Michelotti Designed ‘Jaguar Le Mans’ Is A Mysterious Re-Bodied GT
The best part about the Michelotti Le Mans was that it was based on a D-type. That also led to its eventual disassembly.
In the world of vintage Jaguars, a vehicle’s chassis number is remarkably valuable. Take for example this handsome blue coupe. It was styled by Italian designer Giotto Michelotti in the early ’60s, and first shown to the public in 1963 at the Geneva Auto Salon, according to SupercarNostalgia.
However, the car’s chassis has origins from a Jaguar made eight years prior. In fact, it was based on a very early 1955 Jaguar D-type that had crashed in the 1958 24 Hours of Le Mans, specifically, XKD513 according to CoventryRacers. This car sat for a number of years until Michelotti bought it in 1960.
Over the next three years, Michelotti stripped the car and gave it his own handsome, and striking GT coupe sheet metal. Compared to the extremely curvaceous D-type, Michelotti’s version was far more than a more modern D-type. It was a completely new style altogether, however it did retain a lot of the original D-type drivetrain. That meant it had the same incredible D-type performance, surely wowing the crowd at Geneva.
The car never caught on as a D-type replacement, though. Michelotti, therefore, sold the car, and XKD513 exchanged hands a number of times before going back to England to a new owner in the 70’s. That new owner saw the value in the VIN number and decided to remove the Italian body and have the car restored to its original D-type racing livery. XKD513 has been a blue D-Type racing car ever since.
So what happened to the Michelotti body? During the disassembly of XKD513, the restorers would preserve the Michelotti body. With D-types increasing in value even in the ’70s, that would not be the first choice for a new chassis. Ultimate Car Page reports that the body was fitted to another Jaguar. Naturally, the chosen chassis would be an E-type, albeit with slight modifications. Fab Wheels Digest shows these photos of the blue coupe at concourse event from 2014.
Chassis XKD513, now in its third life, has made a number of recent appearances in vintage racing circles. In England, this car made an appearance at the 2014 Goodwood Revival, according to Ultimate Car Page. The Michelotti bodied car was last seen at the Concours d’Elegance at Chantilly in 2014.
Photos: Fab Wheels Digest
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