In October 1956, Jaguar temporarily retired from competition racing. Sir William Lyons was to tell the media later: 'This decision was made only after serious consideration and was due to the very heavy strain imposed by racing on the directorate and staff of our Engineering and Development division.’ As a result, the factory had a stock of several D-Types while the firm's North American dealers anticipated a demand for a "Class C" production racer from their customers. Accordingly, on the 21st of January, the company issued the following statement:
Jaguar is to produce a new 2-seater sports-racing car as a result of the increasing demand from America for a type of vehicle equally suitable for normal road use and sports car racing. The
