Ecurie Ecosse – Scottish Racing Team

Run by David Murray (1952 to 1968)

This webpage only deals with Jaguar related events and is not meant to be an exhaustive history of either the Ecurie Ecosse racing team or its founder David Murray.

David Murray

David Murray (born on 28 December 1909) was a chartered accountant by profession and a businessman, running a few pubs, and a small motor business from Merchiston Mews in Edinburgh – Merchiston Motors.  He enjoyed racing having raced both before and after the war, with his first outing at Le Mans in 1937 driving a BMW 328, with Pat Fairfield, but only lasting 8 laps. 

After the war he bought himself an ERA and then a 1939 Maserati 4CL which he later traded up to a 1948 Maserati 4CLT.  With ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson from Merchiston Motors as his mechanic he entered a number of races in 1950 and 1951 and entered the Formula One British Grand Prix in July 1951 at his own expense, although racing under the team name of Reg Parnell’s  Scuderia Ambrosiana, followed by the German Grand Prix. 

Then in November 1951 he founded the Scottish motor racing team Ecurie Ecosse in Edinburgh with ‘Wilkie’ Wilkinson in charge of maintenance.  The Team consisted of Murray himself, Bill Dobson (who bought Murray’s XK120 HWS 104), Ian Stewart (who had bought an XK120 from Merchiston Motors) and 21 year old Sir James Scott Douglas, Bt (who also owned an XK120).

Murray had also been talking to another young Scot, Ron Flockhart about joining, but Flockhart had an ERA and he refused to buy an XK120, and Murray needed a team of matching cars.  Ian Stewart had already raced his XK120 in ‘Flag Blue’ and Murray picked this colour for the team, with Ian Stewart sketching out the design for the Ecurie Ecosse trademark shield.

1952-1955

Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart signed to drive for the Jaguar factory team in 1952 and was therefore offered the chance to buy one of the first three customer C-types XKC006, which he did on hire purchase.  Stewart’s father was not happy with his son taking out such a loan and after discussions with Murray, Ecurie Ecosse became the owner of the car. 

1952 was a good season for the team with Ian Stewart taking eight 1^st places but as Bill Dobson was under pressure to work in the family business and Scott Douglas bought a C-type to compete in Europe, Murray lined up two more young Scottish drivers for a very busy 1953 season: Jimmy Stewart (no relation to Ian) and Ninian Sanderson. 

Jimmy Stewart was doing his 2 years National Service during 1953 and 1954 but fortunately his commander was keen on motor racing so arranging pass-outs (14 in 1953 and 8 in 1954) to go racing didn’t seem to be a problem.

Murray added a Bristol-Cooper and a Connaught to the team allowing him to enter single seater races, and at most race meetings they fielded at least 3 if not 5 cars.  From at least 18 race meetings in 1953 they managed to amass six 1^st, six 2^nd and six 3^rd places.  The most remarkable race of 1953 was the 1,000 kms at the Nürburgring where Roy Salvadori, who had never driven a C-type before, and Ian Stewart drove XKC041 to 2^nd place.  This was despite problems with the suspension causing it to weave all over the track.  When Wilkie Wilkinson drove it from the finishing pits to the tunnel after the race, the suspension actually collapsed and the car had to be dragged out.  

At the end of 1953 Murray negotiated with William Lyons to buy the 1953 Works C-types, as Jaguar were planning to run their new D-types for 1954.  This included instructions not to allow anyone to have close access to the, still very new, disc brakes, which were stated as still being the property of Dunlop.  Wilkinson went down to Dunlop to be trained on maintenance of the new braking system with instructions not to modify them in any way.  The invoice for the 1953 Le Mans winning C-type (driven by Duncan Hamilton and Tony Rolt) was for £2,119 0s 10d (£2,119.04) including purchase tax.  

The first race of 1954 was the 1,000 kms in Buenos Aires, Argentina where three C-types were entered, one of them driven by Argentinians Cruz and Schroeder.  Scott Douglas and Sanderson finished 4^th while the other two cars failed to finish, with Ian Stewart crashing into a concrete wall.  He was hospitalised with a broken collar bone, but his parents had been informed that he had died.  Under pressure from them he agreed to retire from racing.  After a couple of trial races Murray gave his place in the team to Irishman, Desmond Titterington.

During the second half of 1954 Murray flirted with the idea of striking a deal with Aston Martin, although it is not clear whether this was serious or just a tactic to put negotiating pressure on Jaguar Cars.  By November he had concluded a deal to replace the C-types with three D-types for the 1955 racing season, although they didn’t arrive in time for the first few races.

Jimmy Stewart raced for Aston Martin in 1954 and had a major accident at Le Mans, breaking an arm and ending up in hospital.  Then in 1955, driving one of the new D-types for Ecurie Ecosse, he had another accident, this time at Nürburgring, going through some hedges and off the track, ending up trapped upside down in a ditch and not being found for some time.  The same arm was damaged again and his doctor advised him to stop racing as another accident could result in the loss of the arm completely.  Ian Stewart later said of Jimmy Stewart “There are lucky drivers and unlucky drivers and Jimmy was the match if not better than his brother but I think Jackie was lucky and Jimmy wasn’t ….it’s a magic thing isn’t it?” 

Six years later, in 1961, Jimmy’s younger brother Jackie Stewart started racing, and after a couple of successful races David Murray asked him to drive the Tojeiro EE for Ecurie Ecosse.  Jackie Stewart went on to compete in Formula Three and then Formula One for BRM, Matra, March, and Tyrrell, winning the driver’s championship three times – 1969, 1971 and 1973.

Ecurie Ecosse are best known for winning Le Mans in both 1956 and 1957.

Le Mans

For the 1956 Le Mans race, which run late that year to allow for changes to the track and pits following the 1955 disaster, Mike Hawthorn was partnered with Ivor Bueb in XKD605 (with PI), Ken Wharton was brought in as a replacement for Duncan Hamilton and partnered with Jack Fairman in XKD602 (with PI), and Paul Frère was partnered with Desmond Titterington in XKD603 (on Webers).  A spare car (XKD606) was also taken.

Two factory D-types crashed on the second lap and on the third lap, Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb’s car experienced delays due to a cracked pipe in the fuel injection system.  England recalled, “We had injection pipe trouble with Mike’s car. The injector pipe had split longways out of sight.  By the time we’d traced this and fixed it, we were 26 laps behind – hardly worth restarting.  So I said to Mike and Ivor, ‘Look, I reckon if you have a bloody go, you can finish eight’. ‘We’re on’ they said, ‘we’ll have a bloody go’.  They finished sixth and do you know how much the prize money was?  £30 between them [about 4 week’s average wage].  But they couldn’t have cared less because they’d enjoyed themselves so much.  During the race one would come in and say, ‘What’s it like, Mike?’ ‘Wet!’  Then next time, “what’s it like, Ivor?’ ‘Still wet!’ great chaps – super. Our mechanics loved Hawthorn most of all – great bloke”.

1956 D-type XKD501 at Le Mans
Driven by Ron Flockhart & Ninian Sanderson

Although the Jaguar Team (Hawthorn and Bueb) only managed 6^th place, the race turned into a celebration for Jaguar as the lone entry of Ecurie Ecosse, scored a win with its own D-type XKD501 MWS 301, driven by Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson, giving Jaguar its fourth win at Le Mans.  

At the end of 1956 the Company announced that they were withdrawing from racing to concentrate on producing and selling cars.  Although not formally announced, they continued to support the efforts of privateers including Ecurie Ecosse.  As Lofty explained, “By 1956 we needed to be sure of winning and to do so we had to update the D-type.  So we decided to pull out for a year and develop a potential winner based on the E-Type prototype (E1A) which was running in 1956.  But then in 1957 we had the great fire at the factory, and all our efforts were put into the factory rebirth.  Sales were going very well, we needed every production car we could make, and there was just no real need to carry on racing.  We continued to support people like Ecurie Ecosse and Duncan Hamilton.  Later we did the Cunningham car [E2A] as a project for Le Mans in 1960, and we developed the lightweight E-Type from it”.

The five D-types that were entered for the 1957 Le Mans race were entered by independent teams: two by Ecurie Ecosse – Flockhart/Bueb in XKD606 (the last of 87 D-types built) and Sanderson/John Lawrence in XKD603; Duncan Hamilton and Masten Gregory drove Hamilton’s own D-type XKD601; Paul Frère and Freddy Rouselle drove the Equipe Nationale Belge entry XKD573 and Jean Lucas and ‘Mary’ Brussin, the pseudonym used by Jean-Marie, entered XKD513 as Equipe Los Amigos.  

Despite not fielding a works team, Jaguar (as manufacturer not team owner) took their fifth Le Mans win in style, finishing 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd, 4^th and 6^th places.  Ecurie Ecosse came 1^st and 2^nd with Bueb scoring his second Le Mans win driving with Flockhart at an average speed of 113.85 mph.  Sanderson/Lawrence came in 2^nd, Lucas/Brussin were 3^rd, Frère/Rouselle 4^th and Hamilton/Gregory 6^th , behind the Ferrari of Stuart Lewis-Evans and Martino Severi. 

There is a very good short video, on YouTube, of an interview with Hugh Langrishe, part of ‘The Big Six‘ short film by Cave Bear Films, where Langrishe describes being at Le Mans in 1957, completing lap timing charts for the Ecurie Ecosse team. 

He talks about both the team and his good friend Ron Flockhart and this is interspersed with period footage and commentary of the race – and the 5th Jaguar victory at Le Mans.

1957 D-type XKD603 at Le Mans
Driven by John Lawrence and Ninian Sanderson

Ron Flockhart wrote a letter to Lord Montagu of Beaulieu in 1961 detailing his experiences. “One impression I have of the “D” type Jaguar which is probably unique, is that its handling characteristics are similar to that of the “D” type ERA.  I found that at Le Mans particularly with the tail fin, that the faster it went the more stable the car become.  It was my practice to relax completely down the Mulsanne straight (race traffic permitting!) and flex my fingers and arms, the car steering itself at around 170mph.  A good personal test of “Chicken or Hero Driver”, was to take the slight right hand kink at the end of the Mulsanne straight absolutely flat – no secret cheating by easing off a couple of hundred rpm but an honest 5,800 rpm on the 1957 3.8 litre – it could be done, but only just.  If the track were damp, then this game was for Chicken Drivers only.  Both Ivor Bueb and I discovered this in our own fashion – something the spectators missed!   However in conditions of crosswind this was not possible and I recall once at Goodwood one blustery day at practice where the Jaguar with tail fin was a handful through Fordwater and past the pits.  The 3.4 litre Jaguar engine (and the later 3.8 litre) in my opinion come under the same category as the Gypsy Major and Rolls Royce Merlin aero engines, it feels as if it would go on for ever.  However, the 3 litre version was never as successful.  I don’t think the design lent itself to continued operation above 6,000 rpm.  There was no marked difference in performance between the Lucas fuel injection 3.8 litre Jaguar and the normal Weber carburettor “D” type.  The only noticeable difference being that the Lucas injection gave smoother acceleration with no spitting back and hesitation round a slow corner on part throttle.”

Unfortunately, the team was less successful at the 1958 Le Mans race, with both Masten Gregory’s and Jack Fairman’s D-types retiring after a few laps due to engine failure.

A newly acquired Tojeiro-Jaguar was entered to compete alongside the team’s D-type at the Le Mans race in 1959, but once again, neither of them finished with the D-type retiring after 70 laps due to engine failure and the Tojeiro retiring after 137 laps due to a fire.  

Despite modifications the D-type once again retired at the 1960 Le Mans race, on the 168^th lap, this time due to a broken crankshaft.  The second Ecurie Ecosse car entered, a Cooper T49 Monaco, didn’t make it to the start line.  Ecurie Ecosse were the last team to enter a D-type for the Le Mans 24 hour race.

Ecurie Ecosse’s last attempt at winning Le Mans was in 1962, where a Tojeiro EE was entered, but once again retired,  due to gearbox problems.

Other races

At the British Empire Trophy race at Douglas, Isle of Man, in May 1952 Ecurie Ecosse entered three XK120s driven by Sir James Scott Douglas, David Murray and Ian Stewart.  The only other Jaguar in the race was Duncan Hamilton driving his own C-type.  Hamilton, Murray and Stewart all failed to finish but Scott Douglas managed to finish 6^th, winning the unlimited class.

On 29 June 1952 Stirling Moss drove Tommy Wisdom’s C-type XKC005 to win at Reims, at an average speed of 98.18 mph (158.00 km/hr).  Despite Scott Douglas’ XK120 finishing in third place for Ecurie Ecosse, this was still a significant victory as it was the first time an international motor race had been won by a car fitted with disc brakes, “there were broad grins in the Jaguar pit.  Bill Lyons, Bill Haynes [sic] and Lofty England saw Le Mans being vindicated by Tommy Wisdom’s light green “C-type”, whilst “Wilkie” [Wilkinson] could hardly contain himself in the Ecurie Ecosse pit” – Autosport.

Le Mans 1952 had been a disaster for the Jaguar works team.  Having won in 1951 in a C-type, they modified the bodywork in an attempt to gain more speed, but all three of the team’s C-types failed due to overheating so the Reims win provided some very welcome good news.

In June 1953, Ian Stewart won the 10 lap handicap race for the William Lyons Trophy at Snetterton, in Ecurie Ecosse’s Jaguar C-type.

At the September 1954 Goodwood meeting Hawthorn was leading in his Ferrari  750S until his back axle failed allowing Roy Salvadori to  score a win for the team, driving C-type XKC053, with teammate Titterington finishing in 4^th place in  C-type XKC052.

On 25^th March 1955 an advertisement appeared in ‘Autosport’ from Ecurie Ecosse offering for sale the 1953 Le Mans winning C-type (chassis XKC051) LSF 420 they had bought from Jaguar.  The arrival of their own D-type meant that the C-type was surplus to requirements.  This was the disc braked C-type which Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton had famously taken to victory beating Ferrari and Mercedes.  Promising young racing driver, Bill Smith, left his father, John Smith, to negotiate with David Murray and following a successful deal it was still in Ecurie Ecosse colours at Bill Smith’s  first race at Snetterton in May. 

Smith painted LSF 420 in his own racing colours of bright red with a black centre stripe and took it to Dundrod in Northern Ireland for the international Ulster Trophy at Dundrod in May of 1955.  After a fierce battle with Desmond Titterington in the Ecurie Ecosse D-type, he went on to win the Champion Trophy by crossing the line first, although Titterington won the Ulster Trophy for the fastest finisher.

His prowess that season lead to David Murray of offering him a team drive for the 1956 season, with a proviso that if Jaguar wanted him as a Works Driver then he would be released.  Murray also invited Smith to drive in the Targa Florio that October.

In 1955, racing in a team’s new D-type, Desmond Titterington won at the Ulster Trophy meeting, scoring his fastest lap of the Dundrod circuit at 91.43 mph, 3 seconds slower than Hawthorn’s record performance in the 1954 Tourist Trophy race.  Titterington also took further victories at Charterhall in Scotland for the Unlimited Sports Car event and Snetterton.

At the 1956 Reims 12 hour race, after which Duncan Hamilton was sacked, the Ecurie Ecosse D-type driven by Ron Flockhart and Sanderson finished in 4^th place.  The first three positions were taken by the Jaguar team’s D-types with Hamilton / Bueb in 1^st place driving XKD605 (on Petrol Injection), Hawthorn / Frère in 2^nd place driving XKD601 (now on Webers) and Titterington / Fairman in 3^rd place.

Following the Le Mans win in 1957, Ecurie Ecosse took part in the ‘Race of Two Worlds’ at Monza in Italy, a 500-mile race between American Indianapolis cars and European racing cars, dubbed ‘Monzanopolis’.  Most of the Formula One teams boycotted the event with only 1 Ferrari, 2 Maseratis and 3 Jaguar D-types entered.  The Ferrari and Maseratis had problems with tyres and handling during testing and withdrew from the event, leaving Ecurie Ecosse’s D-types of Masten Gregory and Bueb and a Lister for Fairman as the only European entries.  Despite making a quick getaway and leading the first lap in one of the Ecurie Ecosse D-types, they were quickly overtaken and American Offenhauser powered cars took the first three places.  The D-types of Fairman (XKD603), Lawrence (XKD606) and Sanderson (XKD504) taking 4th, 5th and 6th places.

Ecurie Ecosse entered two D-types for the Sebring 12-Hours in March 1958, Bueb partnered with Sanderson in XKD504 and Ron Flockhart/Masten Gregory drove XKD603.  Both retired before the halfway mark due to valve problems in the new 3-litre version of the XK engine.  The same teams were entered for the Nürburgring 1,000 km race on 1st June, with the same cars, but despite the new engines proving to be more reliable, Bueb and Sanderson had to retire due to front suspension damage while Gregory and Flockhart spun off and crashed.  The best Jaguar related result was Fairman and Lawrence in XKD606 who finished 9^th.

For the second  running of the Race of Two Worlds on 29 June 1958, the team entered Fairman with a Jaguar engined Lister and Gregory and Bueb with D-types.  Fairman retired at the end of the second stint. Gregory and Bueb were 15^th and 16^th  respectively in heat one and Bueb 11^th in heat two, Gregory retiring during the final stint after 44 of the 63 laps.  Bueb was 7^th but still last, in the third and final heat.

Race results – Jaguar (or David Murray) Related

After Jaguar

For a more detailed history of the Team from the 1950s to the 1990s read Ecurie Ecosse by Graham Gauld

By the mid-1960s the team’s competitive era ended and David Murray was having financial troubles with the core businesses that funded him: his accountancy practice; his pubs and wine shop.  He owed money to the tax man and was due to appear in court in May 1968 to defend his non payment of income tax. 

David Murray left the country to become a tax exile – initially no-one knew when he had gone, but eventually his wife followed him to the Canary Islands. 

The team came under the control of the Ecurie Ecosse Association and following a meeting of the General Purpose Committee, Murray signed over ownership and control of the team.  Ecurie Ecosse eventually ceased operating in 1971 although it was revived in the 1980s by driver Hugh McCaig.

David Murray was involved in a road accident on Gran Canaria, when his Mini was hit by a bus, receiving a fractured skull among other injuries.  Initially he seemed to be recovering but then three weeks later on 5 April 1973 he died from a heart attack. 

Ecurie Ecosse Drivers

Over the years Ecurie Ecosse nurtured  the talents of many young drivers as well as employing many experienced drivers and the list is virtually a Who’s Who of racing drivers for the 1950s and 1960s.

Ecurie Ecosse Transporter

After Ecurie Ecosse finished first and second in the 1957 Le Mans 24 Hour Race with their D-type Jaguars the membership of their supporters club, the Ecurie Ecosse Association, leapt dramatically and all of the members were keen to give any support they could to further Ecurie Ecosse success.  One area was obvious, transportation.  At that time Ecurie Ecosse had two ageing transporters, one of them an ageing Albion coach, which had served the team well for over five years.  

Amongst the members of the Ecosse Association were many people involved in the Scottish motor trade and the first to step forward was Alastair Cormack, managing director of James Ross & Sons Motors, the Rootes agents.  Alastair was no stranger to motor racing as he had been a factory driver for Alta before the war and raced at Brooklands and Donington.

Ronnie Alexander, managing director of Walter Alexander and Company of Falkirk was also a member of the Association and he offered to have a one-off transporter designed and built at his factory which specialised in truck and bus coachbuilding.  In turn a number of other companies offered to help including British Aluminium who offered the panelling, Dunlop, Joseph Lucas and Wilmot Breeden all chipped in.  Other companies, like John Gibson & Sons, offered to do some of the engineering on the chassis and fittings and so the transporter was commissioned in 1959 with additional funding coming from the Ecurie Ecosse Association.  The chief designer at Walter Alexander was one of Scottish motor sport’s characters, Selby Howgate who was a true dyed in the wool Bentley enthusiast with a particularly rapid 4½ litre which he drove with vigour.  Selby had worked in the aircraft industry and was Design Manager at Alexanders.

Howgate got down to the job and was full of ideas.  His assistant, Ian Johnston recalls that had this been an actual commercial project the transporter would have cost a fortune as the ebullient Selby kept changing his mind but in the end what he came up with was nothing short of stunning in concept and execution.  Many people have commented on the upward sweep at the rear of the bodywork which Ian Johnston explains was the answer to Selby’s rhetorical question, “ What is the most streamlined thing in nature….a fish.”

The transporter has a lower deck enclosed at the front with sleeping accommodation and space for one car.  Then there were hydraulic ramps to raise a further two cars to the upper level where the cars stretched out over the cab.

Eventually the transporter was finished in time for the 1960 motor racing season and made its debut at the Scottish circuit, Charterhall, on May 29 1960.

Wherever it travelled the Ecurie Ecosse transporter was admired and when Ecurie Ecosse was wound down early in 1971 the transporter was sold to well known historic racing driver Neil Corner who actually owned one of the ex-Ecurie Ecosse D-type Jaguars.  It later passed through many hands and was discovered in terrible condition in the 1980s and was subsequently restored by Lynx.

Today the Ecurie Ecosse transporter is as resplendent as it ever was thanks to one of Ecurie Ecosse’s greatest supporters, Dick Skipworth. 

Source: Ecurie Ecosse Website

Dick commissioned the total rebuilding of the transporter and then sent it to auction at Bonhams in London in December 2013 – where it sold for £1.6m.  Watch the YouTube video below to see its drive to Bonhams and the auction itself. 

Authors: Shihanki Elpitiya and Tony Merrygold

Race results from www.RacingSportsCars.com  and Ecurie Ecosse by Graham Gould

© Text and Images – Jaguar Daimler Heritage Trust

Sources and Further Reading:

• Sainty, Peter J, An Artist at the Game (Peter J Sainty, 2011)

• Parker, Chas and Porter, Philip, Jaguar C-Type: The Autobiography of XKC 051 (Porter Press International Ltd, 2017)

• Porter, Philip and Page, James, Jaguar Lightweight E-Type: The Autobiography of 49 FXN (Porter Press International, 2017)

• Gauld, Graham, Ecurie Ecosse: A Social History of Motor Racing from the Fifties to the Nineties (Graham Gauld Public Relations, 1992)

• Grimsdale, Peter, High Performance: When Britain Ruled the Roads (Simon & Schuster UK, 2020)

• Lord Montagu of Beaulieu and foreword by HRH Prince Michael of Kent, Jaguar (Quiller Press, 1997)

• Parker, Chas, Jaguar D-Type: Owners’ Workshop Manual – 1954 Onwards (All Models) (Haynes Publishing, 2017)

• Whyte, Andrew, Jaguar: The Definitive History of a Great British Car (Patrick Stephens Limited, 1990)

• Hull, Nick, Jaguar Design: A Story of Style (Porter Press International, 2015)

• Berry, Robert, Jaguar: Motor Racing and the Manufacturer (Distributed by E.P. Dutton, 1978)

• Porter, Philip, Jaguar: Sports Racing Cars (Bay View Books, 1995)

• Clausager, Anders Ditlev, Le Mans (Littlehampton Book Services Ltd, 1982)

• Skilleter, Paul, Norman Dewis of Jaguar: Developing the Legend (PJ Publishing Ltd, 2017)

• Edwards, Robert, Stirling Moss: The Authorised Biography (Cassell & Company, 2001)

• Porter, Philip, Stirling Moss: The Definitive Biography – Volume 1 (Porter Press International, 2016)

• Bingham, Phillip, The All-American Hero and Jaguar’s Racing E-types (Porter Press International, 2020)

• Porter, Philip, The Most Famous Car in the World: The Story of the First E-type Jaguar (Cassell, 2000)

• Wilson, Peter D., XJ13: The Definitive Story of the Jaguar Le Mans Car and the V12 Engine That Powered It (PJ Publishing, 2011)