The British have made some achingly beautiful (and supremely fast) cars over the years, but few could hold a candle to the Jaguar C-Type.
The competition version of the XK120 roadster, the C-Type is the machine that propelled Jaguar to its first two Le Mans wins.
Jaguar would go on to build 53 C-Types, with the majority going to privateer racers in the United States. This is believed to have been the first of them, and racked up racing credentials all its own.
Chassis number XKC 007 was delivered in 1952 to Charles Hornburg, Jaguar’s West Coast distributor. But rather than sell it, Hornburg kept the car to showcase what the British automaker was capable of.
In September of that year, Phil Hill drove it from California to Wisconsin, entered it in the SCCA National race at Road America in Elkhart Lake, and took first place. The car went on to compete in various other events across America, and scored more podium finishes before being consigned to a string of private collectors.
Beautifully restored and highly sought-after, this C-Type is going up for auction less than a month from now in New York, where it’s expected to sell for $5.5-7 million. That’ll put it well out of reach for most of us, but we can at least admire it from afar in these photos taken by Ryan Merrill for RM Sotheby’s.
Photo Gallery
