Ex-Le Mans Jaguar C-type sells for £5.7m at auction

An unrestored, ex-Le Mans 24-Hour race Jaguar C-Type sports car sold for €7,245,000 (£5,715,580) at Bonhams Monaco Sale.

Following months of painstaking research, working with the best historians and notable marque specialists, Bonhams unraveled an intriguing mystery involving the unrestored Jaguar C-Type offered, correcting more than 60 years of accepted Jaguar history.

Bonhams’ James Knight said, ‘After 53 years in private ownership, it has sold for the superb price of €7,245,000 (£5,715,580). It is wonderful to see our team’s groundbreaking work help achieve such a result.’

Bonhams’ verification began with the accepted Jaguar belief that this was the Works team car which was substituted at the last moment as a Belgian Ecurie Francorchamps entry in the 1954 Le Mans 24-Hour race, combining that chassis with the bodywork from an earlier Belgian entry which finished at Le Mans the previous year. However, Bonhams’ specialist research revealed otherwise.

‘The Jaguar was not at all a combination of the chassis from one car, the body from another,’ said Knight. ‘On further inspection, we established that this really is the 1953 Belgian-entered Le Mans car in toto, chassis number ‘XKC 047’ - still bearing its original, complete ‘K 1047’ body – but with its chassis number merely re-stamped ‘XKC 011’ by the factory before sale in January 1955.’

Chasing the Jaguar for top honours was the 1985 Ferrari 288 GTO Coupe - a model so desirable that before production had even begun, every single one had been sold. It achieved €1,817,000 (£1,433,431).

A further highlight of the day’s auction was the powerful straight-eight engined 1925 Bugatti Type 35 Grand Prix Two-Seater, first owned by ‘Bentley Boy’ Glen Kidston. Chassis number 4450 was the nineteenth such Grand Prix Bugatti to be manufactured by the Molsheim factory. It boasts a racing heritage that includes notable drivers George Duller, Vivian Selby and Lyndon Duckett. After intense bidding, the Bugatti sold for €1,058,000 (£834,656) to an auction room bidder.

Meanwhile the 1991-1992 Benetton-Ford B191/191B Formula 1 Racing Single Seater - raced by Formula 1 champions Michael Schumacher and Nelson Piquet - sold for four-times its estimate, achieving €1,058,000 (£834,656).

Further highlights include a 2006 Porsche Carrera GT Roadster, sold for €713,000 (£562,485), a 2008 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster, sold for €304,750 (£240,417), and a 1963 Ferrari 330 America sold for €431,250 (£340,213).