Few sports-racing cars have achieved such legendary status as the Jaguar C-Type, which won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice for Coventry during the company’s domination of the event in the 1950s.

The C-Type began life as the famed XK 120 roadster, which had taken the world by storm in 1948 with its revolutionary dual-overhead-camshaft, inline six-cylinder engine.

Several privateering customers entered factory-supported XK 120 examples at the 1950 Le Mans race, and Leslie Johnson’s car was remarkably competitive, spending considerable time in 4th place.

After watching the event, Jaguar founder Sir William Lyons and engineer Bill Heynes were convinced that a lighter, more aerodynamic body with modified XK 120 mechanicals had a strong chance of winning the race.

Development work soon commenced, starting with a new lightweight tubular space frame, one of the very first uses of the technique in sports car construction.

The XK 120’s rear suspension was redesigned with additional positionin...