With the 2016 editions of Monterey Car Week, the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance and the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca upon us, Crave will be on the scene to explore the worlds of elite classic automobiles and modern supercars.
Thanks to an auction held Friday at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance, we now know what the most expensive Jaguar in the world is. And it earned every penny of that price tag.
Also: 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance: Mazda Unveils Road-Ready 2017 MX-5 RF
As expected going into Monterey Car Week, the 1955 Jaguar D-Type that won the 1956 24 Hours of Le Mans was the hottest auction target amongst hundreds of cars for sale prior to the Concours. The estimated sale price for the car was set for $20 million to $25 million.
When the gavel fell, the owners had to settle a tick under that at $19.8 million. While the buyers got away with the historic car for that mere pittance, Jaguar reps in town for the Concours believe it is the highest sale price at auction for any Jaguar.
The car is a museum piece for more than its racing milestones. The machine inspired Jaguar to create thew XKSS, essentially taking the racing version of the D-Type and making a road legal version. That XKSS would become what many car lovers consider the first supercar.
Since the last nine XKSS models burned in a factory fire in 1957, Jaguar is rebuilding nine re-creations of the great car for 2017. All nine are already sold.
