1955 Jaguar D-Type tops RM Sotheby’s sale

MONTEREY, Calif. _ RM Sotheby’s Monterey sale was led by a 1955 Jaguar D-Type, chassis no. XKD 501, which sold for $21,780,000. According to RM Sotheby’s, the figure was the highest price ever achieved for a British automobile at auction. The 1956 Le Mans-winning D-Type was the subject of a 15-minute bidding contest between four collectors before selling for a final $21.78 million.

The first D-Type supplied by Jaguar to a privateer team, XKD 501 was sold new to the famed Scottish Racing team, Ecurie Ecosse, who campaigned it to victory at the grueling 1956 Le Mans 24 Hours. It was offered up to sale following almost two decades in one of America’s leading collections. According to RM Sotheby's, the Jaguar is only the fourth British car to have sold for more than $10 million at auction and eclipses the previous record by over $7 million. That was set by a $14.3 million 1962 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato sold by RM Sotheby’s in New York in December 2015.

Closely following the sale of the legendary D-Type was CSX 2000, the first Shelby Cobra, commanding a final price of $13,750,000. OThe original Shelby Cobra was constructed and kept from new by Carroll Shelby and never left his care. 

Rounding out the top three sales for the evening was a 1955 Ferrari 750 Monza Spider, chassis no. 0510 M, driven by the big three of American racing in period: Phil Hill, Carroll Shelby and Jim Hall. Presented by its owner of 60 years, Jim Hall, it commanded $5,225,000.

*Results are listed in USD and include 10 percent buyer’s premium.