Jaguar is the ‘featured marque’ at this year’s Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion; its Heritage Display will spotlight an extraordinary gathering of historic sports cars.
Eleven years before Phil Hill became America’s first Formula One World Champion (driving for Scuderia Ferrari in 1961), he was honing his considerable talents in local sports car races. One of 23-year-old Hill's first prominent wins was in a Jaguar XK120 in 1950 at the inaugural Pebble Beach Road Race.
This winning XK120 helped Jaguar - and Hill - begin the ascent to many winning years for the Leaping Cat of Coventry. Jaguar is celebrating its illustrious history, and the 50th anniversary of the E-Type, at the Rolex Monterey Motorsport Reunion, August 19-21 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. It will be the featured marque of the race weekend.
Jaguar is adding to the incredible mix of more than 550 historic racing cars with a special invitation-only selection of Jaguars in its elaborate Heritage Display. Among the early confirmed cars are:
1950 Jaguar XK120 - The car that Hill drove to victory in the nearby Del Monte Forest of Pebble Beach.
1951 Jaguar C-Type - With Hill at the wheel, the North American racing debut of this C-Type garnered accolades and the victory at Elkhart Lake. Only 53 C-Types were constructed.
1974 Jaguar E-Type - Bob Tullius' Group 44 winner, above, 1975 SCCA B/Production Championship.
1978 Jaguar XJS - Three years later, Tullius and his Group 44 team returned in a specially-prepared XJS to wrest the 1978 Trans-Am Championship Category 1 title from defending champion Porsche.
1988 Jaguar XJR-9 - The team of Andy Wallace, Johnny Dumfries and Jan Lammers entered this Silk Cut Jaguar XJR-9 in the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans, winning in spectacular fashion. This was the sixth overall win at Le Mans for Jaguar. They held off the formidable Porsche 962 team, ending Porsche's seven-year reign.
PHOTOS: Rolex/Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Jaguar/Daimler Heritage Trust.
For more information about the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, please visit, www.MazdaRaceway.com.
For the latest from Jaguar, please visit, http://www.jaguar.com/us/en/