The Jaguar D-Type was an iconic car, the precursor of the E-Type, with a stellar competition history. Just 87 of them were made. Because real D-Types are so scarce and priced well over $1 million, a thriving industry has emerged making replica bodies for them. One such aluminum body was for sale on eBay Motors, with—as is often the case—E-Type underpinnings.
Note the D-Type’s distinctive rear fin.
Piotr Molak is the owner of Retro - opens in new window or tab., a company in Mielec, Poland that restores classic cars and also makes aluminum bodies and parts for rare Jaguars (including the D- and C-Types, XK-120, and E-Type). “Our company has 35 years experience in processing and shaping aluminum plate,” Molak said. “I started in the aircraft industry, and moved over to restoring antique cars.”
An original D-Type at speed. They had a brief, but fabulous, racing career before Jaguar pulled out of competition.
What happened to those 87 original Jaguar D-Types produced from 1954 to 1957? Sixteen were 16 raced by factory teams, and 53 were sold to private racing competitors. D-Types won the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1955 and 1956, and in 1957 they won again—occupying five of the top six places. When the D-Type became outdated for racing, 16 were sent out the door as barely modified XKSS road versions. Another nine XKSS cars were built, but they burned up in a disastrous fire at the company’s Browns Lane factory in 1957.
The D-Type body offered by Retro is in the “longnose” form Jaguar switched to in 1955. According to Molak, the aluminum body is fitted with a front frame from an E-Type. He notes that an E-Type could also donate the front and rear suspension, plus the dashboard, engine, gearbox, differential, and other parts to finish the car. It won’t be a D-Type, but it will look and drive like one. The buyer could outfit the car for racing, or make it into an XKSS for the street.
Retro has clients in Europe, the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, and Asia. The company is also concurrently selling similarly priced bodies on eBay Motors for the XK-120 and C-Type. The XK-120 is sitting on an original frame.
eBay offers parts that will fit a D-Type replica - opens in new window or tab.—or a real one for that matter.
Jaguar is building nine XKSS cars to replace those burned up in a factory fire. They’re priced at $1.4 million, and the run is sold out. (Photo: Jim Motavalli)
Jaguar is back in the D-Type business. It celebrated the iconic vehicle last summer - opens in new window or tab. and is building nine “continuation” XKSS cars - opens in new window or tab. to replace those burned up in the factory fire. The company unveiled its plans in 2016 at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles, which displays the most iconic XKSS ever—the car Steve McQueen owned, drove, and loved.
The nine cars, offered at $1.4 million each, quickly sold out, so buyers wanting the thrill of taking a D-Type on the open road will have to look elsewhere—including cars built from replicas like the one that was offered on eBay Motors.
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