Founded in 1922 by two motorcycle enthusiasts, William Lyons and William Walmsley, the English company Swallow Sidecar Company (SSC) began as its name suggests by manufacturing sidecars. It didn't build its first sports cars until 1934, and didn't take the name Jaguar until after World War II in 1945. It was with the 1948 launch of the XK120, praised for its style of its bodywork and the power of its 3.4-litre 6-cylinder (160 hp), which Jaguar is gaining notoriety. But not enough to the taste of the boss William Lyons who decided to remedy this by entering three XK120s for the 1950 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, then considered the most famous race in the world.
But learning is difficult, and the Jaguars can't do anything against the Talbots, which finish in the first two places at average speeds of 144 and 143 km/h, far ahead of the first XK120 which finishes 12th at 131 km/h on average. . The decision was then taken to hire aeronautical engineer Malcolm Sayer to design a more aerodynamic aluminum body and a lighter and more rigid tubular chassis. A masterstroke since this racing version called "Type C" won in the Sarthe from its first participation in 1951, at an average of 150 km/h! The 1952 edition, on the other hand, was catastrophic for Jaguar. Eager to rise to the level of fearsome announced factory Mercedes SLs, the English engineers equip their Type C with bodies modified to be more aerodynamic but insufficiently tested in racing. As a result, the three cars retired in less than three hours due to engine overheating caused by insufficient air flow in the radiators. In the end, it was the Talbot driven by Pierre Levegh which dominated, but it had to retire less than an hour from the finish, leaving two Mercedes 300 SLs to take the first two places.
The lesson was retained by Jaguar for the 1953 edition, which was prepared for a long time in testing. The Type C also inaugurates for this occasion the first disc brakes used on a car. This technology, again derived from aeronautics, was developed in partnership with Dunlop and Girling, and is still used today in almost all automobile production. The competition is strong, whether it's Ferrari, Alfa Romeo or the very fast American Cunningham.
In fact, the pace of the race is hellish, and the Jaguars take great advantage of their more efficient braking system. Hawthorn on Ferrari was also disqualified when he pitted too early (on lap 12) with a brake problem, while Fangio on Alfa retired with engine failure on lap 22. A tragedy occurs at dawn on Sunday, when Tom Cole on Ferrari leaves the track and is ejected from his car before being struck by another competitor. He died instantly, but the race continued and it was the Rolt/Hamilton crew who won over Jaguar, whose other C-Types finished 2nd, 4th and 9th, with a Cunningham on the podium in 3rd place.
Aware of the progress of the competition, the Jaguar team designed a new car for 1954, the legendary Type D. Here again, technical progress came from aeronautics, the Type D featuring a monocoque chassis made of riveted aluminum sheets to further gain in rigidity and lightness. But engine problems related to fuel quality delayed the Jaguars early in the race, while the fastest D-Type driven by the Rolt/Hamilton crew ran off the track overtaking a slower car and lost time before set off again and repair at the pits. Despite a strong comeback, the Rolt/Hamilton Jaguar finished in second place behind the very fast Ferrari 375 of the Gonzales/Trintignant crew who took the victory, and the fastest lap in the race at an average of 189 km/h!
The 1955 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans promises to be particularly hotly contested with three Jaguar D-Types, three Mercedes 300 SLs, two Maseratis, and three Ferraris at the start. In fact, the start of the race was sensational, but the most dramatic accident in the history of motorsport occurred on the 33rd lap when, on the pit straight, Mike Hawthorn, then in the lead of the race, fell back in front of a pilot delayed to refuel. The latter was then forced to swerve while the Mercedes of Fangio and Levegh were overtaking him in turn at more than 250 km / h. Unable to avoid the collision, Levegh's Mercedes was then thrown into the air and fell at the foot of the stands where hundreds of spectators were watching the race. The debris of the German car, transformed into projectiles, killed 81 people and injured dozens of the public. Mercedes then withdraws its cars, while the race, which has become derisory, continues, finally won by Jaguar, ahead of an Aston Martin, another Jaguar, and three Porsches...
The circuit was modified to improve safety in 1956 with the creation of a deceleration zone and a widening of the track at pit level. In the absence of Mercedes, which has withdrawn from all forms of competition, Jaguar is the favorite ahead of Aston Martin and Ferrari. However, the race got off to a bad start for the English brand, whose factory team saw its three cars retire, two colliding with each other on the second lap, the third due to a mechanical incident. Fortunately for Jaguar, it was a private Type D entered by Ecurie Scotland which took the lead in the race and never to leave it despite the onslaught of an Aston Martin and three Ferraris, only one of which finished the race at 3rd place in the hands of the Belgian Gendebien and the Frenchman Trintignant.
Jaguar does not officially participate in the 1957 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, but the English brand is represented by private structures, such as the now famous "Ecurie Scotland", which field no less than five Type D. The competition is made up of two Maseratis 450S, four Aston Martins, and six Ferraris. The latter dominate the start of the race, completing the lap test for the first time at an average of over 200 km/h! The speed was there but not the reliability, and the only surviving Ferrari finished 5th, behind four Jaguars, a consecration for the English brand, which would only find the road to success in the Sarthe in 1988 and 1990. But it was another story…
