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The traditional 24 hour race of Le Mans in 1955 is remembered to this day primarily because of one of the most devastating motorsport disasters. A controversial braking maneuver by Jaguar driver Mike Hawthorn directly in front of Frenchman Pierre Levegh in the 300 SLR and Lance Mackin in Austin-Healey led to a tragic accident in which a total of 84 people lost their lives. Despite the event, the race continued but the leading Mercedes team withdrew their two cars. The Jaguar D-Type of Mike Hawthorn and Ivor Bueb stayed on track and was able to take the lead and ultimately win the race with a bitter aftertaste.
In the following years, 1956 and 1957, the regulations and safety standards at Le Mans were optimized. This included conversion work on the track, a new pit facility and safety fences for spectators. In addition, there were training sessions at night and the maximum number of laps per driver to counteract fatigue. In these new conditions, Ron Flockhart and Ninian Sanderson in the Scottish Ecurie Ecosse Jaguar fought a bitter battle for overall victory in 1956 with Stirling Moss and Peter Collins in the works Aston-Martin. A gearbox failure of the DB3S shortly before the end of the race played into the hands of the rivals and the D-Type with starting number four won.
The hat trick in Le Mans was achieved by Ron Flockhart and Ivor Bueb in 1957 in a race marked by retirements. The pace of the far superior competition from Italy was initially unattainable for the D-Types used. But the reliability of the British speedsters paid off and one fast car after the other failed with various technical defects, so that in the end five Jaguar D-Types were to take the first six places in the overall standings - above all the winning vehicle from Flockhart and Bueb with the number three.
More than 30 years after the golden Jaguar era, the Brits competed again with the XJR-12 for overall victory at the 24 hours of Le Mans. This final stage of development of the prototype built on the XJR-6 and subsequent XJR-8 and XJR-9 of the late '80s. Engineer and racing car designer Tony Southgate developed the successful car for the works team Tom Walkinshaw Racing. The Jaguar scored points in several racing series thanks to the aerodynamic chassis shape and the reliable 7-litre, 12-cylinder naturally aspirated engine that delivered 730 hp.
In the successful year of 1990, the driver trio of John Nielsen, Price Cobb and Martin Brundle managed to drive the purple and white prototype to overall victory in the 24 hours of Le Mans. Andy Wallace, Jan Lammers and Davy Jones also managed to put the XJR-12 at the head of the field at the 24 hours of Daytona and entered the Hall of Fame as overall winners before Jaguar finally withdrew from endurance racing.
In keeping with these icons of long-distance history, not only are the respective models available in the usual high quality, but also the Commer TS3 truck from Ecurie Ecosse. The eye-catching blue transporter had a double open loading area in the rear of the truck and on the roof of the driver's cab with a sophisticated loading system. An absolute eye-catcher from CMR, which was named "Model Car of the Year 2020".
Jaguar D-Type #6 Winner 24h LeMans 1955 Mike Hawthorn, Ivor Bueb 1:18 CMR, RRP €69,95, item-no.: CMR192
Jaguar D-Type #4 Winner 24h LeMans 1956 Sanderson, Flockhart 1:18 CMR, RRP 69,95, item-no.: CMR142
Jaguar D-Type #3 Winner 24h LeMans 1957 Flockhart / Bueb 1:43 Ixo, RRP 34,95, item-no.: LM1957
Commer TS3 Truck Team Transporter Ecurie Ecosse 1959 blau metallic 1:18 CMR, RRP 249,95, item-no.: CMR206
Jaguar XJR-12 #3 Winner 24h LeMans 1990 Nielsen, Cobb, Brundle 1:43 Ixo, RRP €34,95, item-no.: LM1990
[01.06.2023] The German Le Mans victories of Mercedes 1989, Porsche 1994 and BMW 1999
[25.05.2023] With the 956, Porsche secures 4 consecutive victories in Le Mans in the first half of the 1980s
