1956 Jaguar D-type 'Long Nose' Penultimate D-type 393 RW (XKD 605)
This is the penultimate D-type, built in March 1956 one of twelve “long-nose” cars, six of which were Works cars and six were Customer cars. Fitted with the latest specification fuel injection engine it was allocated to the Jaguar Works racing team, and was entered for the Reims 12-hour race on 30th June 1956, which it won, driven by Duncan Hamilton and Ivor Bueb.
During the Coronavirus outbreak in 2020, this image was one of those chosen to be reproduced as a line drawing by JDHT and Fuzzy Duck Creative, for children to colour in at home while they were under ‘lockdown’.
In 1956, the 24-hour race at Le Mans was held later than normal, at the end of July, to allow for reconstruction following the disaster in the 1955 race. Cars were also required to be fitted with a passenger door, a full-width windscreen, and a smaller fuel tank. At Le Mans, Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb drove XKD 605 with race number 1 (and on trade plates 393 RW) but were kept back by persistent misfiring, eventually traced to a cracked fuel injection pipe. They finished sixth and set fastest lap, while the winners were Flockhart and Sanderson in an Ecurie Ecosse entered D-type.
On 13 October 1956, Jaguar announced the company’s withdrawal from racing.
XKD 605 was then lent to the American Cunningham/Momo team and was temporarily repainted in the American racing colours of white with blue stripes. A new 3.8 litre engine was also fitted. In the 12-hour race at Sebring in 1957, the car was driven by Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb who finished third.
The car stayed in the USA until 1961 and then returned to England.
It was subsequently painted the original British Racing Green colour again, and was lent to Italy’s National Motor Museum, the Museo Carlo Biscaretti di Ruffia in Turin, where it remained for almost twenty years before again returning to its place of birth, the Jaguar factory at Browns Lane, Coventry. One of the most original D-types in preservation, it still has the 1956 Le Mans windscreen, passenger seat and door, and even sports the original trade plate registration 393 RW.
1956 Jaguar D-type ‘Long Nose’ – Race History
| Date | Location & Race | Drivers | Result |
| 1956 May 5 | Silverstone | Tested but not raced | |
| 1956 May 27 | Nurburgring | Practiced but not raced | |
| 1956 June 30 | Reims 12 Hour Race |
Duncan Hamilton Ivor Bueb |
Result – First |
| 1956 July 28-29 | Le Mans 24 Hour Race |
Mike Hawthorn Ivor Bueb |
Result – Sixth Set Fastest Lap |
| 1957 March 23 | Sebring, Florida 12 Hour Race |
Mike Hawthorn Ivor Bueb |
Result – Third |
| 1957 April 28 | Lime Rock, Connecticut | Walt Hansgen | Result – First |
| 1957 May 19 | Cumberland, Maryland | Walt Hansgen | Result – Second |
| 1957 May 26 | Thompson, Connecticut | Walt Hansgen | Result – DNF |
| 1957 June 9 | Lime Rock, Connecticut | Walt Hansgen | Result – Fourth |
| 1957 June 23 | Road America Elkhart Lake |
John Cooper Fitch | Result – Second |
| 1957 September 2 | Thompson, Connecticut | John Cooper Fitch Briggs Cunningham |
Result – Second |
| 1957 September 8 | Road America Elkhart Lake – 500 Mile Race |
Walt Hansgen James Forno |
Result – DNF |
| 1957 September 21 | Watkins Glen, New York | ||
| 1957 September 29 | Bridgehampton New York |
Walt Hansgen | Result – DNF |
| 1957 October 27 | Virginia International Raceway | Walt Hansgen | Result – DNF |
| Walt Hansgen, driving D-types for the Cunningham team, won a second consecutive SCCA Championship for Class C modified sports cars in 1957 |
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| 1958 January 12 | Miami | Walt Hansgen | Result – Third |
| 1958 April 20 | Marlboro | Crawford | Result – Fourth |
| 1958 September 13 | Bridgehampton New York |
Walt Hansgen | Result – Second |
Source: Jaguar C-type, D-type & Lightweight E-type Register – Anglo Danish Publications
Registration Mark: 393 RW
Chassis Number: XKD 605
Owner: The Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust
Inventory Number: 51/J.16
Price when new: £3,878 17s 0d
Price: 422 Weeks Average Wage