Jaguar D types continued to race alongside C types
in all manner of events as the factory concentrated on developing
fuel injection in place of carburation to gain extra power. Because
they had been built for endurance racing, the D and C types were
relatively heavy and lightweight specials, such as the HWM-Jaguars,
continued to be successful. The Cooper Jaguars were revised in Mark
II form but did not prove to be as competitive as their HWM rivals.
Numerous smaller engined specials were also racing, such as Listers
with Bristol and Maserati 2-litre power, and Tojeiros with Bristol
units. Of this pair, it was Tojeiro that first entered the bigger
classes in 1956 with a Jaguar XK engine.
The Tojeiro car had very short wheelbase with independent suspension
all round and a spaceframe chassis-that is a multi-tube chassis
with more open space than metal to save weight. This ultra-light
machine was very fast in a straight line, but difficult to handle
in corners. Nevertheless, test driver Dick Protheroe proved to be
highly competitive in this tricky car.
Works D types were highly placed in some events, but the Ecurie
Ecosse enjoyed more success, particularly when two of the three
factory cars crashed at Le Mans and a D type entered by the Scottish
team for Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart moved up to win the
event.
The works decided to retire from racing in 1956 to free Heynes
and the development team for work on production cars, and sold its
distinctive long-nosed D types to the Ecurie Ecosse. Briggs Cunningham
also had one, which his ace tuner, Alfred Momo, developed into a
3.8-litre version. Momo's method of increasing the capacity was
to be adopted later by the works for production cars. This new 3.8-litre
long-nosed D type finished third at Sebring in 1957 in the hands
of Hawthorn and Bueb, before going on in fuel-injected form to win
at Le Mans for the Ecurie Ecosse with Flockhart and Bueb at the
wheel. It was a brilliant year for the D types: another 3.4-litre
Ecurie Ecosse car was second, driven by Ninian Sanderson and Johnny
Lawrence; a French 3.4-litre D type third for Ralph Lucas and Jean-Marie
Brousselot; Paul Frere and Freddy Rousselle fourth in a Belgian
3.4-litre D type; and Duncan Hamilton and Masten Gregory sixth in
Hamilton’s 3.8-litre D type. ‘It was not as though the
opposition was weak, except in reliability - and this was our finest
hour.’ Said David Murray of Ecurie Ecosse, the Edinburgh wine
merchant who sunk everything in his Scottish national racing team.
The year 1957 was also significant in that it marked the debut
of what was to become by far the most successful Jaguar-engined
special, the Lister. The first Lister-Jaguar was a private effort
by the Londoner jeweller Norman Hillwood, who fitted a C type engine
into a Lister-Bristol chassis. Then Brain Turle, of BP, persuaded
Lister to build a works Jaguar-engined car to combat the Ecurie
Ecosse and Austin Martin works teams, both of which were backed
by their rival Esso oil company. Jaguar was happy to supply a 3.4-litre
dry sump D type engine in the knowledge that the Lister works car
in the hands of Archie Scott-Brown would present a formidable threat
to Aston Martin. In this form, the combination of ultra light Lister
and Scott-Brown’s superb driving ability proved almost unbeatable
in British sports racing that year.
A 3-litre limit was imposed for international sports car racing
in 1958 to discourage development of such monsters as a 4.5-litre
450S Maserati after more horrific crashes, particularly in the Mille
Miglia. Jaguar reduced the 3.4-litre XK unit to 3-litres, in which
form it produced 254 bhp. The new capacity of 2986cc was achieved
by reducing the stroke to 92mm, but in this form the engine did
not prove reliable. The Ecurie Ecosse’s chief tuner, Wilkie
Wilkinsin, attacked the problem from a different angle, enlarging
the 2.4-litre XK engine used in the Mark I saloon to 2954 cc by
increasing it’s stroke to 91mm. With a different crankshaft
and connecting rods, this engine looked as though it would be very
reliable, but it produced only 234 bhp, so the Ecurie Ecosse decided
to use the works engines in the hope that they would not blow up.
There were no capacity limits in British or American sports car
racing, however, so Lister capitalised on this by putting its Jaguar
3.8-litre-engined car into production with a distinctive 'knobbly'
body cleverly designed to minimize frontal area by leaving only
'knobs' to cover high points such as the wheels and engine.
The Ecurie Ecosse also decided to experiment with a Lister chassis,
but this time in single seater form for the rich Race of Two Worlds
event at Monza, in which the fastest cars from Europe and the United
States- regardless of capacity-were invited to compete. Most of
the European teams declined because the track was so rough and the
potential speeds so high that their cars could not cope. In 1957,
the Ecurie Ecosse had survived to take the lion's share of the prizes
with its highly placed D types, but felt that there was a chance
of winning with a single-seater. So the Scottish team commissioned
a Lister-Jaguar, but sadly it proved to be no faster than a D type
because of the extra drag imparted by its exposed wheels. The Ecurie
also ran a conventional Lister-Jaguar for Gregory with great success,
the American driver proving to be one of the few who could stay
with Scott -Brown. In 1958 they were duelling for the lead at Spa
when Scott-Brown in the works Lister sadly crashed in flames to
his death. Cunningham re-equipped his team with Lister-Jaguars and
Walt Hansgen used them to good effect to win the Sports Car Club
America championships in 1958 and 1959.
Those were the years when the Lister-Jaguars were at their peak,
leaving all the other big sports cars trailing, Occasionally they
were fitted with the 3-litre XK engine, but usually D types were
retained for long- distance events such as le Mans, where different
body regulations applied. The Ecurie Ecosse remained loyal to its
D types for Le Mans, but lost both with piston trouble in the first
hour in 1958. Bueb and Hamilton lasted longer, leading during the
night, only for Hamilton to crash after 19 hours. Piston trouble
struck again in 1959 when the Ecurie Ecosse D type driven by Gregory
and Innes Ireland held second or third place behind the leading
Aston Martin.
The aerodynamicist Frank Costin was employed to rebody the Lister-
Jaguars for 1959, the result being a bulbous creation aimed at reducing
drag. However, these new Costin-bodied Listers proved to be no faster
overall, partly because their drivers could not judge the corners
as accurately as those with 'knobbly' bodied cars.
The Ecurie Ecosse also bought a Tojeiro-Jaguar, racing it alongside
the Listers and D type. During 1959 Bueb, who had taken Scott-Brown's
place in the Lister team, was killed in a Formula 2 race, and the
saddened proprietor, Brian Lister, quit racing. His last design,
a spaceframe Lister- Jaguar, was sold with the works cars, which
continued to compete successfully in private hands. |
