloy body is in excellent condition and the car is on the button, ready for a new owner to enjoy the unique experience to be the custodian of one of the great classic Jaguar competition cars.

2009-11-02 09:54:55 | pauls writes:

Some photos of the car at:
www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/chassisNum.aspx

2010-11-11 14:59:11 | pauls writes:

Car either was or to be at auction, no date provided however same auction house as provided by Terry above:
http://www.wwgauctions.com/auctions/details.cfm?vehicleID=29&id=29#

Auction description:
CHASSIS NO: XKD544
XKD 544 Factory Development Car with an Interesting History

This car is perfect for vintage racing. We believe it still holds the lap record for D Types at Goodwood. Eligible for everything anywhere, an undisputed identity, the story of the Glassfibre development car - all add-up to superb old race car with bags of patina for the fairest price in today's market.

2013-03-16 10:38:35 | pauls writes:

Terry Larson interview about the car at the '09 auction.
wn.com/1956_jaguar_d-type_sports_racer_sells_for_34_million

2022-04-11 06:32:28 | pauls writes:

Published on facebook by Cummins Archive 4/11/22

June 1997 UK/France. Norman Dewis next to a Jaguar Mark IX towing Jaguar 'D' Type XKD544. The 1997 Jaguar 'D' Type Cavalcade to Le Mans was in commemoration of the 40th anniversary of the 1957 Le Mans win when 'D' Types came 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 6th. The cavalcade was from Browns Lane, Coventry to the Le Mans circuit and included 15 'D' Types and several 'C' Types. On the 14th of June they did a celebratory lap of the circuit before the start of that year's 24 Hour race.

Interestingly XKD544 was unsold and a Jag Service Department memo for August 1957 stated "Strip for salvage". The chassis frame was used by the factory to produce an experimental fibreglass body sometime in 1957 by Harold Thompson. Norman Dewis tested the 'plastic' XKSS at MIRA and reported that the fibreglass around the steel plates where the front and rear frames were bolted to the monocoque started to show big cracks right through the fibreglass. The engine, gearbox, brakes and wheels were stripped and returned to stock and the body, frames and suspension escaped to form a special built by Harold, using an Austin engine. In the early 1980s it was 'reconstructed' back to 'D' specs by Lynx using a new alloy monocoque and then back to XKSS specs in 2014 by Terry Larson. The original fibreglass body still exists separately. Cummins Archive