One of the most pristine examples of the legendary Jaguar D-Type with its own Aussie link is poised to be the flagship sale at Broad Arrow’s inaugural Zürich Auction in November 2025.
Hosted in conjunction with Auto Zürich at the world famous Dolder Grand hotel in Switzerland, only two of the lots in this major sale have been revealed so far, but this D-Type will no doubt be the centrepiece even when the full list is announced.
One of the last D-Types to have been manufactured in 1956, chassis ‘XKD 551’ is a rare short-nosed version which was first sold to a private owner in October 1957 and has never been raced.
Rather than heading straight to the nearest track as many D-Type owners did, they instead had it carefully converted it to semi-XKSS specification, removing the central bulkhead, adding a passenger door, and fitting a full-width windscreen.
In 1963, it was sold to Hon. James Dawnay who famously owned and raced the Aston Martin DBR1/1, before ending up in the hands of an Australian.
That Aussie was racing driver Paul Hawkins who competed in Formula 1, the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the Bathurst 500. He was tragically killed aged just 31 during the 1969 RAC Tourist Trophy in the UK when his his Lola T70 MkIIIB GT was involved in a fiery crash.
Following this in the 1970s, another owner removed the XKSS-style modifications, thus returning this D-Type to its original configuration, before it eventually landed with its current Swiss owner in 1994.
Before this, the original numbers-matching engine (‘E 2070-9’ for the true anoraks out there) had been removed and preserved, with a correct-spec engine fitted to the car instead. More recently, that original engine was rebuilt in 2005 and re-fitted to the car.
“We are extremely honoured to have been granted the opportunity to offer this incredible Jaguar D-Type at our first Zürich Auction,” says Yves Boitel, Broad Arrow Auctions’ EMEA car specialist.
“The fact that this car has never been used competitively and has been meticulously cared for throughout its life, makes it one of the most exceptional D-Types in existence and one that will surely create great excitement among collectors.”
“The excitement is building ahead of our inaugural Zürich Auction,” adds Paul Gaucher, head of consignments for Switzerland at Broad Arrow Auctions.
“The addition of this truly superb example of the iconic Jaguar D-Type will undoubtedly add to that excitement among international car collectors. There is plenty more to come and we can’t wait to share additional news on the highly desirable models that will be joining the catalogue soon.”
Given this car’s exceptional condition and provenance, it’s certainly not going to come cheap. The pre-sale guide price is listed at CHF 5.25-6.25 million. In Aussie dollars, that’s between $9.96-11.86 million.
Only one other vehicle has been announced for the November 1 sale so far, although it’s another stunner, if a more recent one – a one-of-77 example of the 2019 Porsche 935 built to celebrate the brand’s 70th birthday.
