A 1954 Jaguar D-Type Works Le Mans racer will be one of the highlights of the RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2018 sale during the Scottsdale classic car auction week.
A 1954 Jaguar D-Type Le Mans Works entry racing car, estimate $12,000,000 to $15,000,000, is set to lead the RM Sotheby’s auction in Phoenix, Arizona, in January 2018. Although this specific car had limited racing success, it was driven in period by amongst others Moss, Hawthorn, Sanderson, Stewart, Titterington, Hamilton, and Beauman. It was also a very important development vehicle for the Jaguar racing team. A further interesting car announced for the RM Sotheby’s Arizona auction is a 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe with a special one-off body by Ghia, estimate $1,600,000 to $2,000,000, that once belonged to Argentine President Juan Perón.
RM Sotheby’s Arizona Classic Car Auction 2018
RM Sotheby’s will hold its 19th annual Arizona classic car auction on 18 & 19 January 2018 at the Arizona Biltmore Resort & Spa in Phoenix, Arizona. Around 160 cars will be on offer as part of the traditional Scottsdale Arizona auction week that starts of the classic car sales year for most major car auctioneers.
During the Scottsdale, Arizona classic car auction week in 2017, RM Sotheby’s earned $54 million from 141 cars offered with a sell-through rate of 89%. RM Sotheby’s sold 15 cars for more than a million dollars. The highest result for RM Sotheby’s at Arizona 2017 was $6,600,000 for a 1939 Mercedes Benz 540 K Special Roadster.
1954 Jaguar D-Type Works at RM Sotheby’s Arizona 2018
The 1954 Jaguar D-Type Works, chassis no. XKD 403 (registration mark OKV 2), estimate $12,000,000 to $15,000,000, is set to lead not only RM Sotheby’s auction in Phoenix, but the entire Scottsdale, Arizona, car week in January 2018. This 1954 Jaguar D-Type was raced by the factory team at amongst others Le Mans and it was driven in period by some of the most famous racing drivers including Stirling Moss and Peter Walker at Le Mans 1954.
This may be the second consecutive year that a Jaguar is the most-expensive car during the Scottsdale auction week. Last year, Bonhams sold a 1963 Jaguar E-Type Light Weight Competition for $7,370,000 as the most-expensive car during the 2017 Scottsdale, Arizona classic car auctions.
The 1956 Le Mans-winning 1955 Jaguar D-Type Ecurie Ecosse team car sold for $21,780,000 at RM Sotheby’s Monterey 2016 auction. At the time it was the most-expensive British car ever sold at public auction – a record since beaten by the 1956 Aston Martin DBR1. However, it remains the most-expensive Jaguar ever and the most-expensive Le Mans-winner, and the eighth most-expensive car ever.
1954 Jaguar D-Type Works, OKV2
The third of just six Works D-Types to come out of Jaguar’s Coventry factory in 1954, OKV 2 was Jaguar’s designated lead team car for Le Mans in 1954, piloted by none other than Sir Stirling Moss and Peter Walker. The car led the race and set a new speed record of 172.97 mph on the Mulsanne straight before retiring with brake problems just after midnight.
Throughout 1954 OKV 2 went on to contest Reims, also at the hands of Moss/Walker, and the Dundrod Tourist Trophy with drivers Peter Whitehead and Ken Wharton – where it secured Fifth overall. By late November 1954, the car had been fitted with a 3.4-Litre engine, and was used for testing by legendary chief factory test driver Norman Dewis.
In 1955, the D-Type was sold to Jack Broadhead to be raced by Bob Berry – the privateer team was referred to as “Ecurie Broadhead”. Following a documented factory rebuild in 1956 after the car was damaged at Goodwood, Broadhead continued to campaign the car at numerous events throughout the 1950s, including at Goodwood, Oulton Park, Aintree, Silverstone and more, at the hands of some of the most capable drivers of the period; Bob Berry, Peter Blond, Ron Flockhart, Jack Fairman, Ivor Bueb, and Reg Harris.
All told, OKV 2 was one of the most actively raced D-Types of the 1950s, driven at one point or another by some of the most hallowed names in racing, which also include Hawthorn, Sanderson, Stewart, Titterington, Hamilton, and Beauman.
It is this D-Type that cemented the foundation of Jaguar’s immense success at Le Mans in the ensuing years. XKD 403 was the team’s workhorse as well as their testbed for continuous technological development. The D-Type pushed not only Jaguar, but also their competitors, to the very limit of racing—it is the veritable cornerstone of Jaguar’s racing history.
Following nearly two decades in storage, OKV 2 landed with Lynx in the early 1980s, who restored the car, retaining all of its metal panels. While in the U.K., the D-Type was taken on the Jaguar factory cavalcades to Le Mans in both 1996 and 1997, before it was sold to its first American owner in 1999. The car has since participated in numerous vintage events, including the Goodwood Revival, Colorado Grand, California Mille, Copperstate 1000, Monterey Historics, and numerous Jaguar Club of North America events.
OKV 2 has been in its current ownership since 2009 and is offered for public sale for the very first time at RM Sotheby’s Arizona sale. Presented with an exhaustively documented and continuous history from the moment it left the factory, OKV 2 remains one of the most raced and most original D-Types in existence, retaining its factory tub, chassis, drivetrain, and suspension.
Juan Perón’s 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe
RM Sotheby’s has previously announced a collection of sport cars, including a rare 1921 Alfa Romeo G1, for the Arizona 2018 sale but a recent announcement is a 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe that once belonged to Argentine president Juan Peron.
The 1952 Ferrari 212 Inter Coupe with a special one-off body by Ghia, chassis no. 0191 EL, estimate $1,600,000 to $2,000,000, was displayed at both the 1952 Turin and Paris Motor Shows before it was sold to its first owner, founder of Editoriale Domus SrL, Gianni Mazzocchi Bastoni of Milan.
The Ferrari was sold the following year to then President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón, who retained ownership for two decades. After passing through a string of South American, American, and European proprietors, the Pebble Beach and Cavallino Platinum award-winning Ferrari is now offered out of nearly two decades of ownership by an esteemed American collector, wearing a beautifully preserved restoration in its original yellow and black color combination.
