VIN: the M. Exel Glans Jaguar C-type chassis XKC 016
/ Ben Tyer
HISTORY OF CHASSIS XKC 016
Chassis XKC 016 was built on August 20th 1952. It was dispatched to France on 18th December and delivered to the Parisian Jaguar distributor, Charles Delecroix.
Delecroix in turn supplied it to Henri Peignaux, a prominent motor trader and Jaguar specialist from Lyon.
The pale blue over red C-type was sold to Lyon resident, M. Exel Glans, and registered 2731 AC 69.
Exel Glans entered 016 for his friend, Luc Descollanges, to drive on the Rallye Soleil-Cannes held from March 29th to April 2nd. Descollanges was co-driven by Pierre Ugnon, but the Jaguar failed to finish owing to a broken rear trailing arm.
It next appeared on April 12th at the Coupes de Vitesse, a 20 lap race at Montlhery where Descollanges finished fourth and posted fastest lap.
016 was then entered for Descollanges and Ugnon to contest the Mille Miglia.
Unfortunately, not long into the race, Descollanges lost control at a poorly marked level crossing in Fossanova San Marco near Ferrara. The Jaguar hit a kerb, barrel rolled into a field and both occupants were thrown from the cockpit.
Pierre Ugnon died in hospital later that morning. Luc Descollanges was seriously injured, but eventually recovered.
The damaged remains were sold back to Henri Peignaux who stripped it of salvageable parts like the engine and gearbox. The bare chassis then languished in Peignaux’s yard for many years.
In the early 1970s, it was sold via M. Chemin to Parisian Jaguar collector, Philippe Renault, who reputedly acquired an XK SS at the same time.
Renault preserved the damaged chassis until 1985 when he had it rebuilt by John Harper in the UK.
Notable History
Blue / Red
Sold to M. Exel Glans, Lyon
Registered 2731 AC 69
29/03/1953 IND Rallye Soleil-Cannes (L. Descollanges / P. Ugnon) DNF (#558)
12/04/1953 IND Coupes de Vitesse, Montlhery (L. Descollanges) 4th oa, 4th S2.0+ class (#11)
26/04/1953 WSC Mille Miglia (L. Descollanges / P. Ugnon) DNF (#601)
Dismantled after Pierre Ugnon’s fatal accident at the Mille Miglia
Chassis later reputedly sold via M. Chemin to Philippe Renault, Paris
1985 restored by John Harper
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: unattributed
When Jaguar displayed the XK120 prototype at the London Motor Show in October 1948, it did so with little expectation of sending the model into production. However, even in the gloom of post-war…
Based on the legendary Jaguar XJR-9 race car, this XJR-15 owned by Dr. Jasbir Dhillon was one of only 53 made and was the predecessor to the XJ220!
Three years after Jaguar had debuted the all-conquering tube framed C-type, the Coventry firm released arguably the most advanced sports racing car of its day. Based around a state-of-art…
As denoted by its ‘885’ VIN prefix, chassis 885002 was a left-hand drive E-type FHC. It was completed in mid 1960 as the second ‘proper’ E-type FHC. Together with the original FHC…
Having successfully managed Jaguar’s European Touring Car Championship effort with the XJS between 1982 and ‘84 (a programme that yielded 16 wins and the 1984 Driver’s title), Tom Walkinshaw…
Although Jaguar had officially decided to withdraw from motor racing a few years prior, a batch of seven specially prepared E-types were prepared for competition use during the 1961 season…
Watch Mike Hawthorn, with a film camera strapped to the back of his D-Type Jaguar and a microphone fitted, commentate his way around the famous Le Mans circuit in 1956.
Only two D-types were originally painted red by the Jaguar factory in Browns Lane, Coventry, one of which is this car, chassis XKD 518, currently on offer at the Fiskens showroom in London.
Motorhead magazine teams up with Luke Huxham to give you a glimpse into the life of three young, at-heart car enthusiasts who own three extremely unique Le Mans cars: the Mazda 767B, a Jaguar XJ220LM, and the already famous road-going Porsche 962C.
When XK120 production got underway in June 1949 (just eight months after the prototype had caused a sensation at the ‘48 London Motor Show), nothing could rival the new Jaguar’s combination of price…
Having been in with a shout of scoring an unlikely victory using an almost bog standard XK120 at the 1950 Le Mans 24 Hours, Jaguar went all-in with a purpose built machine for 1951: the XKC (better…
Chassis 029 started life as a Pastel Green C-type dispatched to Jaguar’s West Coast distributor, Charles Hornburg in Los Angeles, on November 24th 1952. It was subsequently sold to Francisco…
After seven years of unprecedented success with the XK120, C-type and D-type, in October 1956 Jaguar announced that it was to officially withdraw from all forms of motor racing. Having won the…
With nigh on 30 years having passed since Jaguar had decided to quit top flight Sports car racing, the British firm made a big splash with a high profile return mid-way through the 1985 season using…
Whatever order you put them in, it is commonly regarded that the BMC Mini, Porsche 911, Volkswagen Beetle and Jaguar E-type were the most iconic automotive designs of the 20th…
Towards the end of 1987, a small group of Jaguar engineers began work on a road-going successor to the C and D-types that had won the Le Mans 24 Hours five times between 1951 and…
Chassis 046 was one of two XJR-15 road cars supplied to the Brunei Royal Family. Total XJR-15 production was 53 units. The Sultan (Hassanal Bolkiah) and his brother Prince Jefri, who was…
Although Germany was rightly regarded as the centre for super tuner activity from the 1970s through to the 1990s, a handful of British firms also created some epic machinery, one of which was Lister.
With a little over 12,000 units built, Jaguar’s XK120 was the most commercially successful top flight sports car of the late 1940s / early 1950s. Six years after the XK120 prototype had made its debut…
Although Jaguar had supplied a handful of competition-prepared ‘ZP’ E-types to special customers for 1961, a more comprehensively uprated Lightweight version was developed for 1963…
Chassis 009 was one of two XJR-15s supplied to the Brunei Royal Family, both of which were completed in road as opposed to race specification. This first example was configured in the only…
The fire at Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in Coventry on the evening of Tuesday 12th February 1957 affected around one quarter of the complex. Having started in the tyre store, it ripped through the…
On January 18th at Mecum’s Kissimmee auction in Florida, one of the most famous movie cars of the modern era will be going under the hammer: Austin Powers’ Jaguar E-type 4.2 OTS Roadster…
Of the myriad machines that have claimed status of “Le Mans racing car for the road”, arguably none have come closer to fulfilling that mantra than Jaguar’s XK SS of 1957. When the XK SS was…
With the XK120 having rewritten the rulebook in terms of what could be expected from a vaguely affordable sports car, Jaguar understandably opted for evolution rather than revolution when it came…
Launched at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1961, the Jaguar E-type redefined what could be expected from a car priced at such a lot less than an Aston Martin, Ferrari or Maserati. In addition…
The JaguarSport Intercontinental Challenge of 1991 remains arguably the most spectacular one-make racing series ever organised. It comprised three events, supporting the F1 races at Monaco…
When Jaguar unveiled the XK120 prototype at the London Motor Show in October 1948, company boss William Lyons expected the rakish machine to serve as little more than a useful publicity…
Chassis 022 was the XJR-15 driven by Ian Flux in 1991’s JaguarSport Intercontinental Challenge. The three-race series offered $1m for the winner of the final contest and a Jaguar XJR-S for the victors in…
Following the best part of a ten-year period when the Le Mans 24 Hours was contested exclusively by purpose-built Sports Prototypes, 1993’s event marked the return of production-based GT cars to…