D-TYPE SURVIVOR TOPS ZÜRICH AUCTION
JAGUAR D-TYPE TOPS BROAD ARROW AUCTION IN ZÜRICH
An unraced Jaguar D-type achieved the headline result at Broad Arrow’s inaugural Zürich Auction held on Saturday, 1 November 2025, selling for CHF 5,181,250 [£4,894,344].
One of only 87 original D-Types produced by Coventry between 1954 and 1957, the spectacular result was helped by a comprehensive history report and inspection compiled by CKL Developments Ltd., verifying its ownership history and high degree of originality.
“Some legends earn their glory on track, others by simply remaining unchanged. And this one chose the latter. It became something rarer. Untouched history.”
Mark Hews and Chris Keith-Lucas produced the exhaustive report after inspecting the car in June. They were able to confirm that the car is a matching-numbers example with its original chassis, body, engine, and gearbox.
To qualify as a Production Sports Car for Le Mans, in 1955 Jaguar constructed a batch of 75 Production D types, on top of their six 1954 alloy-chassis short-nose prototypes and a further 6 long-nose Works cars built in 1956.
These Production D-types were a very advanced, high-quality and expensive car for the time. With at least 25 remaining unsold, in 1957 many of these were upgraded to XKSS specification, and then found enthusiastic homes in the USA, while some five or six cars were lost in the catastrophic 1957 factory fire.
The CKL historical report confirmed that this particular car XKD 551 escaped both possible outcomes, being initially used as a display and demonstrator car in the Jaguar Dealer network, before being sold in 1957 to John Coombs, the famous Jaguar dealer and racer.
CKL confirmed the authenticity and originality of the car through expert knowledge that extended to details such as the chassis, body and component stampings - exactly of the correct style and font and with the numbers matching the original factory build sheets. They were even able to find Abbey Panels’ 1955 original pencil marking-out lines, for the rivet centres, still visible today. This is something seen on only a few very untouched original cars.
The team were able to trace and confirm the car’s unique early history after which it belonged to an equally interesting succession of owners. Amazingly Chris recalls he knew six of them personally.
One of the most original Jaguar D-types in existence, and remarkably, never raced in period.
Its authenticity is unquestionable, retaining all of its matching number components. Presented at the 2012 Concorso d'Eleganza Villa d'Este; the car remains continually eligible for future premier concours in competition or preservation classes.
