Wednesday 7th February 2018

Jaguar Classic announces D-Type continuation

All-new 25-car run primed for launch at this week's Salon Retromobile

---

Bringing things back from the dead is all the rage these days. From Snow White to the Spice Girls, it seems nothing is safe from a 21st century re-hashing, and cars are no exception.

Lister revived the Knobbly, Aston Martin has built 25 more DB4 GTs, and Land Rover couldn't even wait a year before getting in on the act with its 're-engineered' Defender. Jaguar itself has already brought back the XKSS, committed to 10 'reborn' E-Types, and even gone so far as to stick an electric motor in a 'future-proofed' version of the same model.

Not satisfied with stopping there, however, Jaguar Classic has now set its sights on the legendary D-Type, the car which claimed three back-to-back Le Mans wins for the marque between 1955 and '57. Having originally planned for 100 D-Types, Jaguar only managed to complete 75, and with the classic car market as it is, it was one of those - the 1956 Le Mans winner - which set a new record at auction, selling in 2016 for £15.5m. You can see where this is headed.

Following extensive research, and working from the original engineering drawings, Jaguar seems confident that every one of the 'new' D-Types - set to be hand-built at the JLR Classic Works in Coventry - will be made to an "authentic, original specification", resulting in the creation of 25 "period-correct sports cars".

Kev Riches, Jaguar Classic Engineering Manager, said of the project: "Recreating the nine D-type-derived XKSSs was hugely satisfying, and an even bigger technical challenge than the six missing Lightweight E-Types, but lessons learned from the XKSS project have given us a head start on the final 25 D-Types. Each one will be absolutely correct, down to the very last detail, just as Jaguar's Competitions Department intended."

There's no word on cost yet - it seems likely if you need to ask you're already too late - though a choice of either 1955-spec 'Short Nose' or 1956-spec 'Long Nose' bodywork has been confirmed. The first prototype example will make its debut at Salon Retromobile in Paris this week, with more details expected to be announced then.

[sidesauce]

As Jag and Aston supply the demand for these period creations, surely Ferrari, Porsche and Daimler must be readying something similar from their back catalogues...?

Very interesting times.

[dinkel]

A 300SL recreation would be most welcome.

[galaxie500]

Looking forward to a new Allegro & Austin Princess too....

[coppice]

Oh FFS , another cynical cash cow to be milked. A special edition for Octane reading oligarchs. Lovely cars in period and still great to watch on track but thank God some car firms still look ahead and don't obsess about their past.

[Pintofbest]

coppice said:

Oh FFS , another cynical cash cow to be milked. A special edition for Octane reading oligarchs. Lovely cars in period and still great to watch on track but thank God some car firms still look ahead and don't obsess about their past.

I see the point but the classic business is huge and very profitable and that is what it is all about at the end of the day - as an employee of JLR I'd rather have a wander around one of these than a base spec XE as I love all the old stuff.

if you get a chance go to the classic centre in Cov, the cars are amazing and just the smells alone bring back your best childhood car memories! Where else could you see 7 XJ220's, countless old RR's, e-types everywhere etc. If my numbers come up on the lottery I'm straight there.

[Skylinecrazy]

That is wonderful. The more made the better.

[aeropilot]

I'll have a short nose please.......


You can leave it unwrapped

[David87]

If Renault could re-manufacture the Clio Williams for poorer folk like me, that'd be great thanks.

I'd sooner have something like this Jag over the next million quid track-only Ferrari or whatever.

[Plug Life]

Pointless.

[TooMany2cvs]

Can't be road registered.
Won't be eligible for historic racing.

It's an investment vehicle. No more, no less.

Spending a tiny fraction on a good rep that you can actually use makes far more sense.

[PunterCam]

Utterly pointless. Money money money - not the reason I or anyone else ever got into cars.

[Fire99]

TooMany2cvs said:

Can't be road registered.
.

Is that right? If so then these cars really are utterly pointless. Don't get me wrong, I love these old classics but there are far better track cars and the only place where these classics would make sense to me, would be on some decent roads on a sunny day..

[aeropilot]

Fire99 said:

Is that right?

Yes.

[GTEYE]

David87 said:

If Renault could re-manufacture the Clio Williams for poorer folk like me, that'd be great thanks.

I'd sooner have something like this Jag over the next million quid track-only Ferrari or whatever.

Totally agree with you, though the same problem would arise that the Clio wouldn't be road legal to register as a new car in 2018 either.

Sadly these things are just investment "vehicles" for the super rich.

Edited by GTEYE on Wednesday 7th February 10:22

[TooMany2cvs]

Fire99 said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Can't be road registered.

Is that right?

Look at the engine bay pic. Big carbs. That is not going to meet emissions regs for a new-build car... Then there's the lack of TPMS, DRLs, etc etc. And even then, you'd only be able to register it into a very few markets, not globally.

In the UK, you can build an all-new-parts D-type and register it.
Or you can build an all-new-parts D-type that's an accurate replica.
Or you can build an accurate replica that's registerable under the "reconstructed classics" scheme, but that's going to involve a lot of old bits.

...and this is one of the easier countries to do this sort of thing in...

(Insert "Lightweight E", "XKSS", "DB4GT" etc in place of "D-type"...)

Fire99 said:

If so then these cars really are utterly pointless.

Not at all. They do their intended job very, very well. They're very lucrative, and they get a lot of headlines. They're easy to sell because there's so few of 'em and they'll increase in value massively.

Where you're going wrong is viewing them as usable cars...

[Lordbenny]

PunterCam said:

Utterly pointless. Money money money - not the reason I or anyone else ever got into cars.

But you still spend you’re nights drooling over Paganis, LaFerraris and P1’s which are far more pointless.

This is exactly why I’m into cars, they may not have the patina or history of the original cars but they have the style, the grace, the smell, the charisma and the soul of the originals. Not only that but they will put a huge smile on your face, and onlookers, every time you press the loud pedal and go over 50mph.

How ANYONE who claims they’re into cars can’t think this isnt a good idea is beyond me. Ok, so most of us can’t afford one but why should that be a reason to not lust after one.

Edited by Lordbenny on Wednesday 7th February 16:25

[aeropilot]

TooMany2cvs said:

Where you're going wrong is viewing them as usable cars...

They are entirely useable cars

Given the price tag, and the exclusivity of them, prospective owners could easily afford to have their 'man' load it into a trailer and deliver it to any track of ones choosing for a few hours, to be able to rag its arse pretending your Hawthorn 4-wheel drifting a D at La Sarthe......for ones 'man' to then load it up and trailer it back to ones toy collection, until repeating all over again on another day.......

Now, whether any of the new owners will do that is another matter entirely......

[kambites]

TooMany2cvs said:

Fire99 said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Can't be road registered.

Is that right?

Look at the engine bay pic. Big carbs. That is not going to meet emissions regs for a new-build car... Then there's the lack of TPMS, DRLs, etc etc. And even then, you'd only be able to register it into a very few markets, not globally.

Obviously it couldn't get through modern type approval, but surely it can still be sold for road use anywhere the D-type was originally approved? As car as I know type approval for a model doesn't expire?

[corozin]

TooMany2cvs said:

Fire99 said:

TooMany2cvs said:

Can't be road registered.

Is that right?

Look at the engine bay pic. Big carbs. That is not going to meet emissions regs for a new-build car... Then there's the lack of TPMS, DRLs, etc etc. And even then, you'd only be able to register it into a very few markets, not globally.

In the UK, you can build an all-new-parts D-type and register it.
Or you can build an all-new-parts D-type that's an accurate replica.
Or you can build an accurate replica that's registerable under the "reconstructed classics" scheme, but that's going to involve a lot of old bits.

...and this is one of the easier countries to do this sort of thing in...

(Insert "Lightweight E", "XKSS", "DB4GT" etc in place of "D-type"...)

Fire99 said:

If so then these cars really are utterly pointless.

Not at all. They do their intended job very, very well. They're very lucrative, and they get a lot of headlines. They're easy to sell because there's so few of 'em and they'll increase in value massively.

Where you're going wrong is viewing them as usable cars...

If I understood it correctly these continuation cars (including the Aston Martin DB4 GT) are all being sold as track only ready cars. There has never been any intention to declare them as road cars for the reasons specified. in any event the values make them very unlikely they would ever be used on the road anyway.

[BOR]

Phwoaaaaaar basically.

Great that they can still crank out more of these, presumably using the original tooling etc.

Will they end up being more or less valuable than the original "originals" ?

The build quantities of these cars do sound rather low to me. If you are going to do it, surely a few more would make more sense commercially?

I know that the toffs like limited numbers buut surely 50x 1,000,000 GBP is better than 25x1,500,000 GBP ?