Roof track

VERY FEW Jaguars are one-offs, even the fast ones. E-types, Mk 2s, XJ220s, they were all mass-produced on an assembly line. Even the D-type was a production model, freely available to the lucky few who could afford it. But of the 75 produced at Browns Lane between 1954 and 1957, only one can genuinely claim to have been unique: it might not have won Le Mans (as three of its siblings did), nor any other major European race for that matter, but XKD 526 is the sole D-type to have ever raced in period with a hardtop.

Jaguar announced the production D-type in October 1954, four months after a works car (XKC 402) came second at the Le Mans 24 Hours, although it wasn’t until August 1955 that the first of these customer cars were delivered to their owners.

Jaguar’s distributors in Brisbane, Australia – Cyril and Doris ‘Geordie’ Anderson – ordered their example in late 1954, but had to wait until April the following year for confirmation, by telegram.

Chassis number XKD 526 was one of three production D-types allocated to Australia, XKD 520 and XKD 532 being the other two. Dispatched on 13 October 1955, and shipped via Liverpool to Brisbane, the Anderson’s was first to arrive. As well as being on display in their own premises, it is believed the car was shown at the 1956 Brisbane Motor Show, although XKD 526 was more than a typical exhibit. Over the next 15 years, it became one of the most raced and successful D-types