VIN: the works Jaguar D-type chassis XKC 402
History of chassis XKC 402
Chassis XKC 402 was the second Jaguar D-type constructed.
Road registered OKV 1 on May 4th 1954, it was followed by sister cars XKC 403 (OKV 2) and XKC 404 (OKV 3).
All three D-types appeared for the model’s competition debut at that year’s Le Mans 24 Hours which took place over June 12th and 13th.
XKC 402 was allocated to Tony Rolt and Duncan Hamilton.
After the 4pm start, Rolt initially held back in fifth position while team-mate Moss tried to break the trio of Ferrari 375s.
At 9pm, Rolt / Hamilton were up to fourth and at 2am (following the retirement of one of the works Ferraris), they had moved into third, two laps behind leaders Gonzalez / Trintignant.
By this time, the other two D-types had both retired.
As dawn broke, Rolt / Hamilton were lying second. Both Jaguar and Ferrari only had one works car left.
An exciting finish saw Rolt / Hamilton whittle the Ferrari’s lead down to just 90 seconds, but when the weather dried up in the final half hour, Gonzalez was able to use all of the five-litre Ferrari’s power to pull away.
Hamilton / Rolt finished second, but technically should have claimed victory as it later transpired the winning Ferrari had received an illegal push start from the pit lane.
XKC 402 next appeared at the Reims 12 Hours on July 4th where it was once again driven by Rolt / Hamilton.
The race started at midnight and, by the end of the opening lap, the Jaguars were running first (Moss), second (Wharton) and third (Rolt).
However, with an hour gone, Rolt was hit up the back by Jean Behra’s Gordini. Rolt was nevertheless able to continue and, by 4am, had recovered to second, two laps behind Moss / Walker.
Shortly before 5am, the lead Jaguar retired with a broken driveshaft and Rolt / Hamilton took over at the head of the field.
XKC 402 looked set for victory, but with 30 minutes to go, Hamilton came into the pits with the rear axle making strange noises. The earlier shunt had caused part of the frame to chafe the axle casing and its oil had drained out. Twelve minutes were lost as the hole was welded up. Hamilton still managed to claim second while the sister car of Whitehead / Wharton took the win.
After a rebuild back at the factory, XKC 402 was wheeled out for the D-type’s final appearance of 1954: the Dundrod Tourist Trophy on September 11th.
It was one of three D-types entered, but the only one that used the standard 3.4-litre engine. The other pair (XKC 403 and XKD 406) were both fitted with 2.5-litre units for this handicap event. As usual, XKC 402’s drivers were Rolt / Hamilton.
Rolt was initially third on the road, but soon began to drop back. After 34 laps, Hamilton retired XKC 402 with falling oil pressure.
The car was then refreshed for an appearance at the Paris Motor Show between October 7th and 17th.
Afterwards, it was to be driven back to Coventry by team engineer, Joe Sutton. Unfortunately, following a detour to the Paris Jaguar dealer for some repairs, Sutton hit a cow near Calais. XKC 402 left the road and rolled into a steep ditch. It was subsequently trucked back to England.
The damage left Jaguar with a dilemma. They had already agreed to sell XKC 402 to Duncan Hamilton for the 1955 season, but the monocoque was no longer considered sound. To solve the problem, salvageable parts from XKC 402 were used to assemble a new car: XKC 405.
As Hamilton wanted his team car from 1954, XKC 405 had its ‘5’ over-stamped with a ‘2’ and was registered OKV 1. Chassis XKC 405 (now masquerading as XKC 402) was sold to Duncan Hamilton in January 1955.
The remains of XKC 402 were scrapped.
Notable History
Jaguar Cars Ltd.
04/05/1954 registered OKV 1
13/06/1954 WSC Le Mans 24 Hours (T. Rolt / D. Hamilton) 2nd oa, 2nd S5.0 class (#14)
04/07/1954 IND Reims 12 Hours (T. Rolt / D. Hamilton) 2nd oa, 2nd S2.0+ class (#2)
11/09/1954 WSC Dundrod Tourist Trophy (T. Rolt / D. Hamilton) DNF (#5)
07-17/10/1954 Paris Motor Show
Crashed while being driven back from the Paris Motor show
Dismantled at the factory and various parts used to assemble XKC 405
XKC 405 was re-stamped XKC 402, registered as OKV 1 and sold to Duncan Hamilton in January 1955
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Jaguar - https://www.jaguar.com
