“Who painted this D-Type red?” was my thought when I first laid eyes on this legendary machine. Most of the Jaguar competition cars are BRG— British Racing Green—a livery thought by many to be “proper” for a car of this ilk. Sure a few black, blue, or even white cars are out there, but a bright red car stands out like a low-cut sequin cocktail dress at the Queen’s tea party. In answer to my question: it was born that way. Yes, Jaguar made this car and one other D-Type, bright red with matching red seats. One theory is that it was intended to be sold new in Italy, where red is the color of preference for Italian racers, but the real reason for the color remains a mystery, adding to the mystique of one of the greatest racing car designs ever created.
A legend is born
Jaguar began developing a replacement, in 1953, for its C-Type, the model that had helped cement the Coventry firm’s international reputation for racing prowess with wins at Le Mans in 1951 and 1953.
Under the direction of company founder William Lyons and chief engineer William Heynes, a state-of-the-art sports racing car began to form with an exciting shape that the world had never seen.
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