Jaguar D-Type Sets British Car Record at Auction

The sexy Jaguar you see here with the massive fin running down the center is a very special car. It won the 24 Hours of Le Mans way back in 1956. The car sold at RM Sotheby’s auction in Monterey, California this weekend, with a final bid price of $19.8 million. The sales price means this is the most expensive British car ever sold.

The car uses a 3.4L inline-6 that makes 245 hp and has a 4-speed manual transmission, and disc brakes. The car hit 169 mph during testing for the 1956 race, and would go on to win the famed 24 hour race with drivers Ninian Sanderson and Ron Flockhart behind the wheel.

I’ve always wondered what sort of fees go along with these cars at auction, and the answer is a lot. The final price with auction fees was $21.78 million. Pre-auction estimates were $25 million for the car, so someone got a relative bargain on the special Jag.