To be sold at the Gooding & Company Pebble Beach Auctions on August 18 and 19, 2012. For further details please visit www.goodingco.com or contact a vehicle specialist at 001.310.899.1960 or specialist@goodingco.com.
Engine Specifications:
3,442 CC DOHC Inline 6-Cylinder Engine
Triple Weber 40MM Carburetors
225 BHP at 5,250 RPM
4-Speed Manual Gearbox
4-Wheel Lockheed Hydraulic Drum Brakes
Independent-Wishbone and Torsion-Bar Front Suspension
Solid Rear Axle with Transverse Torsion Bar Springs
About this Car:
In the immediate post-war era, Jaguar proved to the international motorsport community that their sports car was a serious contender. The debut of the XK120 was met with resounding acclaim, but it was the C-Type that put Jaguar on the map as a winning manufacturer. Although competition at the Mille Miglia went to Ferrari, Jaguar was victorious at Le Mans in both 1951 and 1953 with the C-Type, beginning their domination of the event. The C-Type was a pure sports car in every respect. It was well-balanced and fast, not to mention exceptionally pretty.
With the works C-Types battling for glory, the production C-Type, of which just 50 were built, were snapped up by enthusiastic privateers across the globe. The C-Type saw success in the hands of both professional and amateur drivers at events throughout Europe and the US. The Jaguar C-Type was an “over- the-counter” racing weapon and additionally a hair-raising road car.
Joe Kelly, the proprietor of a car dealership in Dublin, Ireland, began racing in 1949 when he entered the British Racing Drivers’ Club International Trophy meeting at Silverstone Circuit in his Maserati 6CM. Kelly additionally raced other sports cars, including a Ferrari Monza, at several tracks through England and Ireland. He was well known and liked at one circuit in particular – The Curragh – where he set the track record twice.
As a motor-sport participant throughout the UK in the early 1950s, Kelly came to know and respect Jaguar as a formidable racing car. Many XK120s found success in Ireland in the hands of amateur drivers, but it was the C-Type that proved ultimately victorious on Irish ground. At the 1951 Tourist Trophy, Stirling Moss piloted his works C-Type to an outright win, followed by Peter Walker and his C-Type in 2nd, with the final Jaguar team car in 4th. When Kelly made the decision to purchase a new car, the choice was obvious. On August 18, 1953, he purchased XKC-050 – the last production-built C-Type and the only one delivered to Ireland – through Frank Cavey & Sons.
Finished in British Racing Green, XKC-050 was fitted with body K-1050 and engine E1049/8. The car received registration ZU 2357, and just a month later it was entered in the 1953 Tourist Trophy at Dundrod, a World Sports Car Championship event. On September 5th, Kelly and Jack Fairman piloted XKC-050 to a fantastic result against a field which included two other privately entered C-Types and two Jaguar team cars. In its first outing, the team managed 2nd in Class and 7th overall.
Just a short six days later, Kelly entered the C-Type in a more familiar setting, the Irish circuit known as The Curragh. For the running of the Wakefield Trophy, the Jaguar performed well and Kelly found himself finishing in 2nd place overall. The following day’s running of the O’Boyle Trophy Handicap resulted in 5th overall for the 3.4-litre car.
For Kelly and XKC-050, the 1954 season began in July with the Leinster Trophy event held at Wicklow. In a field of mostly British-built sports cars, Kelly finished in 2nd place overall. The following weekend the pair raced at Carrigrohane in Cork, Ireland, and brought home a 3rd place finish. In August, both car and driver returned to The Curragh to compete, replicating their 2nd place finish in the Wakefield Trophy and achieving a bettered result of 3rd place overall in the O’Boyle Trophy Handicap event.
As a consistent front-runner, XKC-050 was entrusted to Joe Flynn and Torrie Large for the 1954 running of the Tourist Trophy in Dundrod. The Jaguar works team was present with their new D-Types, as was Scuderia Ferrari with the 750 Monza, Aston Martin with the DB3S, Lancia with the D24 and Maserati with the ACGCS. The list of professional drivers was equally as impressive and needless to say, competition was fierce. With many significantly advanced sports racing cars on track, XKC-050 battled to a fantastic 13th overall.
In 1955, the C-Type was entered in its first race outside of Ireland and made its way to Oulton Park in Cheshire, England, for the British Empire Trophy. For the July 9th event, Kelly chose to pilot XKC-050 himself in a grid full of other C- and D-Type Jaguars. Also present were a number of Aston Martin DB3Ss to compete with the handful of Listers. Kelly was off to a good start but Bob Berry, following in his lightweight XK120, was putting on quite a bit of pressure. In heat, Berry put his XK120 into the back of Kelly, forcing a rather severe accident. Fortunately, Kelly was not seriously injured and XKC-050 suffered predominantly coachwork damage.
With Kelly’s retirement from racing, the C-Type was sold to Paul Emery, a Formula 3 driver who would soon compete in Formula 1; C. Unsworth is further noted as a mid-1950s owner. During this time, the car was rebuilt and refinished in bright red. The Jaguar then made its way to the Wayside Garage in Rusper, West Sussex, run by Alan Mann and Roy Pierpoint. The gentlemen were weekend racers who would later play a critical role in Ford’s famous racing program. It is known that Alan Mann raced a C-type early on in his career, and it is likely XKC-050 is that very car.
In 1959, Keith Jeans purchased XKC-050 from the Wayside Garage and registered the car as 333 GMT. Jeans was intent on campaigning the C-Type in club racing, sprints and hill climbs, although it saw frequent road use as well. Keith’s son Simon Jeans recounted, “As one did in those days, he drove to and from meetings and enjoyed it to the full on the roads. I even got taken to and from school in it occasionally.”
Jeans raced the C-Type at Wiscombe, Brighton and Weston-Super-Mare with some success, receiving multiple class wins. However, the big-displacement sports car was not as nimble as the majority of competitors on the circuit, and Jeans began looking to buy a Lotus XI. Having paid £1,000 for the Jaguar, Jeans managed to sell it a year later for just £750 to David Harvey of Surrey, England. Harvey, the driving force behind the Jaguar Driver’s Club, retained the car until 1965 when it was sold to Jeremy Broad of Warwickshire, England, before being passed to Bryan Corser of Shrewsbury.
Mr. Corser commenced a two-year rebuild of the C-Type, and upon its completion the car was actively used wearing registration SVM 737. In 1970 for the British Grand Prix, Mr. Corser organized a driver’s parade to celebrate “twenty- one XK years.” Driven by Jaguar’s Managing Director Lofty England with Ronnie Peterson as riding dignitary, XKC-050 led the parade of several C-Type, D-Type and XK-SS Jaguars. After more than a decade of pleasurable ownership, Mr. Corser sold XKC-050. In 1983, XKC-050 was offered for sale by DK Engineering, at which time Bob Baker of Omaha, Nebraska, purchased the car. The car was restored prior to its arrival in the US. In 1984, the C-Type was bought by its current owner, a noted vintage racing authority and collector.
In 1985 the Jaguar was entrusted to Phil Reilly & Company for complete restoration as needed. Once finished, the C-Type returned to the track and immediately saw use at the Kansas City Grand Prix with David Love behind the wheel. The car went on to compete at the St. Louis Grand Prix and the Monterey Historics. The car was run in the Mille Miglia in 1986 and 1987 before returning to the Monterey Historics in 1987 and then to the Mille Miglia again in 1989.
In addition to numerous runnings at the Montery Historics, XKC-050 has competed at the Coronado Festival of Speed, Lime Rock Historic Festival, Wine Country Classic, Goodwood Revival Meeting and Monaco Historique Grand Prix. The car has additionally participated in numerous Colorado Grands, Copperstate 1000s, California Milles and the Japan Mille Miglia, not to mention the exclusive C- and D-Type Jaguar Tours. Phil Reilly & Company and later John Anderson Racing in Sonoma, California, regularly maintained the car during its vintage racing use.
To preserve the purity of the C-Type, the original engine was carefully removed from the car in 1997 and immediately rebuilt by Intrepid Motorcar Co. in Sparks, Nevada. The engine was fitted with the standard dual SU carburetor set up and placed on a display stand. Fitted today is a proper type motor, specified for racing with the triple Weber combination, built in 2011 by John Anderson Racing. The C-Type was the recipient of a 2010 complete chassis overhaul by Thomas Vintage Motors of Boulder, Colorado.
In contemporary racing, XKC-050 has remained a front-runner and in several cases an outright winner. C-Types as historic racing mounts have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their competitiveness; they have been winning races and finishing ahead of D-Types and even 300S Maseratis at international events including the Monaco Historique Grand Prix and the Le Mans Classic.
Chassis XKC-050 remains a highly regarded example of the legendary C-Type and the last production car built. The Jaguar was a championed private entry in period competition and remains as one of the few non-works cars to have competed at the Tourist Trophy – the only example to race there twice. Known ownership and a successful contemporary motorsport career additionally place XKC-050 as a noteworthy C-Type. Most importantly, XKC- 050 is accompanied by its original engine, E1049/8 with the head 1024. Furthermore, the original chassis, engine, gearbox and body numbers appear correctly throughout the various components.
As one of the greatest sports cars of the 1950s, the C-Type remains a very usable road or race car. To some purists, the C-Type is the greatest Jaguar ever built. Eligible for countless events, including the C- and D-Type Tour, XKC-050 is an opportunity of note; a C-Type with such purity is rarely seen in today’s market.
The Joe Kelly and Jack Fairman