IN BRIEF
- Jaguar Design Director will partner US TV chat show host in
unique 1951 XK 120 roadster
- Ex-Sir James Scott-Douglas race-winning car features full
Ecurie Ecosse period livery and is only surviving example
- Jaguar Heritage Racing to field ten 1950s models in the 2014
Mille Miglia including XKs, C-types and one D-type
- Top racers plus household names from stage and screen as well
as fashion, motor sport and music celebrities will drive
IN DETAIL
(Whitley, Coventry - 15 May 2014). This year's
Mille Miglia is packed full of famous cars and equally famous
drivers - but when it comes to prodigious competition histories
paired with A-list names, the combination of Jaguar Heritage
Racing's 1951 Ecurie Ecosse XK 120 roadster with Jay Leno and Ian
Callum is hard to beat.
US TV chat show host, Jaguar collector and classic car
enthusiast, Jay Leno, and Jaguar Design Director, Ian Callum, are
legends of the automotive industry - and at the Mille Miglia this
year their presence is complemented by that of the 1951 XK 120
Ecurie Ecosse roadster.
One of the most valuable and important XK 120s in the world,
'LXO 126' is the only surviving example of three original cars
built to launch the Scottish racing team in 1952. A race winner in
its period, it is most famously associated with raffish
Anglo-Scottish aristocrat Sir James Scott-Douglas.
Scott-Douglas competed in a number of endurance races across
Europe with Ecurie Ecosse and even went on to keep 'LXO 126' as a
road car in 1953. In the same year, the car returned to the race
track at the infamous Nurburgring; Ecurie Ecosse mechanics hastily
converting it back into a competition car when one of the team's
C-type's met with an accident.
Since then the car has been the subject of a meticulous
restoration. Resplendent in the classic Flag Metallic Blue of the
Ecurie Ecosse racing team, it was recently sold by Bonhams Auctions
for £707,100 at the end of 2013 and has been loaned to
Jaguar Heritage Racing for the Mille Miglia.
It won't be the only Ecurie Ecosse car in Italy for this event -
the Ecurie Ecosse C-type and D-type the original Ecurie Ecosse
racing transporter will also be present at the start of the Mille
Miglia in Brescia.
Ian Callum, Jaguar Design Director, said: "As a Scotsman,
Ecurie Ecosse is incredibly close to my heart - so the chance to
drive this incredible XK 120 through Italy is a once in a lifetime
opportunity. Factor in a co-driver who's almost as much of a Jaguar
man as me - and there's no doubt I'm going to love every
minute!"
Jay Leno commented: "I'm fortunate to have an XK 120 in my
garage - not to mention a few other incredible cars from Coventry -
but this Ecurie Ecosse XK 120 is one of the most beautiful Jaguars
ever built. I absolutely adore it. It's a real honour to be asked
to drive it on the Mille Miglia and to be able to revel in its
history with someone like Ian is a true privilege."
Jaguar Heritage Racing will be tackling the legendary Mille
Miglia classic car endurance event from 15-18 May with a line-up of
top-name drivers, which will be traversed over 1,000 grueling miles
from Brescia-Rome-Brescia in ten of the most revered and
sought-after historic Jaguar cars ever produced.
Live updates will be available from 15-18 May through Jaguar
official social media channels (www.facebook.com/Jaguar and
www.twitter.com/jaguar), as
well as Twitter profiles of drivers using hashtag: #JaguarMille
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
Mark Eedle | Brand Manager Australia
E: meedle@jaguar.com | T: 02
9020 1501
Bethany Allsopp | Marketing and Public Affairs
Specialist Australia
E: ballsopp@jaguar.com |
T: 02 9020 1425