The one that got away
WITH JAGUAR producing some of the most beautiful cars in the world, it takes real courage to change them and few have been done so for the better. It’s for this reason why I’ve always been fascinated by modified Jaguars, especially those done in period, covering plenty in Jaguar World over the years. From a one-off XK150 estate — universally known as the ‘Tow Car’ due to its former role of pulling a trailer with the famous ERA racing car, Remus, onboard — to an Avon-Stevens XJ12 Coupe convertible, they were all very different. But what they had in common was a fascinating story.
One of the most interesting and prettiest is also the one that has so far eluded me; an E-type with a distinctive Michelotti-designed body that was originally fitted to a D-type. In 1957 a Belgian industrial diamond dealer, Jean-Marie Brussin, bought XKD 513 from the Paris-based Jaguar dealer, Charles Delacroix. After the car had been prepared at Browns Lane (including a shakedown by legendary test driver, Norman Dewis) Brussin entered that year’s 24-hours of Le Mans when he was partnered by a local driver, Jean Lucas. In a Jaguar clean-sweep, the pair finished a fine third behind the two metallic blue D-types of Ecurie Ecosse and ahead of Ecurie Nationale Belge‘s similar car in fourth.
MICHELOTTI CREATED A SLEEK, GOOD-LOOKING COUPE
Brussin took part in the following year’s race when his D-type was again prepared by Jaguar which included replacing the 3.4-litre XK unit by a 3.0-litre version to meet new regulations. Co-driven this time by the wealthy French-Moroccan driver, Andre Guelfi, disaster struck at 11pm when Brussin crashed heavily at the fast Tetre Rouge section, dying instantly after been thrown from the car.
Following an investigation by the French authorities, the remains of 513 were kept in storage at Browns Lane until 1960 when it was bought by the Italian designer, Giovanni Michelotti. After recently opening his own studio, the Italian wanted a car he could create something special on to drum up publicity. This wasn’t the first time Michelotti had redesigned a Jaguar having done so to an XK140 in 1955.
Despite the D-type looking a mess and missing its aluminium body, the chassis remained intact and Michelotti created a sleek, good-looking coupe which won a top award for design following its debut at the 1963 Geneva Salon. Painted in light blue, other than its familiar Dunlop wheels, it had no relation to the car it was based on, being more reminiscent of Michelotti’s previous work for Triumph, the one-off Zest and Fury concepts especially.
For the next few year
