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17/12/2022 5:59 pm
Designed for the 1955 Le Mans, this D-Type Jaguar employed the latest aviation designs partly from the mind of Malcom Sayer who worked for Bristol Aviation during WWll and had already put his mark on the C-Type. The longer nose and slightly canted engine allowed for a smaller frontal cross section and the engine fairing on the undercarriage also reduced drag. Add an aircraft style vertical stabilizer/head rest and this car was designed for top end on the straights. With its 3.4 liter 6 cylinder engine, it ran 172.8 mph on the Mulsanne Straight compared to the 4.9 liter V12 Ferrari's 160.1 mph. It was a winner in the European endurance racing circuit for the following 3 years. Some of the D-Types were later converted to the street legal XKSS - the forerunner of the classic XKE. This #6 Long Nose D-Type was the Le Mans winner for 1955.
17/12/2022 6:12 pm
I was lucky enough to get one of these models as well - This is one of my favorite, if not my favorite race car from the 50's. The model does have a few minor livery errors that I couldn't let stand so I tweaked it just a bit
The white stripe on the 'fin' should wrap around to the back edge and the car should have 'GB' next to the rear plate.
17/12/2022 9:57 pm
One of my favourite Jaguars and likely the most iconic race car of the 1950s. I have this one also and have noted the missing Franklemire mentions. I was reluctant to change the model.
In recent years, I have seen full sized ‘replicas?’ that do not have the white tail and wonder if this is why errors occurred with this model.
I also noticed that my many 1/43 scale versions are also very hit or miss with these details.
Rich Sufficool reacted
18/12/2022 12:24 am
@david-green Indeed David the current ones you see at historic meets are missing those bits of livery - maybe it is to comply with traffic laws of some kind or to graphically show that it is not the actual Le Mans car - whatever the reason the car looks just as good 'stock out of the box'
David Green reacted
Topic starter
18/12/2022 9:56 am
@franklemire I would suspect that research for the models is taken from either restorations or recreations in collections or museums and race cars have gone through multiple engine swaps, body modifications and liveries during their active life and model companies, rather than do exhausting research, just replicate what sits before them. I remember researching the life span of the CMC Maserati model's chassis number and the constant changes done to the car for each event it entered made my head explode.
Topic starter
18/12/2022 10:06 am
@franklemire Remember the lightweight XKE model that is missing the entire racing stripe from the roof vent back?
18/12/2022 1:19 pm
@rich-sufficool - Yes, changes were commonly made to the 1:1 race car as they were in a constant state of development. Heck, even over a weekend of racing, the car might be different on the last day from what it was on the first. Of course, we'd like our models to be as accurate as possible. However, the question that frequently begs to be asked is "accurate to when?"
Switching gears just a bit. I have the Exoto interpretation. It stands as the most detailed model I've ever seen. It's a tour-de-force by Exoto, and I don't think another mass-produced model exceeds it in detail. I'd have to include a $15,000 Amalgam in that assessment.
Christopher Moroni and Rich Sufficool reacted
Topic starter
18/12/2022 2:41 pm
@marty-johnson That Exoto short nose is one astounding model. While I was pondering emptying my wallet for the Exoto, AUTOart came out with the long nose version and what wound up trumping it all? I thought the long nose was prettier. LOL
Marty Johnson reacted
18/12/2022 8:47 pm
@rich-sufficool That error on the lightweight was a strange one as I don't think you will find any 1:1 cars, replicas or otherwise, that look that way
Marty Johnson reacted
22/12/2022 12:57 am
Beautiful D-Type. The AA was out of my range, so I bought the somewhat recently released CMR version...sealed diecast, but it looks very good to me.
